It was May of 2019 and Rebekah (Bekah) Clark was typing away at her job as a customer success manager in Omaha, Neb. Her phone screen lit up with a 23andMe notification that read, “Your results are in!”

The app – which offers DNA testing and ancestry information – was a birthday present to Bekah, who dutifully sent in her DNA sample and promptly forgot about it until that day when her phone lit up at work.

“The very first thing that pops up when I opened it was, ‘You have a half-sister,’” Bekah recalled.

Halfway across the country, Laura Lorenz was working as a psychotherapist in Flagstaff, Ariz. She received a message from Bekah that read, “Well, I think we’re sisters!”

In the days and weeks that followed, a torrential exchange of emotions, photos and plans to meet in person began for the half-sisters who were never aware of each other but always knew there was a missing piece to their stories. The two met for the first time in 2019 and since then, have been making up for lost time.

Divergent paths

Born May 22, 1984, in North Platte, Neb., Laura was part of a closed adoption process in which information about her biological parents was kept sealed.

“I was, as far as my parents knew, the only child this woman had had,” Laura said, now a Fountain Hills Unified School District school counselor and a Ph.D. psychology student at Grand Canyon University. Five days after birth, Laura was handed over to her adopted parents, Nancy Lorenz, who spent 15 years as a Fountain Hills High School counselor, and Al Lorenz, a retired telecommunications executive and former member of the Fountain Hills Parks and Recreation Commission. The Lorenz family moved to Fountain Hills in 1995.

Nearly two years later, Bekah was born to the same mother on April 11, 1986, and adopted seven days later by James and Maria Hughes through Nebraska Children’s Home. Today, Bekah lives in Omaha with her husband, Michael.

“When I turned 18, [my biological parents] had letters for me that were scribbled out,” Bekah said. “The gist of it was, ‘Please don’t hate us for what we did. We weren’t in a place to really provide you the best life, so this was the option that we thought was best for you.’”

Despite not having strong personal relationships with their biological mother, Bekah and Laura hold no ill will toward her. Throughout their childhood, however, they both felt a void that couldn’t be explained before they met each other. Little did they know, they were closer than they ever imagined.

Ships in the night

Growing up in the Midwest, Bekah and Laura both ran track in school. During the indoor track season, both attended the same events, ran the same races and were even in the same building without knowing it.

“We were probably sitting or standing pretty close to each other because of our events,” Laura said.

When they finally met outside Laura’s home in Flagstaff, Laura said it felt like a homecoming.

“Everything snapped into place,” she said. “It felt like this was supposed to happen. We were supposed to have this connection.”

“It wasn’t weird or awkward,” Bekah said, remembering Nancy running out of the house in delight, camera in hand. After meeting for the first time, Bekah and Laura took a trip to Zion National Park and in March of 2021, Laura had the honor of officiating Bekah’s wedding.

Over the years, the two have become well acquainted, learning their similarities and differences. Bekah is quick to act while Laura likes to think things through. Bekah is highly sequential, organizing her closet by color, while Laura is “random.” Bekah is untroubled with the idea of children while Laura loves kids and is a mother to her 10-year-old son, Jack. Having gone decades without knowing each other, the two have considered creating a podcast and naming it, “But Wait, There’s More!”

“We found each other, we've grown, we've addressed a lot of things. There's still a bunch of stuff that we're going to encounter…but the biggest support is knowing that we're going to do it together,” Laura said.

Laura’s mother Nancy said it’s rewarding to see their relationship blossom over the last four years. She documented their first meeting in a photo album.

“I see reunions on TV and YouTube, but these two are more fun to watch…they both make the world a better place in so many good ways.”

Long-lost family

As the two begin their new life of sisterhood, Bekah and Laura have learned of one more surprise that may change their lives once again.

“We found out that we also have a 20-year-old brother,” Bekah said. The sisters haven’t decided on how and when to contact him, but when that time comes, they want him to know they’re here for him no matter what.

For those searching for answers in their lives, Laura offers a word of hope.

“For anyone that feels like, ‘My story doesn’t make sense,’ I know how that feels. It may not right now, and you might get more answers later, but for right now, that’s OK. It doesn’t mean you’re any less important.”