Adoptee Reunites with Her Birth Parents and Siblings after Years of Searching
A woman who was adopted at birth spent years in search of her birth parents before finally reuniting with them thanks to genetic technology.
Texas woman Brooklyn Bradley-LaFleur was only a baby when her scared teenage parents gave her up for a closed adoption. She grew up not knowing their identity or any detail about her biological background despite knowing she was adopted.
At first, the woman took her reality in stride, considering being an adoptee as the favorite thing about herself. After all, it helped her meet the two most loving people in the world, her adoptive parents.
Photos of Texas woman Brooklyn Bradley-LaFleur and her family | Photo: instagram.com/brooklynnthree
With little knowledge about her background, Brooklyn always believed her birth parents were just two teenage druggies who ended up hating each other and deciding to give up their baby to do what was best for her. Anything was better than believing she was unwanted.
At nineteen, Brooklyn, who was raised as an only child, was finally ready to trace her ancestry. She did the necessary documentation and waited for positive feedback, which was not forthcoming.
For years, she found no match, but that did not stop her from scaling important milestones like finding a life partner and welcoming kids.
Things changed when her son developed a rare liver tumor at only ten months old. Following medical investigations, she discovered the genetic condition did not originate from her husband’s side of the family. That left only one option.
Desperate to find answers, Brooklyn took her search more seriously, embracing other methods of tracing her heritage like 23 and Me, Ancestor.com, and expensive DNA kits. She finally found 100 profile matches.
Weeks later, a third cousin, Carson, contacted her, seeking to know more about his family tree. Unfortunately, she could not be of much help since she was adopted by another family at birth.
Just when she thought she had hit another dead end, Carson contacted her again months later, informing her he uncovered more details about her ancestry. He also sent her the contact of her birth father.
Before proceeding, Brooklyn, stricken with guilt and regret, decided to notify her adoptive parents about her quest. To her surprise, they supported her without harboring ill feelings.
With their consent, she called her birth father, Terry, and her lifelong opinion of him changed in an instant. She explained:
“I had lived my whole life thinking this man wasn’t a good man[…] The moment he reacted to the words, ‘Terry, I think you’re my birth dad,’ I knew everything I thought was wrong.”
They finally reunited on his birthday in April with the help of his wife, Megan. Brooklyn discovered she had three half-siblings from her dad’s side, who she has come to love since meeting them.
With her dad’s help, she connected with her birth mom, Tammy, who also had two kids, Kyle and Kendall. Within a blink, Brooklyn went from being an only child to the first of six children.
She has since connected with her siblings, forging a special bond with them, especially her half-sister, Kendall, who easily passes for her twin.
Having found her complete family, Brooklyn looks forward to inspiring millions with her story and hopes to write a book about it someday to promote her cause.