When This Girl Found Out The Reason Why There Was A Video Of Hers Online, Things In Her Life Changed

 There is this myth which people throw around casually that there are 6 other people in the entire world that look exactly like you. If you were living in America and some friend of yours told you that they saw a person who looked exactly like you, in Japan would you believe them? One gets to hear that they resemble so and so quite occasionally but having a person look exactly feature to feature like them is rare unless they are related. But what if they are not, is it a case of identity theft or is the myth true that there is more than 1 person who looks exactly like us out there.

This woman found herself in a situation like this.

A Shocking Share

Anais Bordier was just a regular student studying Fashion in London. She had her quiet circle of friends and enjoyed with them. There was, however, a sharp turn of events in her quiet life and in a matter of some months, this student who was not the most famous person in college made the international headlines. Obviously being a student and being brought up in the age of the internet meant that Anais was connected to people via social media. But it was only because of the internet that her life changed, forever.

The Day Things Changed

It was supposed to be just another day in London, in December 2012. Anais was on the bus going to buy some fabric when she got a notification from her friend Kelsang tagging her in a YouTube video and sharing it on her wall. There was nothing unusual about it. Both of them shared stuff on each others’ wall regularly. Anais opened the video and when she realized the reason why her friend had shared the video with her, she froze. But why?

She Was Looking At Herself

The video that the friend posted seemed to have been of Anais herself. When she talked about her experience later she recalled that this was her reaction, “I first thought who just put a video of me on YouTube without telling me, this is rude.” For some time she could not figure out what was happening. Why would someone photoshop her face on another person because she most certainly did not remember being a part of any video shoot? Was it a prank?

Never Been In A Video

So running all the possibilities in her head on the bus ride the destination of which she had quite forgotten now, all she could be certain of was that she had never made a YouTube video that involved her or anyone else for that matter. She thought that someone was playing a prank on her. If that was the case, how to get to the bottom of it all? She had a sleepless night.

Online Identity Theft?

Anais Bordier reckoned that she was being a victim of identity theft. In typical identity theft cases, the culprit uses the name and personal information of another person to steal money. If this was the case here why would someone steal Anais’ identity and make it public via a YouTube video? It did not make sense. She was just an aspiring fashion designer, why would anyone do this to her?

 Common Practice

Internet and social media have made the lives of people easier but it has its cons too. Online fraud case is on an all-time high and people come up with the most malicious ways to fraud the Netizens. Online scamming is a very common practice now. Anais saw that video more than once, repeatedly. Anyone would if they thought someone was stealing their identity. When she took a closer look, she was shaken. 

Mirror Image

Everything about the person in the video was identical to Anais. The hair, the eyes even the freckles on the cheeks. But after several times watching the video, Anais Bordier realized that even though the person in the video looked exactly like her, it was not her indeed. It was some other person- a crazy coincidence. There was no way to get in touch with them though, no name or any other detail was available about the girl in the video.

American Accent

The video Anais Bordier’s friend tagged her in was uploaded by an American sketch comedy production. The only sure thing that Anais was aware of was that her doppelganger had an American accent. But the video obviously piqued her interest. If you found a person who looked EXACTLY like you, won’t you wanna know more about them, who they were, where they were? Anais’ curiosity was not really unusual.

Acting On Curiosity

There was nothing more of substance that Anais could find about this woman look alike. She tried to though. She watched all the recommended videos that popped up along with the one in which her doppelganger appeared. She went through all the comments on the video in the hopes of finding her name or any other information but luck did not favor her. She even showed the video to her parents, pointing out the uncanny similarities. Hardly a month later, there was a development. 

A Second Sighting

Next year, barely a month later, the same friend who showed her the video came to her with a fresh piece of information. He found another video in which the same woman was featured! “I’ve seen that girl again,” read the text he sent her along with the video link. This excited Bordier, and she hoped she would at least come close to finding this woman’s name this time.

An Unbelievable Discovery

This was a link to a movie and right after it finished Anais took to the internet and searched IMDB for the name of the film hoping to get the name of the actress. She was in luck. She found out that the name of this doppelganger was Samantha Futerman and she was an actress based in Los-Angeles. There were other movies and TV shows mentioned which the actress had been a part of but a piece of personal information about the actress made Anais pick up the phone and call her mother.

Coincidence, Was it?

Anais Bordier went through Samantha Futerman’s bio, available online and for a second she was taken aback. According to the information provided on the net, Samantha Futerman was born on November 19, 1987, the EXACT day Anais was born on. What more? She was born in Busan, Korea so was Anais. The first explanation to as crazy as it appeared to Anais was that, could Samantha be her twin? But there were too many factors that did not support her theory.

Calling Parents

Anais called her parents up and said this, “oh do you remember that girl I showed you on the video? and they said ‘yes’ and I said, she was born on the same day as me and my mom automatically said ‘do you think she could be your twin sister and of course I said, yes, exactly.” But the road to finding out the truth of Samantha was not really easy. 

