Eighteen years ago, Patricia Tavis, a woman from New Jersey adopted Yasamma Gedala, born in Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh.
She named her Samantha Mari Tavis.
Tavis is now using Facebook, and asking people to spread the hashtag #FindingMariya, in an effort to reunite her adopted Indian daughter with her birth sister.
Last month, Tavis posted a photo of her daughter, asking her friends and friends of friends to help her find Mariyamma Gedala, her daughter's birth sister.
This is a promise that Tavis had made to her daughter. "I had promised my daughter when she graduated from high school and her sister was 18, we would try to find her," she wrote.
"We believe Mariyamma was adopted by a family in India. I am asking my friends and family to share this far and wide so my daughter might know the baby sister she still remembers and longs to see again," she posted with the hashtag #FindingMariya, sharing her own contact details.
Each week, she posted an update with more information and asking her friends to help.
"I am thankful to all of my friends who are helping me in the quest to find Samantha's biological sister," she posted last week.
A woman from Rajahmundry, Samantha's birthplace, reached out to Tavis and shared the message in her city. Soon, several people from the city were sharing the post. "I am more hopeful than ever that we will be able to locate Samantha's sister or someone who knows her," she wrote.
"The trauma of being separated from her birth family has left a lasting impact on Samantha. I am hoping if she can find her sister, it will somehow heal the painful memories of losing them," Tavis wrote in a FB post.
Tavis' post has been shared over 2,600 times and people from India have offered to help in the search.
Just like Tavis, we are waiting for a happy ending to this story.