TRUE SISTERS: Identical twins Rosabelle Glasby and Dorothy Loader have now been recognised as sisters by Immigration authorities. Picture: Supplied

A YEAR ago, these identical twins were left heartbroken after authorities told them they were not officially related because they had been adopted as babies by different families.

This week they are celebrating after migration officials did a backflip, paving the way for the siblings to be reunited in WA. Carnarvon woman Rosabelle Glasby was devastated when told she could not bring her sister to Australia to live from Malaysia because the Department of Immigration and Citizenship did not consider them to be related.

Mrs Glasby and her sister, Dorothy Loader, who were adopted by different families soon after birth in Malaysia, were apart for nearly 50 years before finally meeting last year.

According to migration laws, the legal relationship between siblings - even identical twins - is severed when they are adopted out.

The Sunday Times revealed the case in January last year. But sorrow turned to joy this week when Federal Immigration and Citizenship Minister Chris Evans said he had intervened on compassionate grounds.

The move means Ms Loader, who has been living in WA on a bridging visa, can obtain a permanent visa to remain with her twin.

Mrs Glasby choked back tears this week, describing the visa approval as "wonderful news".

"We're identical twin sisters - we're the same egg," Mrs Glasby said. "It's hard to get anyone more related to me.

"Now, hopefully, we can be together for the rest of our lives. It's such a happy ending to a long, hard year dealing with the Immigration Department."

Mrs Glasby was adopted by a Dutch family and lived in Singapore until 1977, when she followed another adoptive sister to Perth as an 18-year-old. Following an arduous search for her twin that stretched two decades, Mrs Glasby located her and the pair finally met in Perth for an emotional reunion.

Having spent time in Australia and then Malaysia getting to know each another, Ms Loader said they were desperate to be together.

"We have a bond that perhaps only other identical twins can understand," she said. "We don't just want to be together, we need to be together; it is as strong as that."

Mrs Glasby, a former WA Health Department worker who now acts as a carer for her disabled husband, echoed the sentiments.

"She calls me the yin and I call her the yang - as a whole, we work together as one," she said. "We've totally bonded and we want to be together."

Mrs Glasby's husband, Marc, said he found it difficult to understand the department's policy in denying the original visa application.

"It doesn't make sense - I think the typical phrase is 'bureaucracy gone mad'," he said. "It's been a long time coming, but now we have this hope of a new life together. We always believed this was the country of the fair go."

By TREVOR PADDENBURG

Source: perthnow.com.au