Back To The Past

The parents Anais called to talk about Samantha were not her birth parents. Anais Bordier had been adopted when she was just an infant was brought up in Paris and Brussels by loving parents. According to her adoption documental records, she was born to a single mother in South Korea and did not have any siblings. She was the only child. The name or a picture of her mother was not there in the records.

Overthinking?

The developments recently though got her thinking: was it possible that the records were lying? Was she really just the only child of her birth mother? Could it be possible she had a twin or a half-sister she did not know about, that no one she knew knows about? The coincidences were right there so she wasn’t crazy taking the line of thought she was taking. Who could have known that as a student in London she would be solving mysteries of a girl who looked just like her?

Happy Child

Anais Bordier’s adoptive parents- Jacques and Patricia got her to their home when she was merely 3 months old baby. They found her in a foster care center in Seoul. Lovingly her parents always told her, “You’re the child we always wanted.” Anais had made peace with the fact her birth mother was never going to be found and she didn’t have any siblings to find out about as she was told she was the only child. 

Conflicts Growing Up

Anais was brought up by her parents without any biases and her upbringing was happy. However, she also remembers that kids around her usually asked why she didn’t appear like her parents. Her adoption was not really a secret but it still hurt her. How could she have known that questions about her past will loom on her again in her university days?

Taking A Step

In the age of social media, it was hardly surprising that when Anais searched Samantha on Facebook she found her. So close to some sort of discovery and closure now, Anais took a lot of time to calm her nerves and compose a message to Samantha that did not make Anais look like a creep. Afraid that Samantha might not believe her, she also requested the actress to take a look at Anais’ profile and check out her pictures to know she was telling the truth.

The Facebook Message

This is what a part of Anais’ message read like, “So…I don’t want to be too Lindsay Lohan, well…but…how to put it…I was wondering where were you born?” She was referring to the movie The Parent Trap in her text to this stranger. The ball was in Samantha’s court now. Anais was afraid that this whole venture was going to be a failure but she had to try and well, she got a reply. 

Stalker Suspicions

In Los Angeles, after receiving the message on Facebook, Samantha Futerman thought it to be a stalker who was trying to get in touch with her. This was her first response, “When Anais’s message appeared, it was such a mixture of emotions. I first thought, ‘Oh man, some weird person has got hold of a photo of me.’” A further thought into it brought out some other observations.

Other Thoughts

After going through her profile properly, Samantha realized that this was no stalker. This is what she thought, “She looks so much like me, is this really happening?” Further, she remembered her feelings, “I was strangely calm but really excited. I was more elated than scared.” Then she read Anais’ message and things started making sense.

 Different Background

Samantha Futerman was also born in South Korea as we already know, on the same date as Anais. The former was also adopted but she grew up in a place on the other side of the world, in New Jersey. She was not a lonely child, she had two brothers, Matt and Andrew to grow up with. She completed her studies from New York and Boston and then moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting.

Asking For The Truth

When Samantha saw Anais’ message and her pictures, she decided to approach her parents- Judd and Jackie Futerman and get their response on the whole situation. Initially, when Samantha confronted her parents they were cautious but then she backed her story with the proof of the images Anais had sent her and things turned around.

Meanwhile In London

Cut to London, Anais was constantly checking her inbox in the hopes of receiving the reply from Samantha and to her surprise finally, Samantha replied. Anais was beyond herself! She opened the message box with anticipation to find that Samantha had sent to her pictures of her adoption records. Those records revealed something unbelievable. 

Incredible Similarities

According to Anais’ and Samantha’s records, they were both born in South Korea at the same clinic! This was too similar a detail to be just a coincidence. They both developed a correspondence and started sharing information about each other’s background, their current families, their pictures and talked about their upbringing. Then they arranged a Skype call.

Skyping

When they both got on their first Skype call, they were all excited and they could not help but marvel at how similar they were. There had still been no official confirmation that they were twins but what else could justify such coincidences? They talked every day on Skype for three months, when Samantha took things to the next step. 

Flying Down

It had been three months now that Samantha Futerman and Anais Bordier had been talking on Skype. Samantha decided to fly to all the way to London from Los Angeles. She took the entire family along- her parents and her two brothers. Samantha was finally going to meet her doppelganger face to face AND on the day of Anais’ graduation from her fashion school.

DNA Test

Now that Samantha and Anais had decided to meet they also agreed upon taking a DNA test. They had all the circumstantial evidence that they were probably twins, now they wanted to have a solid medical evidence that they two were actually related by blood. Both the women decided on submitting their DNA samples to  Dr. Nancy Segal’s lab. The results? Well, take a guess. 

Like A First Date

Samantha Futerman, along with her family arrived in London on May 14, 2013. The first meeting was, well, dizzying. How will you react when you see your lookalike walking towards you, not sure if you were related? Samantha said that their first meeting  “was awkward, like a first date.” But they could feel a magnet between them that drew them together.

