Best friends of 17 years find out they're sisters

Kenneth (middle) was revealed to be both Latoya (left) and Ashley's dad.

After being best friends for 17 years, two best friends were shocked to find out that they are biological sisters.

Ashley Thomas, 31, and Latoya Wimberly, 29, met at a birthday party in 2004 and soon became incredibly close and formed an "unbreakable bond", CNN reports.

The pair also shared similar physical attributes including gap teeth, high cheekbones and the same shoe size.

Kenneth (middle) was revealed to be both Latoya (left) and Ashley's dad.

However, it wasn't until Thomas shared photos of herself with Wimberly and her father, Kenneth, on Facebook, that they discovered they were all actually related.

Thomas was 15 when she learned that the man who had raised her was not her biological father.

Her mother, who died 11 years ago, never told who her father was.

But when her mother's best friend came across the photo of the three of them, she recognised Wimberly's dad and got in touch.

"She said she and Ashley's mum used to hang around him back when they were young," Wimberly told CNN.

"When Ashley told me, I knew something didn't click. So I asked her to send me a picture of her mum's best friend and showed it to my dad and asked him if he recognised her."

Her dad confirmed that he knew Thomas' mum and said they had shared a brief romantic relationship.

The girls became best friends when they met in 2004.

That is when they all speculated Kenneth could be both of the girls' father.

After getting a DNA test, their suspicions were proven correct as the test revealed the pair were indeed half-sisters.

"When Kenny told me he was my dad, chills went through my body. I couldn't think. I couldn't process it. I couldn't even talk to them," Thomas said.

Wimberly largely took on a fatherly role in Thomas' life previous to the news, and often referred to the two friends as "my girls".

"She was extremely close to my entire family on both sides. If my father is taking me out, Ashley's coming with me. If someone asks who are those girls, he says 'Those are my girls'. If she has a car problem or any kind of issue, she always goes to my dad. But somehow our families never met," Wimberly said.

Thomas said she was still coming to terms with knowing her real father, but was looking forward to bonding with her and developing a closer relationship.