Adopted siblings Frank, 22, and Victoria, 19, have recently discovered that they are biologically related.
In the early 2000s, the Staten Island siblings were adopted separately by married couple Angela and Dennis. To their surprise, they found out that they were biological siblings through DNA testing from Ancestry.com, according to reports from CBS News. The family requested that their last names not be used by outlets in order to maintain their privacy.
“We were both found a year and a half apart and wound up in the same family,” Frank revealed to CBS News. “The odds are insane.”
Both of them were abandoned as newborns, their adoptive mother Angela explained. “They didn’t know they were abandoned until a couple of months ago because we don’t use the word abandoned in our vocabulary,” she said.
The siblings decided to try Ancestry.com out of their desire to learn more about where they come from. Their mother had bought each of them a DNA test and after submitting the kit, Vicky received a surprising message.
“I got the match that my brother had popped up as my full sibling, my biological brother,” Vicky said, referring to the moment as “crazy” and unexpected.
Frank was the first to be adopted by the couple, who also share a biological son, after he was reportedly left on the steps of a Staten Island daycare in 2002. Meanwhile, Victoria - who goes by Vicky - was discovered in 2004 in a first-floor restroom at the Richmond University Medical Center. According to CBS, she was just four to five days old when a nurse and cardiology technician named Claudia Beadle found her beside a bag of diapers - swaddled, clothed, and perfectly clean.
“I opened the stall she was in between the toilet tank and underneath,” Beadle told the outlet. “I just scooped her up and ran to the clinic.”
After taking her to the pediatrics department, Beadle would visit the baby girl between shifts to feed and care for her until she was finally adopted. On Tuesday (15 August), Vicky reunited with Beadle for the first time. The nurse showed the now-teenager where she had discovered her - what once was a bathroom had been turned into an electrical closet more than a decade later.
Speaking about the experience, Vicky told ABC News: “Walking in here was emotional and a little overwhelming, but it was nice to see the place where I was left and to know Claudia was so great and took such good care of me.” Vicky reportedly found out just one month ago what Claudia had done for her as a baby; she knew that she was adopted, but she wasn’t aware of her history.
“For my whole life, I kind of just knew Claudia as my mom’s close friend,” she explained to CBS. "Now knowing the story, it definitely is a lot but in a good way.”
Frank and Vicky are now working with the Richmond University Medical Center Foundation to establish a scholarship fund. On their website, those who are interested in making a contribution to the fund can press the donate button to make a gift as a tribute to Frank and Vicky.
When asked about their goal behind the scholarship fund, Frank replied: "Even though this story is about me and my sister, I want to showcase everyone around me that created such a great life for me and my sister.”
