The Power Of the Documentary
Documentaries have the power to change a person’s life. For example, Food Inc. caused many people to reconsider their eating habits. Making a Murder urged people to start questioning the American justice system. If you have the right message and the right crew, you can make a documentary that can change people’s lives. A 2018 documentary impacted a New Jersey woman, and she couldn’t shake the message from her head. But right now, let’s talk about Michele
Michele Mordkoff
Michele Mordkoff is the New Jersey woman in question. She has always known that she was adopted. Her parents always told her the story about the day they went to the agency to bring her home and how happy it made them. In July 2018, Michele was browsing through her phone when she came across an article describing a new movie. The plot of the film started to make her wonder about her own past. The name of the movie was Three Identical Strangers, and it was a docudrama. The movie was about three young men who during their time in college, discovered that they were separated at birth by their adoption agency. The three brothers were raised without knowing that the other existed.
Movie About Triplets: Louis Wise Services
The parents of the triplets in the film also didn’t know that their adopted children had brothers. The adoption agency, Louis Wise Services, intentionally kept the boys apart, and everyone wondered why. It turned out that the triplets in the film were part of a secret experiment by the late psychologist named Dr. Peter Neubeuer. He wanted to study the effects of different economic status, locations, and other significant factors had on people with the same DNA.
Michele’s Reaction
When Michele saw the name of the agency in the movie, her heart started to race. She was adopted by that same adoption agency, and her birth year was close to that of the triplets in the film. She couldn’t help but wonder if she had any siblings that she didn’t know about. Was she part of the experiment also? Michele decided to contact a journalist named Lisa Belkin, who once investigated the adoption agency.
DNA Test
Lisa suggested that Michele take a DNA test to find out if she had any relatives around the world. Lisa brought her a 23andMe test, and she waited anxiously for a few weeks for the results. The agency found someone with a full DNA match, which meant that they were an immediate member of her family, possibly a sibling. There was no picture of this individual, and there was no full name. The only information Michele received was the initials, AK.
Turning To Facebook
Michele couldn’t deal with the curiosity. She wanted to know who this member of her family was, so she went on Facebook and searched for a name that came up on her family tree, Kyle Kanter. And she searched through his friends list for hours, and finally, she hit the jackpot. She found a woman named Allison Rodnon Kanter from Calabasas, California. Her initials matched the results of the KNA profile, but it was the woman’s photo that struck her the most. Michele says that she saw herself in this woman. She decided to dig a bit deeper, and she checked out her date of birth. It was May 12, 1964, which is her birthday. She says that she lost her footing and dropped to the floor.
A Twin
Michele couldn’t believe that she had a sister out there all this time. Her son, Andrew, says that his mother’s discovery was crazy. He says that it makes her a whole different person knowing that they had a family out there.
A Meeting
Knowing that she had a twin sister out there wasn’t enough for Michele. On August 10th, the two women agreed to meet face to face. Lisa was there the whole way, documenting the incredible event. The women agreed to meet at a hotel in New York City, and her son went along with her. They sat together, waiting for Allison to walk through the door.
Clicking
When the women first met, before even speaking to one another, they clicked. Their physical appearance, their hair, and even their clothing style were similar. The women found out that Michele was adopted at 5-months-old, and two days later, Allison was adopted by another family. They couldn’t understand why the adoption agency would have done this to them. They missed out on the opportunity to be sisters.
Remaining Close
Although the women didn’t grow up together, they vowed to start living like sisters. Michele says that having Allison in her life gives her a feeling that she is complete, which is something that she never felt before. Both women agree that it is crazy that a movie about triplets brings two complete strangers together. They both agree that they will be close forever.
