Two sisters who were put up for adoption at the end of WWII have reunited after 75 years.<br /><br />Annie IJpelaar, 78, and Sheila Anne Fry, 75, reunited in June 2022 after Sheila's daughter-in-law took it upon herself to track her long-lost relative.<br /><br />Sheila had been adopted shortly after birth at the end of World War II in 1946 in the UK and had no knowledge of her birth parents' identities.<br /><br />She uncovered the identity of her father using DNA site and discovered she had a half-sister who lived in the Netherlands - who was born just a few months after her.<br /><br />Sheila's daughter-in-law, Karen, was messaged by Annie's son, Marc, and both sisters did a DNA test which confirmed that they were related.<br /><br />After a FaceTime call in May 2022, the sisters met for the first time in Drunan, the Netherlands, in June 2022.<br /><br />Sheila, 75, a retired shop assistant, from Bristol, said: "It was like looking in the mirror and talking to myself.<br /><br />"We had done a video link before we met face to face, but it was amazing.<br /><br />"We have the same hobbies, and the same medical complaints it is very strange - we look very much alike.<br /><br />"I always knew I was adopted, my mum told me when I was a little girl.<br /><br />"My mum said I was special because mummy and daddy picked me."<br /><br />Sheila had been adopted shortly after birth at the end of World War II in 1946 by Clifford and Mary Willmott - and had no knowledge of her birth parents.<br /><br />Sheila's adoption records contained her biological mother's full name, but there was no information about her father.<br /><br />Sheila's adoptive parents had stated that her father was a Canadian soldier who fought against the Nazis in Europe and returned home after the war.<br /><br />The search for Sheila's birth father remained unsuccessful for eight years, leading Sheila to believe she had hit a dead end.<br /><br />Sheila said: "I never thought of looking on my father's side.<br /><br />"What we presume happened is as the forces were closing down, he had been in Holland, and they had Annie.<br /><br />"Then he was sent to Bristol and met my mother.<br /><br />"We think he maybe knew about Annie but didn't know about me, I didn't know anything about it until my daughter-in-law told me."<br /><br />Annie was born just a few months before Sheila and grew up with her birth mother and stepfather.<br /><br />Unaware that her stepfather was not her biological father, Annie only discovered the truth after overhearing a conversation between relatives and searching through family documents. <br /><br />Annie's biological father was a Canadian soldier who had fought in World War II and participated in the liberation of the Netherlands from Nazi occupation.<br /><br />Annie's son, Marc, 50, an Founder of a Web Design and Online Marketing Company, made a breakthrough when a joke between cousins led to him ordering a DNA test.<br /><br />When the email arrived announcing a DNA match, Marc was astonished to discover that Sheila was his mother's half-sister.<br /><br />After verifying the DNA connection by testing both sisters, Marc finally told his mother he had found her a sister and arranged a video call in May 2022.
