Reunion requires 78 years
FULLERTON, Calif. — It’s been 78 years since Ann Hunt and Elizabeth Hamel were last together — in their mother’s womb.
The twin sisters were reunited last week for the first time since birth in Fullerton, Calif., thanks to a nudge from their children and help from a psychology professor.
Hunt, who lives in England, was given up for adoption and only learned she had a twin when she began looking for her birth mother after her adopted mother died.
Hamel, who lives in Oregon, always knew she had a twin but says she never thought she would see her.
“How lovely to see you in the flesh,” Hamel said, as she embraced her sister at a hotel in Fullerton. The women were to spend time in testing at the Twin Studies Center at California State University, Fullerton, with professor Nancy Segal, who researches twins who were raised apart to better understand the role of genes and environment in development.
Both women were born in England in 1936. Their mother, a domestic servant, decided to give up one of the girls after their birth father fled. Hamel said she kept her because she was born with curvature of the spine, which would have made it more difficult for her to be adopted.
Hamel grew up an only child. She met her husband — a “Yank”— while stationed with the Women’s Royal Enlisted Navy in Malta, and eventually moved to the United States.
Hunt was adopted and also raised as an only child. She only learned a year ago she was a twin.
