Adopted Chinese twins reunite thanks to Internet

CHICAGO -- Two years ago, the Funk family of suburban Chicago adopted a baby girl from China who had been abandoned on a sidewalk near a Yangzhou textile factory.

Last year and half a country away, the Ramirez family of suburban Miami adopted a girl who had been abandoned a week later on the same spot.

Both families named their daughters Mia. Turns out, a first name and Chinese heritage aren't the only things the 3-year-olds have in common.

The girls' mothers -- Holly Funk and Diana Ramirez -- met on a Web site for parents who had gone through international adoptions. After a flurry of e-mails comparing photographs and biographical details, DNA testing proved the families' suspicions: The girls are probably fraternal twins.

"I was in shock," said Ramirez, who lives with husband Carlos in Pembroke Pines, Fla. "I was like, 'OK, well, now this is for real."'

The Internet, especially Web groups revolving around international orphanages, are increasingly being used to link adopted children with biological kin. The site that the Funks and Ramirezes used has a membership of 137 people, with 15 sets of twins and seven sets of siblings who have been confirmed.

At a reunion Friday at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, Mia Diamond Funk and Mia Hanying Ramirez shyly surveyed each other, then reached for each other's hand.

"I'm just awed," said Funk, of Lyons. "Grateful to God. To me, it's a divine thing. It's a miracle."

DNA tests established an 85 percent probability that the girls are at least half sisters. Scientists did not have a biological parent to test and reach a greater certainty, but given their ages and physical similarities, experts say it's likely they are fraternal twins.

Douglas and Holly Funk hope to bring their Mia to Miami in October. Both sets of parents say they are committed to staying in touch and often let the twins talk to each other on the phone.

They say their respective broods -- the Funk's five biological children and a 4-year-old brother adopted from Taiwan, and the Ramirezes' two sons, ages 13 and 10 -- will be an extended family for the girls.