Sold At Birth, Reunited By A TikTok Video: Story Of Georgian Twins

Two twin sisters, named Amy and Ano, are one of the two children among the thousands in Georgia who were victims of child trafficking and found out to have been separated from their biological parents, stolen, and sold to other families. 

These two sisters were reunited 19 years later through a TikTok video, and their journey from discovering their past to finding out how they were sold and their biological mother is a ray of hope even in the darkest corners of their tragic past. Here's their journey of rediscovering their past and harsh truths and realities, all through social media:

Sold At Birth, Reunited By A TikTok Video

Social media is undeniably a powerful tool of connectivity across the globe, reuniting many lost bonds and connections, and the story of Amy and Ano, two lost twins at birth, is an emotional testament to the power of social media in connecting people and separated families. 

One such story reported by the BBC is that of Amy and Ano, identical twins separated at birth and sold into different families in Georgia, which has gripped hearts around the world. 

How Did They Meet?

The story of Amy and Ano starts back when they were 12. Amy Khvita was watching her favourite TV programme Georgia Got Talent, at her grandmother's house when she saw a girl dancing the jive who looked exactly like her—not just similar, but identical. Amy shared that even everyone else was calling her mom and asking her mother, "Why is Amy dancing?" When Amy mentioned it to her family, they brushed it off, saying everyone has a doppelganger. 

Cut to seven years later, in November 2021, when the twins were 19, Amy posted a video on TikTok of her hair coloured blue and getting her eyebrows pierced. And 200 miles away in Tbilisi, Georgia, Ano Sartania was sent the TikTok video by a friend who thought "it was cool" that the girl in the TikTok looked like her.

Ano tried to find the girl online, but all her attempts went in vain, only to find a WhatsApp group of the university where Ano put the video of the blue-haired, eyebrow-pierced girl in search of finding out her "doppelganger." From the rare chances of finding her look-alike girl in the TikTok video, the miracle Ano was hoping happened when a friend of Amy's saw the video and connected Amy and Ano on Facebook. 

Rediscovering Past

Amy, after connecting to Ano online, instantly knew she was the girl she saw years ago on the TV programme Georgia Got Talent. Within a few days of connecting, the sisters figured out they had a lot in common, which felt odd. Amy said, "Every time I learned something new about Ano, things got stranger."

After delving into deeper conversations about family and the past, the two figured out they had the same genetic disease, a bone disorder named "dysplasia.". Going back to their birth dates, they figured out they were both born in Kirtskhi maternity hospital in western Georgia, which no longer exists, but their birth dates marked a two-week gap in their birth certificates.

Amy and Ano shared the first time they met each other and how it felt, as quoted by BBC "It was like looking in a mirror—the same face, exact same voice. I am her, and she is me," says Amy. She also claimed that, at that moment, she knew they were twins. 

While Ano shared that she doesn't like hugs, she hugged Amy anyway. Upon meeting, the two even had similar haircuts, apart from their similar choices of music and fondness for dance.

Learning Truth

After confronting their families to learn the truth, the two learned that they had been adopted in 2002 a few weeks apart and figured that even their official birth certificates had the wrong birth dates. Upon discovery, Amy's mother shared that she was told at the time of Amy's birth that she was unable to have a baby, and her friend told her there was an unwanted baby in the hospital that she could have and raise like her own after paying an amount to the doctors. 

Both families shared they didn't know they were adopting twins, and despite paying a lot of money for adoption, they didn't realise it was illegal, and even the doctors from the hospitals were involved in the child trafficking racket. While the girls wondered if their birth parents sold them.

The Journey To Germany

Amy wanted to learn the truth, but Ano wasn't sure, wondering why Amy wanted to meet the people who could have possibly betrayed them as newborns. But Amy found a Facebook page dedicated to reuniting Georgian families of children separated illegally in the dark past of child trafficking.  

Upon sharing their story in the group, a woman from Germany replied that her mother gave birth to twins in Kirtskhi maternity hospital in 2002 but was told the babies died during the time of delivery. 

After getting their DNA tested, the woman from Germany turned out to be their sister and was living with their biological mother named Aza in Germany. The twins then met their biological parents in Leipzig, Germany, and their mother explained that she had been ill while giving birth to them, fell into a coma after giving birth to them, and was told they had died. Aza shared with the BBC that upon meeting her long-lost twin daughters, it felt like she got a "new meaning" to her life.

Now they are not that close, but they are still keeping in touch with each other.

Georgia's Stolen Children

The case of Amy and Ano has also brought renewed attention to the dark history of child trafficking in Georgia. During the late 1900s and early 2000s, a criminal network operated within hospitals and orphanages, stealing and selling newborns for illegal adoption. While authorities have made strides in recent years, many families remain fractured, and the search for answers continues.

The twins' story is a testament to the enduring power of human connection and the unwavering spirit of families torn apart. It is a call to action, urging authorities to investigate past injustices and bring perpetrators to justice. Their reunion served as a powerful validation of their struggles and a glimmer of hope in the face of a tragic past.