Ditto

For what seemed like forever, Samantha and Anais just stared at each other. Anais recalled,  “It was like she was my mirror.” Just to confirm further (not that what happened till now wasn’t confirmation enough) Anais poked Samantha gently and they both burst out laughing. For the next few days, they just hung out together. Anais showed Samantha and her family around London. Then they got the much-awaited call from the clinic.

Lost and Found

Both the girls went to the clinic together and met Dr. Segal who just said this to them, “Turn and hug your identical twin.” They had been doubting this the entire time but having it confirmed… it just knocked them over afresh! It was hard to figure out whether the girls were screaming with laughter or laughing while screaming. But this was not it for the twins, there was something else too. 

No End To Similarities

In an interview, Samantha said, “It was weird, but I feel like there was a strange calm and comfort as well, and something that I can’t really explain.” The more the twins sat down to know each other better, the more similarities popped up. They both found out that as kids they were both sort of tomboys. What about their likes and dislikes?

None Liked Carrots

Their appearance was not the only identical thing about them. They both found out that they shared their dislike of cooked carrots and had a similar sense of humor. They understood each other without words and sometimes they would plan to meet and come having painted their nails in the same color, without planning! The story sounds amazing, but it is not yet over.

Movie Coming To Life

In one of the interviews, Samantha recalled, “I immediately thought she was cool because she made a Lindsay Lohan reference from The Parent Trap. I thought it was cool that we could be twins.” Anais was beyond happy, “I realized I’d never felt happier,” she remarked. They were separated at birth and fate got them together after 25 years! What was their families’ reaction?

Understandably Shocked

None of the adoptive parents- either of Samantha or of Anais knew they their child had a sibling, let alone a twin. So both the families were naturally surprised having found these details about their daughters. Both the families were overwhelmed and welcoming of the twins. Their reactions were teary. 

 Surge Of Emotions

Anais’ father could not control his tears when he met Samantha and the former’s mother said that there could be no doubt that they were twins. Futermans said that, if they knew about the twins, they would have adopted both of them. The twins said,  “Our (adoptive) families treat each other like family. Our families are super close.” Now that they had the support of their families, the twins planned on doing something dramatic.

Returning to their Roots

After meeting each other, they both decided to go to South Korea, see if they could find something about their birth mother. They had little information; a  common contact on both their adoption papers but they decided to give it a try. Samantha contacted the woman enlisted on the documents but the response was not quite what the twins hoped. 

Cold Response

Samantha observed that the woman’s response “wasn’t as warm as we’d hoped.” She further said, “We don’t know if she needs time, or it could be that she doesn’t want to talk to us. We respect whatever her choice, her feelings, and her decisions are.” This experience didn’t deter them from loving each other and taking things to awesome levels.

Letting The World Know

The twins could not know the reason for their separation at birth but they wanted the world to know the story of their meeting. Of the miracle where twins separated at birth found each other after 25 years. Luckily for them, they had been keeping a record and documenting their story. The twins had kept a record of the images and their Skype conversations and their overwhelming first meeting and their hangouts and trips together. They decided to compile everything to turn it all into something magical.

Headlining

Well, the story of twins separated at birth and reuniting after 25 years is obviously a headline maker. The girls were born in South Korea and lived in two separate continents- it means that the coverage their story got was HUGE. From Korea to Europe to U.S news stations and TV talk shows lined up to get their interviews and increase their TRPs. The girls had a different plan. 

Twinsters

Samantha had a career in L.A. She worked in the film industry and she knew that hers and Anais’ story was interesting. Their real-life story is what the fictional Hollywood movies were about and she suggested that they make a documentary on their journey. They used their images and videos to create a documentary called Twinsters. They could not, in their dreams have imagined the impact of their documentary.

Winning Awards

The 90 minutes documentary released in 2015 on Netflix. It was premiered at the Southwest Festival where not only did it receive a warm response but also an award for editing. At the Los Angeles Pacific Film Festival the documentary was recognized as the best one at the event. After receiving such a positive response the twins decided to share their story in other ways.

Documenting In A Book

Now that they had a documentary they decided to record their experiences on paper and both wrote a book titled Separated @Birth: A True Love Story of Twin Sisters Reunited. Their growing fame soon got Will Ferell’s attention. How did it happen?

Hollywood Action

Twinsters had become such a hit that ABC production house bought the rights to the comedy series named Funny or Die that Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, and their team had based on the documentary. Though the sisters were psyched about all the attention, fame was not the first thing on their mind or their final destination.

Creating Awareness

All the twins wanted to do was create more awareness for families and adoptees. Samantha co-founded an adoption advocacy group for the same purpose. She said,  “It feels good to know we’re working for a greater purpose.” 

Where Are They Now

Currently, Anais is a handbag designer in Paris and Samantha is going strong in LA. Their different career paths keep them separate but they stay in touch every day. Distance has not weakened their bond or their excitement of having each other.  “We’re not worried about being separated again, we know we’ll never let it happen,” they said.

Good things are waiting to happen to you, they are just taking their time. Just like these twins found each other out against all odds, you might find something that you didn’t even know existed.