A woman, who has remained anonymous for her protection, has shared a life-changing story of how her DNA test led her to a long-lost half-brother who lived his life thinking she died in a car accident.
The woman shared via The Sun that she was adopted at 8 years old. When she turned 20 years old, she asked for a DNA test as a birthday gift as she was curious about her ancestors.
The DNA test from 23andMe led to her brother who immediately exchanged messages with her. His first question took the woman by surprise because he told her that he was told she died in a car accident when she was 13 years old.
"How are you alive?" her brother asked.
How Her Brother Learned of Her "Death"
The woman further shared that she was adopted by her father's girlfriend because her biological parents were struggling with addiction. Her brother was 17 years old when she moved to another house. Eventually, she lost contact with her biological family as their visits became less frequent.
Years after her adoption became official, she opened a Facebook account where her biological mother found her. Her biological dad, on the other hand, dropped out of her life completely.
The adoptee was about 13 years old when she reconnected with her biological mom who kept sharing photos of her on Facebook. But the woman said that her biological mother's behavior made her uncomfortable so she decided to block her profile. She went on with her life for the next seven years without any communication from her past family.
Apparently, her brother found out about her "death" at 13 years old from their mother. When he told her that his sister is still alive, their mom was just as shocked about the truth. It turned out that it was their father who said she died and that he needed money for her funeral.
Today, the adoptee and her brother, along with the rest of her siblings, are still keeping in touch but she refuses to have any communication with her birth mom.
Mothers Find Children They Thought Were Dead
In California, a mother also learned that the child she gave birth to at 17 years old, over three decades ago, was still alive. Tina Bejarano reunited with her son, Kristin, after he emailed her because of his DNA test.
Bejarano said that her mother didn't want her to keep the baby. She was told that the infant died 15 minutes after birth as he was too sick. The mother and son met for the first time in their life in November 2019.
Connie Moultroup, another adoptee, took a DNA test that reunited her with her mom, Genevieve Purinton, after 70 years. Purinton was told her infant child died during the birth in 1949. The facility that took her in lied to her and the doctors themselves arranged for Moultroup's adoption into another family.
At that time, single moms and adoptions carried such a stigma. But seeing each other in person made the mom and daughter whole again. They discovered that they not only looked alike but they shared the same love for crocheting and cooking.