A parent’s job is to do what’s best for their child no matter what the personal cost or sacrifice. For some mothers and fathers, that means not being a parent.
While growing up in Kansas, 1 woman always knew that her birth mother was just trying to do what was best for her when she gave her up for adoption, but it didn’t quell the curiosity she had about her birth father. With only a first name, she doubted she’d ever uncover the truth to her past, however, 57 years later, a message from a Pennsylvania woman changed everything…
Not Ready For Motherhood
When Christine was born in the early 1960s, her mother Donna, who was unmarried and worked as a waitress at a cafe in Fort Riley, Kansas, she knew she wasn’t ready and her life wasn’t stable enough to be the kind of mom that her baby girl deserved.
A Mother’s Sacrifice
So when Christine was just 6 days old, her birth mother decided it would be best to give up her rights as a parent and put her daughter up for adoption in the hopes that someone else would be able to give Christine the life she would never be able to give her daughter…
The Adoption
When Donna’s parents found out what she was going to do, however, they refused to let someone else raise their grandchild. Instead of losing their granddaughter forever, they decided to officially adopt the newborn and raise her as their own child.
A Chance At A Better Life
As a child, Christine’s was raised entirely by her grandparents. Her birth mother wasn’t a part of her life, but Christine understood that Donna was just trying to do the right thing for her since she couldn’t be the mother that she needed to be…
A Missing Puzzle Piece
Christine understood why her birth mother gave her up for adoption, but as she got older, there was always 1 part of the story that she didn’t understand and that was her birth father. She couldn’t help but wonder if he had wanted to give her up as well or if he even knew she was alive.
An Impossible Mission
Despite all the questions Christine had over the years and how curious she was about her birth father, she thought it would be impossible to get the answers she wanted since there was hardly any information about who or where her birth father was…
The Birth Certificate
In an attempt to find out her biological father’s identity, Christine tracked down her original birth certificate but, sadly it was no help. All that was listed under the space where her father’s name should have been was the words ‘unknown father’.
Moving On
Christine’s grandparents only knew that her biological father’s first name was Dorie and that he was originally from Pennsylvania. Without any other information, Christine knew she would never be able to track her father down. Even though her questions remained unanswered, she tried to let it all go…
Ancestry.com
Christine tried to move on with her life. Eventually, she got married and started a family of her own, but no matter what she did, the curiosity about her birth father never went away. Once she heard about Ancestry.com, a site that uses DNA samples to help people trace their lineage, she knew she had to try it.
A Strange Message
Shortly after creating a profile and sending a sample of her DNA, Christine received a message from a woman named Cindy Mostrom who lived across the country in Port Matilda, Pennsylvania and claimed to be related to the 57-year-old mother…
The Cousin
According to Cindy, she saw similarities and connections between their profiles, so she reached out to figure out how they were related. “I messaged her and said, ‘Hey, this is Cindy,’ because she’s a Weaver, I can tell by the DNA,” Cindy said about her first message to Christine.
The End Of A 27-Year Search
“She said, ‘I don’t think I know you.’ And I said, well I can see we’re cousins,” Cindy said. “She said well if we are cousins, i can see from the DNA, and she said I don’t know who my father is. And she said she’s been looking for 27 years, and I said I gotta help a sister out here…”
Gathering The Clues
Cindy told Christine to send her all the information she could gather about her birth and her biological parents. When Christine sent everything to Cindy, she realized that Christine’s father must be her Uncle Dorie since he had moved and lived in Kansas for a few years around the time Christine was born.
Breaking The News
After connecting the dots, Cindy called her uncle to tell him about his secret daughter. “Hi Uncle Dorie, you know I love you,” Cindy said before breaking the life-changing news. “Yes,” Dorie Weaver answered. Then Cindy asked her uncle if he ever lived in Fort Riley, Kansas…
An Old Flame
Dorie replied that he had in fact lived there decades ago. Then Cindy asked her uncle if he remembered a woman named Donna who worked as a waitress at a local cafe that he dated for a short time. “Yes,” he answered again after thinking for a few moments.
The Secret Daughter
“Well Donna had a child, and she gave that child up for adoption. She matches our DNA. She’s been looking for her dad for 27 years, and she’s your daughter,” Cindy told her 81-year-old uncle, who went completely silent as the news sunk in…
‘Unknown Father’
After a few minutes, Dorie collected his thoughts and told Cindy that he was thrilled and told his niece that he hoped Christine would call him ‘dad’ and wanted his name to be added to the birth certificate. “I didn’t want it to say ‘unknown father’ anymore,” Dorie said.
The Reunion
At first, Christine wasn’t sure about calling Dorie ‘dad’. However, she came around to it after speaking for the first time over the phone and getting an official DNA test taken to prove their relationship. In April 2018, the pair finally met in person when Christine was invited to a family birthday gathering in Pennsylvania…
A New Family
Christine traveled 1,160 miles to Port Matilda, where she finally met Dorie, Cindy, and the rest of her family for the first time. “It was pretty emotional,” Christine said. We cried,” Dorie added. “I’m glad I found my other daughter. The daughter I never knew I had.” The reunion was also emotional for Cindy, who the family now calls their ‘DNA detective’. “It was truly a gift from God to be able to put these two together and for him to be so open about it,” Cindy said.
Making Up For Lost Time
Christine and Dorie decided not to dwell on the time lost between them and instead focused on spending as much time together that they could. “We talk on the phone about every other day,” said Dorie, who will travel to Kansas this summer for Christine’s son’s wedding where he will get to meet his son-in-law, his 4 grandchildren, and 6 great-grandchildren that he never knew he had. “Anything worth having is worth waiting for,” Dorie said.
‘DNA Detective’ Uncovers Secret Relative Hidden From Family For 57 Years is an article from: LifeDaily