Adopted Biracial Man From Texas Meets Biological Family After 70 Years

At 70 years old, Michael Bennett, an adopted biracial man from Texas, was aware of his mother's background, but he took a home DNA test to learn about the rest of his family.

Bennett was born in Japan to a woman named Yoshiko Nakajima and was adopted by an American couple in the early 1950s. At that time, it was unacceptable for his mother to raise a mixed-race child as a single parent, so she decided to give him up for adoption.

However, the adopted biracial man from Texas was always aware of his biological mother's story because his birth parents didn't hide this from him. He also felt quite blessed that his adoptive parents raised him to be a happy child who served in the U.S. Army as a member of the Green Beret.

Yet, he still decided to take a home DNA test to figure out his past, as per WFAA.

The Son He Never Forgot

The initial results of Bennett's 23andMe test confirmed what he already knew, that he was half Japanese and half Anglo-European because his father was an American soldier. What he didn't expect was to receive a message from the site asking about his mother.

Robin Reed, based in Ohio, found a peculiar match on the ancestry website. Their DNA tests indicated that she's half-siblings with Bennett. So, she messaged him right away and asked if his birth mother's name was Yoshiko Nakajima. When Bennett confirmed, she introduced herself as the daughter of Dick Webster, Bennett's biological father.

Reed told Bennett that he has several younger siblings, all waiting to meet him in person. They knew about him because their father always talked about the son he never forgot.

Before rebuilding his life in the U.S. after the war, Webster was broken-hearted when he was reassigned away from Japan shortly after finding out about his son. Reed said that their dad couldn't do anything about his transfer because he was a low-ranking serviceman without any clout.

The next thing he learned, Bennett's mother decided to put him up for adoption. Webster had nothing left of his son but photos. Reed said they have always wondered about the baby in the photo with his "head full of black hair and those beautiful dark eyes." She was personally always curious about where he could be all these years.

After a few message exchanges, Bennett, Reed, and six other siblings decided to meet face-to-face. Bennett drove for 14 hours to get to his brothers and sisters. When the siblings met, they all had the same reaction because Bennett looked exactly like their departed dad, per Newsner.

The family is planning a big reunion this June. This time, they will be driving to Texas to stay with their oldest brother.

Reunited Texas Sisters

Another person got reunited with her family. Elia Macha, 21, took a DNA test to find her biological family. As a nursing graduate in Texas, she knew that she might need this for medical reasons one day. She was soon matched with Joy Clements, 22, her biological sister.

Macha and Clements were born in China and were adopted by American families because of the country's one-child policy. They both agreed that their reunion was divine intervention as it allowed them to find each other at a crucial point in their lives when they were starting their own families.

The sisters plan to be a big part of each other's world and their future children's lives. They have already made memories of witnessing Macha's graduation and Clements' wedding, per ABC 13.