5 days ago
DNA Match Reunites Two Indian-born Dutch Adopted Sisters
Meena and Minal were born in India and adopted by different families in the Netherlands.
They grew up less than two hours apart but did not know they were sisters.
As teenagers, they met at a gathering for adopted children because they looked very similar.
They called each other “sis” but eventually stopped speaking regularly.
Years later, both women used a DNA-testing website.
In May 2026, the website showed that they were full sisters.
They met again in a park in the Netherlands and spent two weeks with their families.
The reunion helped them understand some of the loneliness and questions they had felt while growing up.
They now hope to visit India together someday.
Meena Geltink and Minal Tijssen were adopted from India by Dutch families as infants.
They met as teenagers at an adoption-agency retreat but lost touch over the years.
A MyHeritage DNA match on May 20, 2026, confirmed they were full sisters.
The women share 36.5% of their DNA, indicating the same biological mother and father.
Their reunion in the Netherlands brought emotional relief and connected their children and families.
- Who
- Meena Geltink and Minal Tijssen, two women born in India and adopted by separate Dutch families.
- What
- A DNA test confirmed that the women, who had met as teenagers, were biological full sisters.
- Where
- They were adopted into families in the Netherlands and reunited at a park in Den Bosch.
- When
- They first met in the late 1990s; the DNA match arrived on May 20, 2026.
- Why
- The match resulted from Minal taking a MyHeritage DNA test and matching Meena’s 2017 test file.
Key facts
- Meena’s arrival
- She arrived at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport from India on October 25, 1983, at about four months old.
- Minal’s arrival
- Minal arrived in the Netherlands from India at three-and-a-half months old in 1982.
- DNA match
- MyHeritage reported a 100% probability of a full-sister relationship and 36.5% shared DNA.
- First meeting
- The women met at a Dutch adoption-agency weekend retreat when they were teenagers.
- Adoptions from India
- Statistics Netherlands recorded at least 594 adoptions from India to the Netherlands between 1995 and 2006.
- Origin searches
- A 2021 Statistics Netherlands study found that 47.9% of India-born adoptees surveyed had actively searched for their origins.
- Reunion
- After the DNA confirmation, Meena and Minal met in Den Bosch and spent two weeks together with their families.
- Timing note
- The article describes the match as occurring in May 2026, although one passage also refers to the discovery as happening 15 years after their earlier friendship.
Quotes
Meena Geltink
Indian-born Dutch adoptee and Minal Tijssen’s biological sister
“But now I know it was my sister who I needed, and that she needed me.”
indianexpress.com
“Take it. You never know. You might just find family.”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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