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Palmer, who has achieved a lifetime dream of having siblings many times over, calls her new kin “a weird alternative-universe version of myself.”

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“There are certain parts of myself that I see in them. This one gets angry in the same way I do. Even the ones I don’t have that much in common with because they are at different stages of their lives, there is something unspoken. There is this connection you can’t really put your finger on. There is a sense of family and knowing who this person is. We are all siblings.”

Dixon has had the others to her house, has met in small groups at bars or over coffee and talks or emails with Palmer in Vancouver frequently.

“I have never had people who physically look like me before. For me, it is the act of claiming each other as brothers and sisters.”

Davina Dixon, who has also met the others, says they are creating a family with each other. “They have all been lovely and supportive of each other in this weird situation.”

And there is no question the situation is at times both joyous and strange.

Dixon calls what Barwin is alleged to have done “such an intimate kind of violation.”

“We talk about relationships in terms of blood. Your DNA is in every cell. You can’t help but pass it on.”

After years of pressing the now 78-year-old Barwin for answers, Palmer says she no longer expects one.

“For such a long time, he was the only person who could give me the answers I needed. Now, I don’t think there is anything else I can ask. I have my answers. I have my siblings. I don’t need him to answer any more questions.”