A Montana high school softball player discovered she had a long-lost sister when she faced her sibling on the opposing team — and a teammate pointed out how much the pair looked alike.
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pair → discover → team
Samantha Rensvold, 19, was playing in a softball tournament in Belgrade, Mont., last August when a teammate noticed Kyann Dean, 18, on the opposing squad.
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teammate → play → squad
Rensvold, who is adopted, knew she had a younger biological sister, but the closed adoption meant she didn’t know where her sister was or what she looked like.
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she → adopt → what
“I hadn’t seen her close up yet when my teammate was pointing out to me,” Rensvold told People on Sept. 30.
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Rensvold → see → Sept.
“I was like, ‘There’s no way that this would happen to me right now,’” Rensvold added.
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Rensvold → ’ → me
Rensvold didn’t approach Dean after the game because she wasn’t certain they were related, but after telling her mom about the resemblance, they checked the tournament roster and saw Dean’s name.
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they → approach → name
“My mom knew that that’s what my birth mom named her,” Rensvold said.
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Rensvold → know → her
“So my mom was like, ‘That has to be your sister.
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That → have → ?
That’s not a coincidence.’”
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That → ’ → ?
Rensvold’s mom approached Dean’s family at the tournament, and the two compared their adopted daughters’ biological mother’s name and the hospital where the girls were born, which matched.
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which → approach → name
When the sisters finally met, they shook hands in shock on the softball field and laughed.
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they → meet → field
“There’s a girl on my all-state team who looks just like you, Rensvold’s teammate said in the clip, obtained by Inside Edition on Tuesday.
“We were just freaking out.
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We → ’ → Tuesday
It was like, ‘Oh my God,’” Rensvold’s mom told the outlet, which compared the sisters’ unexpected meeting to the 1998 movie “The Parent Trap,” starring Lindsay Lohan.
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which → tell → Lohan
In the film, Lohan plays twin sisters who meet unexpectedly at an all-girls summer camp and realize they look exactly alike.
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they → play → camp
Rensvold and Dean were excited to find each other, but Rensvold revealed it took time to process the moment.
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it → find → moment
“It’s like we didn’t know what to feel because you’ve waited your whole lives for this moment,” Rensvold told People.
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Rensvold → ’ → People
The sisters, who did not take a DNA test, were adopted as babies by separate families in Great Falls, Mont.
Rensvold grew up in Polson in the northwest part of the state while Dean lived 400 miles away in Worden.
Rensvold said their biological parents were 19 and 17 when she was born.
“I’ve always just assumed that they were too young and they wanted to give me a better life that maybe they couldn’t give me,” she said.
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she → take → me
“What I don’t know is why they had two more [children] and then gave them both up for adoption.”
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they → know → adoption
Montana law makes adoption proceedings confidential and automatically sealed, meaning they can only be unsealed or released by a specific court order, according to the Adoptee Rights Law Center.
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they → make → Center
Rensvold and Dean have since discovered several similarities beyond their appearance.
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Rensvold → discover → appearance
Both played volleyball in high school, both wore No. 6 and both played the same position.
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both → play → position
They also have the same “little giggle,” Rensvold said.
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Rensvold → have → giggle
Rensvold now attends Spokane College in Washington state, where she appeared in 26 softball games and started 13, recording 11 wins and five losses during her freshman year.
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she → attend → year
Dean attends college in North Dakota and recently visited Rensvold and her family at Spokane.
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Dean → attend → Spokane
“When I would talk to people about my situation with my biological family, I’d always have to explain ‘I have a sister,’” Rensvold said.
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Rensvold → talk → sister
“But now it’s so nice to be able to put a face to her and to meet her, hang out with her.
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it → ’ → her
It doesn’t leave any doubt or wonder in my mind,” she added.
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she → leave → mind
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