Few stories are more moving than those of adoptees and other long lost family members finding each other.
Here are 5 of the past year’s most heart-warming tales of DNA tests bringing families together.
3 Sisters Meet for the First Time on a British Airways Flight
Texas native Ann Burrage was curious to discover whether she had any Native American heritage, so she took an AncestryDNA test. What she discovered was totally unexpected – a long lost sister Mandy, born in England and unknowingly left behind by her father, an American soldier during World War II.
Ann and her sister Lynn boarded a British Airways flight to meet their British sister Mandy, only to realize she was already on the flight. Even though they’d never met, they felt an instant bond.
Twice Abandoned at Birth
The only thing harder to imagine than a mother abandoning her child is that a mother would feel the need to do so twice. However, that is the story of Tammy Makram and Liz Kellner, who were left as newborns in cardboard boxes four years apart, to ultimately be found and raised in different homes.
Years of searching for clues in their past were unsuccessful until AncestryDNA was able to verify their relationship and redefine their family tree. The newfound connections for Tammy and Liz, including meeting their biological mother, were everything that they had hoped for and more.
It’s Never Too Late – Even After 85 Years
It’s never too late to experience a great many things – and this includes reuniting with a long lost brother. Norman and Gerry Cooper experienced this first hand when family research done by Gerry’s son, Ian, led the two brothers to a moving reunion after 85 years of separation.
Neither brother had any previous knowledge of the other, and as Gerry commented after their first meeting, finding you have a brother after 85 years is “the most amazing feeling you can have in this world.”
An Ancestry TV Commercial Unites a Mother and Daughter
Laurie Ogilvie made the tough decision after giving birth at 15 to give her daughter Denise up for adoption. Adopted into a loving home and renamed Suzi, the woman born as Denise would eventually try and fail to find her birth mother through an agency specializing in such searches.
Suzi ultimately succeeded via a different route by submitting a DNA test to AncestryDNA after seeing one of their commercials on television. Little did she know that her birth mother had submitted her own test after seeing the same commercial some six months before – and that they would find each other as a result.
Woman Finds Her Mother After a Lifelong Quest
A lifetime of searching was a lifetime of not knowing, until Diane Meek turned to AncestryDNA. When the obstacles of sealed adoption records and prohibitively expensive professional searches did not provide a path to the answers she sought, Diane had her DNA tested through Ancestry.
Not only did this simple DNA test lead to a reunion with her birth mother after a lifetime of searching, but Diane learned that she had approximately 43% Native American heritage.
Is there a heartwarming reunion in your future – or a discovery of roots you had no idea you had? Don’t wonder what might have been. Try AncestryDNA to discover who you are – and maybe more.