They were twin girls, born with the names Loan and Hà in Vietnam, to a mother who could not afford to keep both children. So Loan ended up adopted, to a family that lived in faraway Chicago and renamed her Isabella.
It was Isabella's adoptive mother who realized her daughter had a living twin in the world, and thus began the journey to reunite the twins, told in Erika Hayasaki's Somewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity, and the Meaning of Family.
The book expands upon the story of Hà and Isabella, to take in the history of twin studies, the definition of family, and more. The author joins us for a chat.