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Chandler woman's illness reveals link to family
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Angela Dominick
Cinda Andrews
Half sisters who found each other after 37 years are finally going to meet in person on Friday at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
Chandler resident Angela Dominick, 43, said she grew up believing she was the youngest of four children in Lansing, N.Y.
She never knew she had a younger sister until she lost a kidney following a long illness and needed a blood transfusion.
Her family was tested for her rare blood type, but nobody's blood matched.
That's when Dominick's mother decided to tell her that the man she thought was her father really wasn't - opening a door of possibilities, including her birth father's matching blood type.
Dominick's mom gave her the name of somebody she thought was a relative listed in the phone book.
On Feb. 6, 2006, Dominick called the number and found her unknown sister's uncle. He told her that her biological father had committed suicide in 1991.
He didn't give Dominick the name or number of her sister, but he passed along other information.
Eight hours later, Cinda Andrews called Dominick from her home in Belmont, N.Y.
"I think I may be your sister," Andrews told Dominick.
"It was really cool," Dominick said. "She never questioned that she could be my sister, and I was really afraid of how she would react."
Since then, the two have been exchanging information and photographs.
Phone calls and pictures revealed remarkable similarities in both facial features and life experiences.
Both sisters have naturally curly hair and the same-shaped eyes, mouth and face.
"I have this very oval face and pronounced chin, and no one else in my family had that," Dominick said. "She looked just like me. At various points in my life, we could've passed as twins."
Along with finding her younger sister, Dominick discovered she also had a younger brother.
"I went from being the youngest of four to the oldest of three," Dominick said.
Her brother, David Root, is 42 and Andrews is 37.
Dominick has been married for 16 years and has 7-year-old identical twin daughters.
In December, Andrews miscarried with identical twin boys.
The siblings also discovered they attended school together in Lansing for about 18 months.
Regarding the blood transfusion, Dominick said she still has ongoing medical problems.
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