MINNEAPOLIS — “Is that them?” whispered Eiley Misfeldt, as she waited in the baggage claim area of terminal 2 at Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport.
The stakes for the airport pickup were high, especially because she’d never met the person she was about to pick up: her sister.
Misfeldt lives in Eden Prairie. She took a 23andMe DNA ancestry test over Christmas of 2021. The results: a sister, Soojee Dufresne from upstate New York.
Neither knew the other existed until a few months ago. Sunday, the much anticipated meeting took place.
“You are so much shorter in person!” exclaimed Dufresne after the two saw each other, and ran for their first ever hug.
“I just felt so overwhelmed with happiness,” said Misfeldt.
Dufresne is 27, three years older than Misfeldt. Both were adopted from South Korea when they were just months old. In a way, unknowingly living parallel lives.
“Seeing her in person, she looks even more like me than in the pictures,” said Misfeldt. “I didn’t even think that was possible.”
“I had this kind of back-and-forth of the feelings of ‘is this real’ but also it felt like it was meant to be,” said Dufresne.
A reunion 24 years in the making could have easily never happened. When Misfeldt got her test results back, she sent Dufresne a message through 23andMe. Dufresne, a hairdresser, was at work when she got it.
“It’s wild. And I’m a swiper. I could have easily deleted that because I’m one to go through my emails and clean it up really quick, so it’s just unbelievable,” said Dufresne.
Relief, for what once was a struggle.
“I considered that I was an alien at points in my teenage years because I just didn’t think anyone could be related to me,” said Dufresne.
“I think now I have a sister. I don’t know, it’s a new sister, a new friend. It’s exciting,” said Misfeldt.
Dufresne’s son has a new aunt.
“All I’ve ever known genetics-wise is my son. When he was born, that was my big moment of ‘I have somebody that is related to me, who I know is related to me.’ So it just feels like an expansion of that,” said Dufresne.
A connection always there. Now, made real.
“I can’t wait,” said Dufresne, when asked about the two’s future plans together. “We have a whole list of what we’re gonna do. We have a bucket list of wasted time that we gotta fill.”
Misfeldt and Dufresne are planning a trip to South Korea — where they hope to learn more about their parents. Neither has been there since they were born.
