Crystal Dangel spent most of her adult life looking for her real mother after she was told at 9 years old that she was switched at birth. Her search, however, revealed the lies her mother said because she was actually keeping a secret about herself.
Her mother promised that she would help find the birth mom, as well as the other child, once Crystal turned 18 years old. However, when that time came, her mother decided it was closed for discussion.
She also told Crystal that she had no more desire to search for the other baby switched at birth. For her, she was satisfied with the thought that Crystal was the only daughter she ever knew.
Despite feeling some anger, Crystal didn't stop her search even without her mother's help. By 2007, she confirmed through a DNA test that the man she called her father was not her biological dad, per Amomama.
Her Mom's Secret
Crystal's DNA test result, however, did not have anything on her mom. So, she called up the company that did the test and learned the truth. Her mother, who told her that she was switched at birth, was her biological mom.
When pressed for more details, Crystal's mother apparently told her that she was a "product of a one-night stand," per Love What Matters. Her search quickly shifted to finding her real father by posting her queries at DNA sites, genealogy groups and adoption networks.
Nearly 10 years after learning the results about her father, Crystal took another DNA test to find family members on her father's side. She found a second cousin that still had missing pieces until someone reached out to her from one of the sites where she posted her queries.
The person who called herself the "search angel" was able to give Crystal details about her biological great-grandparents and her father. In the process of finding her real father and his side of the family, Crystal also found herself and rediscovered that she always had a family with her non-biological dad, who celebrated the success of her search.
"I will forever still be his daughter. All along, I belonged. I had just forgotten it," Crystal said.
Woman Switched at Birth Met the Wrong Biological Mom
Meanwhile, in Melbourne, a woman who found her birth mom years after she was switched at birth learned that they were not biologically related. Penny Mackieson, 60, bonded with the woman she thought was her biological mother for two decades. However, she had this lingering feeling that something was not right, especially because she didn't resemble anyone in her biological family.
Mackieson took a DNA test and asked her mom to do the same. The test results revealed that they had no biological relation, per The Guardian. Now, after a 33-year journey to find her real mom, the woman who was switched at birth could finally correct her birth records. Her mother is an 80-year-old Greek woman who did not want any contact with her. It was enough for Mackieson's real mom to know that she is happy and healthy.
