A young woman who was snatched from hospital just after her birth has been miraculously reunited with her biological family after 18 years when she ended up in the same school with her real sister.

The case  came to light when school pupils noticed a strong resemblance between a student and a new girl.

A woman has been charged with stealing a newborn baby 18 years ago and appeared briefly in a South African court.

The case in the Cape Town High Court was postponed until tomorrow by Judge John Hlophe after prosecutors said they needed time to formalise agreements on a number of admissions by the defence.

The 50-year-old woman has been on bail since March last year after DNA tests confirmed that the new girl at the school and a 17-year-old final-year student were in fact biological sisters.

The new girl was the daughter of Celeste and Morne Nurse, whose first child was taken as a three-day-old baby named Zephany in April 1997 from Cape Town’s Groote Schuur hospital.

Morne said “We never gave up hope of seeing our beautiful daughter again one day. Our prayers have been answered”