A chance meeting on a softball field turned into an emotional family reunion: Samantha Renswald, a 19-year-old from Montana, discovered that one of the players on the opposing team was her biological sister, whom she had never met.
Renswald, adopted as an infant, had known for years that she had a younger sister who had also been placed for adoption. But the adoption proceedings were sealed, and she had no idea where her sister lived or what she looked like.
During the tournament, a teammate approached Renswald and pointed out an 18-year-old player named Kiana Dean on the rival team. The teammate remarked that the physical resemblance between the two was striking.
At first, Renswald struggled to believe it could be her lost sister, but curiosity got the better of her. After sharing the observation with her adoptive mother, the two checked the tournament roster. When the name Kiana appeared, it turned out to be the exact name Samantha's biological mother had given her younger daughter.
Renswald's mother then approached Dean's family, and the two families compared details about the biological mother and the hospital where the girls were born. The details matched, and both families realized the two players were indeed sisters separated in infancy.
After the meeting, additional surprising similarities emerged: both had played volleyball in high school, in the same position and even wearing the same jersey number.
Today the sisters attend colleges in different states, but they stay in touch and plan to continue meeting.
For Renswald, the encounter provided an answer to a question that had followed her for years. She said that in the past, she would tell people she had a sister she'd never met, and now she can finally attach a face and a name to that mysterious figure in her life.
