Best friends who always shared a special connection find they are actually long-lost sisters

Two women discover they are long-lost sisters after years of being best friends. 

• Two women found out they were long-lost sisters after 8 years of being best friends. 
• Julia Tinetti, 31, and Cassandra Madison, 32, both born and adopted from the Dominican Republic, always knew they had a special connection.
• A friend of theirs helped them trace their family history and discover they were, in fact, related. 

Today, Julia Tinetti, 31, and Cassandra Madison, 32, feel like the luckiest women in the whole world. After years of being co-workers and best friends, they have found out they are also long-lost sisters. But their journey to discovering this amazing fact was not that simple.

The movie-like scenario started in 2013. As per Power of Positivity, Julia and Cassandra met at their mutual workplace – the Russian Lady Bar in New Haven, Connecticut. However, their job was not the only thing they had in common. Both women had tattoos of the Dominican Republic flag, symbolizing the country they had both been born and adopted from.

Naturally, after discovering all these similarities, Julia and Cassandra became close friends. Their connection was nothing like those of their other colleagues or friends.

In an interview with Good Morning America, Julia said:

“We started hanging out. We would go out for drinks, for dinner. We started dressing alike.”

Cassandra added:

“We just kind of hit it off right away. It was very natural.”

The two besties even considered the idea of being actual sisters and compared their adoption papers. Unfortunately, the documents did not match. They showed they were born in different cities and had different last names. Their mothers were also different people, according to the papers.

Despite the adoption papers claiming Julia and Cassandra were not related, the strong connection between the pair was telling them otherwise.

Both women were convinced there was something more to their story. Besides, all the facts were pointing in that direction – they looked similar, they were born in the same country, and were adopted shortly after their birth. Having matching tattoos was also a sign they were something much more than friends – they were family.

Two years later, Cassandra moved to Virginia Beach. However, she and Julia remained close, despite the distance. The thought that they could be related never left the two friends.

Eventually, Madison decided to dig a little deeper into her ancestry. In 2018, her adoptive mother bought her a 23andMe DNA genetic testing kit for Christmas. A friend of hers, Molly Sapadin, helped her reveal whether or not she and Julia were sisters.

Molly was also adopted from the Dominican Republic shortly after her birth. Her adoptive mom was a friend of Madison’s, so they knew each other since their childhood years. Just to be sure, the women decided to compare their adoption papers as well. Since their last names matched, Molly assumed they could be half-sisters. What’s more, they were both startled to discover that the documents also claimed that they had the same biological mother. But that’s not all…

Julia and Molly were adopted on the same day. Considering this detail, all three women believed the papers must have gotten switched. 

According to Sapadin, a DNA test revealed that Madison was actually her third cousin, not her half-sister. After discovering that, she was eager to find out more about her family tree.

During her search, Cassandra managed to connect with her biological father, Adriano Luna Collado, who still lives in the Dominican Republic. Tragically, her mother, Yulianna Collado, had a fatal heart attack in 2015.

Curious about her ancestry, Madison asked her real father if he had ever given up another baby girl for adoption. He confessed he had, as one of her brothers had a serious illness at the time, and the family struggled to take care of the baby. The woman immediately knew the other girl was her best friend.

On January 28, another DNA test confirmed Cassandra and Julia were long-lost sisters.

Tinetti described the exciting moment:

“Still processing the magnitude of the situation. This is the type of thing you see on TV. Finding my biological family just wasn’t a thing for me. I grew up with a great family, so I just kind of left it to what it was.”

Julia hopes she could meet her Dominican family in person after the pandemic eases.

The 8-year-long search revealed that the adoption agency did switch Molly and Julia’s documents by mistake. Moreover, Sapadin also discovered she has a twin who cannot wait to meet.

Thankfully, the long-lost sisters finally got the heartfelt reunion they deserved!