# They Signed Their Letters 'Sis'. The DNA Test Agreed.

*Science · 13 September 2026 · RECORDx NEWS*

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnFlB8WJZ8g
Page: https://news.recordx.co/story/they-signed-their-letters-sis-the-dna-test-agreed/

Meena Geltink and Minal Tijssen were both born in Mumbai in the early 1980s and adopted as babies, from two different orphanages, within months of their birth. Two different Dutch couples took them home. They grew up near each other in the Netherlands, and neither family had any idea.
They met in their early teens at a gathering for children adopted from India. Their friends noticed first. "She has my nose," Meena remembers thinking. "We have the same laugh."
They swapped addresses and wrote for years — about school, about boys, about dancing. They both loved the Backstreet Boys. They signed those letters "Sis", because, as Meena put it, "we felt that way."
Then Minal moved to France, Meena had her first child, and fifteen years went by with no contact at all.
In April 2026 Minal took a DNA test while visiting her parents. On 20 May a message arrived on Facebook with a screengrab attached. Meena had to reinstall the app, and typed the wrong password ten times before she could log in.
The result was a 100% match. Full sisters — the same biological mother and the same biological father.
They met again in August. "We were friends before we were sisters," Minal said. "We were sisters the whole time, but we didn't know."

## The spine

Meena Geltink and Minal Tijssen, both born in Mumbai in the early 1980s and adopted as babies by two different Dutch families, met as teenagers, signed their letters "Sis" for years, then lost touch. A DNA test taken in April 2026 returned a 100% match — full sisters, same biological mother and father. They met again in August 2026.

## The result

"A 100% match." Meena: "I had a 'full sister' — which means we shared the same biological mother and father."

## In their words

"It was like an adrenalin shot. I cried. Minal was my missing puzzle piece I had waited so long for. We had called each other sister. This DNA match was the confirmation that all our intuition was right." — Meena Geltink "We were friends before we were sisters… We were sisters the whole time, but we didn't know." — Minal Tijssen

## Who they are now

Meena, Netherlands, mother of three. Raised in a small Dutch village by parents who taught at a private school and were also her teachers. Minal, 44, lives in France with her partner and two sons. Reuters described the reunion: "tears, hugs and laughter punctuated their meeting… followed by their first selfie together."

## Sources

BBC News, "Best friends for decades - until a DNA test revealed they were sisters", 13 September 2026. Reunion reporting and images: Reuters.

## References


Reporting drawn from: BBC News, Reuters

## Transcript

Two women met as teenagers, called each other sister in their letters for years, and only found out this May that it was literally true
Meena Geltink and Minal Tijssen were both born in Mumbai in the early 1980s. They were adopted as babies from two different orphanages within months of their birth
Two different Dutch couples took them home. They grew up near each other in the Netherlands, and neither family had any idea
They met in their early teens at a gathering for children adopted from India. Their friends noticed it first. "She has my nose," Meena remembers thinking. "We have the same laugh."
They swapped addresses and wrote to each other for years, about school, about boys, about dancing. They both loved the Backstreet Boys. They signed those letters, "Sis."
Then life happened. Minal moved to France. Meena had her first child. Fifteen years went by with no contact at all
In April, Minal took a DNA test while visiting her parents. On the 20th of May, a message arrived on Facebook with a screenshot attached
It was a 100% match. Full sisters. The same biological mother and the same biological father. Meena says she typed the wrong password 10 times before she could log in and look
They met again in August. "We were friends before we were sisters," Minal said. "We were sisters the whole time. We just did not know."

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