Now for a story of love, identity, hope, and how finding one can lead to another.
"I felt like an outsider for a really long time," said Isla Vu.
Have you ever wondered if there's something more out there? Something yet to come into focus but yearning to be found.
"I started feeling like there was a part of me that was missing," she said.
What if that something more is who you are?
"I could never name why it was that I always felt so disconnected from people."
Isla, 26, describes what it felt like for her growing up in Northeast Ohio after being adopted from Vietnam.
"I love her," said Paula Boyer, Isla's mother.
Paula says she's loved Isla since the first time they met.
It was 1998, and Paula kept a journal detailing the journey halfway around the world to meet the little girl who would become her daughter.
Paula read a passage from the journal:
"We went to the orphanage to see our children, and my little sweetie is so cute; I feel so bad, though, because it is so obvious that she has bonded with her caretakers. Taking her away from here is going to be very hard on her and me because I can feel what she is feeling."
Isla's birth mother placed her in the orphanage when she was 2 years old. Adoption records show financial distress following the death of Isla's father during an economic crisis in the country.
One mother's agonizing decision was fulfilling the dreams of another.
"You have learned so much and just blossomed," read a separate journal entry from one-year post-adoption. "You are very affectionate and have really bonded with me."
In their first year as a family in Ohio, Isla learned English quickly, and for the most part, her childhood was happy, but things changed in young adulthood.
"I started thinking maybe finding my birth family will be what helps me connect the dots to this identity I feel like I've lost," said Isla.
She searched ancestry websites. No luck. Then, she tried something unexpected: A dating app.
"I used Hinge, and I changed my location to a local town in Vietnam.
"I just said, 'Hey, I'm looking for my birth family. If you know these names, if you could get back to me,'" recalled Isla.
She got a match. It was a tip to post on a Facebook page called Subtle Viet Traits. It is an online Vietnamese community with over 100,000 members, where Isla says they discuss everything.
"Maybe half a day later, someone came back saying, 'Hey, I recognize that caretaker; that's my aunt!'"
Isla received an image of the aunt holding a photo of her and Isla taken 24 years prior at the orphanage in Da Nang. It was the same photo sent home with Isla when she was adopted.
Isla says it meant so much to learn that this woman had held onto the photo for all these years and could locate it quickly.
"It shows me and everyone how much these children in the orphanages meant to these caretakers," she said.
Isla didn't have long to process that revelation when another came in, fast.
"I get a message from the caretaker's niece saying, 'Hey, we located your family!'"
There, in a Facebook message, the face of her birth mother stared back at her along with identifying documents.
Then, another message, another face like staring at a mirror.
"A picture of my twin... present day," said Isla.
A picture of her twin.
Just like that, all those years of feeling like a part of her was missing came into focus.
"All of a sudden, my entire life has just changed," she said. "Every part of my reality is just completely new and different."
The possibility of a twin had always been known; Paula heard about it at the orphanage. She searched but found nothing.
"We tried," said Paula. "I wanted to adopt her twin also. I wouldn't want to separate twins!"
Twins separated no longer.
Their faces say it all in their first video call together with a translator.
"I love you so much I just want to say that first," said Isla in the call to her sister.
And, for all these years, it wasn't just Isla wondering if there was something more out there. Her sister Minh PhúÓng has always known, wondered, and hoped they'd be together again.
"She said every birthday she always has a birthday cake, and it has your name on it too," the translator told Isla on their video call.
It turns out Isla was put up for adoption first because she was in better health then. After Isla, her sister was also put up for adoption at a different orphanage but soon reunited with the family.
Isla says all the information she's learned about her past and what she's now piecing together is helping her heal.
"I've battled with depression my entire life, and there have been times where I've wanted to give up completely," she said. "Finding my birth family and my twin sister has given me hope and reason to stay and to fight for the chance to be reunited with them."
The darkness of depression can give way to the cleansing wash of grief resolved.
"Despite feeling isolated, different, and alone at times, my mom did do her best to ensure that I knew I was loved," Isla said of Paula.
Isla plans to visit Vietnam, hoping she and her family can heal together.
"I think it's great," said Paula. "I think we are all going to learn so much from this. If this is what makes her happy, I want it done."
Two truths can exist simultaneously: a love for your adopted family and a yearning to connect with your roots to fully realize who you are.
"My sister said too on our first video call that she can't wait to come here and meet my family and cook for them and tell them thank you in person for raising me and keeping me safe after all these years," said Isla.
Watch live and local news any time:
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
