Boys meet through friends, find out they are brothers

Two boys in the United States received the surprise of a lifetime while visiting their neighbourhood swimming pool in June.

Isaac Nolting, 12, was introduced to Dakotah Zimmer, 13, by a friend of a friend. They quickly noticed similarities in their appearance. They had the same hair, feet, nose and hands. People even started asking if they were related. Dakotah told Isaac that he had a brother who was adopted by a woman named Dawn.

When Isaac got home, he asked his mum, Dawn Nolting, if he was adopted. She revealed that in fact he was, and that his mother had been a teenager who was unable to take care of him the way that she wanted to when he was a baby.

Dawn volunteered to look after him, and his mother visited him often but never took him home again. Dawn eventually adopted Isaac when he was 18 months old. She had been looking for the right time to tell him, but just had not gotten up the courage to do so. Dawn knew the two boys would meet soon, because they would be at the same school the following academic year.

So the mystery was solved. Isaac and Dakotah are brothers. The boys' biological mother passed away in 2007, and their father died a year later. Dakotah now lives with his biological grandmother and his sister, Ashley, in Augusta.

Isaac and Dakotah are absolutely thrilled to have connected with each other. In fact, they spent their birthdays together this fall. They also have weekend sleepovers, playing Xbox, riding bikes and skateboarding.