This interesting story was 17 years in the making. It all began at Sulzberger Middle School in Philadelphia where 6th-grader, Ashley Thomas, would practice styling hair on her new best friend, Toya Wimberly. Over time, many said this best friend duo from West Philly looked and acted like sisters.
What We Know:
- About fifteen years ago, Ashley ended up learning that her father, Mike, was not her biological parent. This however, never stopped Mike from being the best father he could be to Ashley. Unfortunately, her mother passed away several years later.
- Toya’s father, Kenneth, always joked that Ashley was his daughter, but it wasn’t until last week that he finally learned the truth. It all started as a chain reaction on social media. Kenneth was pictured in photos of his daughter, Toya’s engagement party on Facebook.
- It was because of that social media interaction that lead Ashley’s late mother’s best friend to recognize him as someone they used to hang out with. Kenneth recalled the women and started putting the pieces together. This prompted the group to conduct a DNA test. The results came back and confirmed both girls were the daughters of Kenneth Wimberly. Ashley, 31, and Toya, 29, are sisters after all.
- Kenneth Wimberly said he was shocked by the news. “I was hurt, but also happy to find out that this beautiful and successful young lady was my daughter,” he told Newsweek.
- On a more humorous and touching note, both girls grew up having huge gaps in their front teeth and high cheekbones, which they are also both fixing with braces. They also recently planned a group trip to Miami, of which only both sisters ended up pulling through with, so it ended up deepening their bond even before they knew they were related.
- Both siblings became pregnant at the same time and the fathers of their first children are brothers themselves. Interestingly enough, they learn they have the same father as well. At this point in their lives, the whole family is left to wonder, “why now?”
Perhaps this is yet another case of life working in mysterious ways.
