A pair of identical twins from the UK has been reunited after discovering they had grown up within the same town after 67 years apart.
Jennifer and Judith Walton were given up by their unmarried mum Eva in 1943. The two girls lived separately with their adoptive parents in the town they were born. The pair shared the same doctor, dentist and even a friend yet never knew they lived close to each other.
Both women, who still live in Rotherham, Yorkshire, could have crossed paths at any time. For the last 40 years, Jennifer has worked at the same Boots store where Judith – renamed Kath by her adoptive parents - got her prescriptions.
Jennifer also revealed that when she was 11, a school friend told her that a friendly neighbour, nicknamed Aunty Eva, was actually her mum. The same friend also told Jennifer she had a long-lost sister but didn’t know any more details.
Fourteen years ago, Jennifer had tried to track down Kath through social services but was unsuccessful. Jennifer said, “I dreamed of one day finding my sister and, because I couldn’t find her, I imagined she was in Australia. When I found she was round the corner, I felt so happy.”
The mum-of-three continued, “Now we see each other every week and pop round to each other’s home for cups of tea.”
The twins were reunited after a TV series, ITV’s ‘Long Lost Family’, helped to locate and set up a meeting with the estranged sisters. Viewers will see Jennifer and Kath’s emotional reunion at Rotherham’s Clifton Park bandstand where the sisters played as kids.
Kath was told at age 21 that she was adopted but never knew of her twin. The mum-of-two said the reunion was, “Wonderful. I saw her coming and wanted to run, and then we hugged. We couldn’t take our eyes off each other.”
Jennifer added, “I had seen a clairvoyant who told me, 'You are a twin and will find her. She lives near a church where the wall is falling down' - all true!”
Jennifer and Kath’s story will be told on Long Lost Family, April 21st on ITV at 9pm
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