When Paula O'Brien and Abbey Donohoe first met at a party thrown by a mutual friend four years ago in Bettendrof, Iowa, the other guests were struck by how alike they both looked. The comparisons even went as far as calling 29-year-old Abbey and 39-year-old Paula sisters - but incredibly, a Facebook posting from last week revealed those first impressions to be not so far from the truth. On Wednesday, March 6th, Paula sent out a heartfelt post recalling how her brother gave up his daughter for adoption almost 30-years-ago, which set in motion a chain of events which revealed that Abbey was in fact that child - Paula's niece.
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Paula O'Brien, 39, discovered last week that her friend of four years, Abbey Donohoe, 29, is in fact her niece
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Abbey was given up for adoption by Paula's brother almost 30-years-ago
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Paula's family has celebrated Abbey's birthday every year in her absence
Paula O'Brien
Paula
Paula
Paula
Paula O'Brien
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Paula
Abbey Donohoe (left) discovered that @placeholder (right) was her aunt after a random Facebook post mentioning her adoption was posted by Paula last week
Paula O'Brien
Paula
Paula
Paula
Paula O'Brien
Paula
Paula
Abbey Donohoe (left) discovered that Paula O'Brien (right) was her aunt after a random Facebook post mentioning her adoption was posted by @placeholder last week