Long-lost sisters find each other after taking home DNA test kit

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A Colorado Springs woman is rejoicing after taking a home DNA test, and discovering she has a sister she never knew about until now.

When Helene Schmidt got her results, she never thought she would find out she had a half-sister living in Winnipeg, Canada. Now after getting to know her, she said it’s like finding a piece of the puzzle to her life that had always been missing.

“I was like wait a minute, we have the same birth year! So I was trying to figure it out, I picked my phone up then I would put it down then pick it back up, and that is when I messaged Raelene,” Schmidt said.

After reaching out to her half-sister Raelene Recksiedler, Helene says she gained not only a best friend and sister in the process, but also gained a lot of clarity about her family and heritage.

“My dad was given a job to help clear land up north and there was an [Indigenous] reserve at the time and that is where Helene’s mom lived," Recksiedler said. "And the women there would party with the men and they had some fun parties.”

Schmidt was born in Canada in July 1996, but her biological mother put her up for adoption which is how she ended up in the United States by her adopted parents. Raelene was born just 42 days after Helene in Canada as well, both of them sharing the same biological father but a different mother.

“I feel complete now. I feel closure now that I know who my birth father was," Schmidt said. "I look forward to learning more stories with Raelene when we get to visit each other.”

While the two women have not yet met in person, they have spent most of their days talking and getting to know each other, sharing family pictures. And learning they share more than just similar names and appearances.

Both women also have two daughters, and a rare disease called Neurofibromatosis (NF) that they learned came from their father.

“I feel like it was just the perfect timing the way Helene came into my life, you know? I now have a sister who is going to be there for me and we are going to be able to be together now,” Recksiedler said.