Christine Courtwright’s mother revealed to her 45 years ago that she had a half-sibling and she was finally united with her estranged sister decades later.

The Florida native guarded the secret until she decided to take a DNA test to begin the process of finding her half-sister.

Christine's father had another child from a previous relationship and this was revealed when Christine was a young adult but she was hesitant to believe and pursue her claims.

Coincidentally, Christine had become a genealogist years later and utilised a MyHeritage DNA test to finally track down her half-sibling which prompted a match to Liz Cuccinello from Dover, Delaware.

Liz was an adopted child with no information about her biological family, but with the help of the MyHeritage tests she connected with Christine after 67 years.

They began to correspond over the phone before finally meeting in person, embracing at the airport with warm welcomes and began to build their sisterly relationship at nearly 70 years old.

Christine said: "Just touching her, I knew she was family."

ENDS