In a heartwarming story of chance and fate, two women from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, learned that they were actually sisters after nearly 17 years of friendship.

Ashley Thomas, 31, and Toya Wimberly, 29, learned that they actually have the same father after more than a decade of being friends and lifelong comments from others about how similar they look, 6 ABC reports.

According to the local news outlet, their friendship goes back to the 6th grade when both women attended Sulzberger Middle School in Philadelphia.

The two instantly struck up a friendship and began braiding each other’s hair, forging an incredibly close bond that they now know was that of two long-lost sisters.

Many people told the two that they looked alike while they were both living on the west side of Philadelphia, but they never thought anything of it, chalking it up to coincidence.

“Both grew up having huge gaps in their front teeth and high cheekbones. Funnily enough, they both are currently wearing braces to fix the former,” 6 ABC reported.

About 15 years ago, Thomas learned that the man she thought was her biological father wasn’t actually her dad even though he helped raise her and was an integral part of her life.

When Thomas’ mother died a few years later, family members began to connect the dots when they saw Wimberly's dad, Kenneth, in Facebook photos at an engagement party, according to Newsweek.

One of Thomas’ mother’s best friends saw Kenneth in the photos and immediately remembered him as someone they used to hang out with. He had always joked that Thomas was his daughter, but after speaking with her mother’s friends, he began to remember what happened.

The two friends did a DNA test and realized they were both daughters of Kenneth.

Prior to knowing they were sisters, the two women continued to bond over their remarkable similarities, including a keen knack of entrepreneurship.

According to 6 ABC, Wimberly runs a children's transportation company called Global Rides Transportation and Thomas owns Hot Headz Hair Studio.

The similarities don’t stop there. Both women were pregnant at the same time with men who are brothers themselves.

It’s unclear why it took this long but Kenneth said he had "mixed emotions" after discovering he has another daughter.

"I was hurt, but also happy to find out that this beautiful and successful young lady was my daughter," he said. “It was just God's work, man."

Toya-Wimberly

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