(NECN: Lauren Collins, Exeter, N.H.) - Bonnie Ward remembers the moment her daughter was "hers." It was in a hotel room in China and she reached her hand into the little girl's crib.
"She put her hand over my hand and she looked up at me and she smiled," remembers Ward holding back tears. "And I knew right then we'd be ok. That it would be ok."
Three years later the Exeter, NH, the mom adopted a second girl from the same province. Passersby would think Creighton and Reilly were adopted together or were twins.
"People would see pictures that were Reilly and would think it was of Creighton. And I would say, 'No, that's Reilly, no that's Creighton.'"
Ward dismissed the similarities for years before she decided to have her daughters' DNA tested.
"And the people at the genetic testing laboratory said that because I didn't have a biological parent to test, they couldn't guarantee I would get any useful information."
But those tests did come back with results that were 99.7 percent certain. Creighton and Reilly are biological sisters.
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"Everybody was astounded," says Ward. "I mean never in a million years did I expect that result."
That remarkable longshot has sent the Wards back to China several times to look for the girls' birth parents. Even with the help of a professional, the chances are slim but this family will take the odds. Chinese media has picked up their story. The national television network profiled the family on a recent trip to Disney World.
Reilly just wants to tell her birth parents she's happy and has a good life. Creighton, who's now 14, is satisfied with what she already knows - the same thing she knew the day the test results came back.
Ward beams about that moment, still. "She looked at me with all the wisdom of innocence of a 5-year- old and she said, 'Mama, we were already sisters.' And it's true."
The Wards plan to return to China next summer.
