MyHeritage user Lizzie Shaltz, 40, from Michigan, was adopted as a baby. After dealing with some health crises, she decided to take a DNA test because she wanted “no more surprises.” The surprise she didn’t anticipate was that she matched with a half-sister and found her biological siblings. Watch their beautiful reunion below:
Here is Lizzie’s story.
I was born in jail and placed for a closed adoption at 4 months of age. For most of my life, I knew nothing about my birth parents — only that my birth name was Christine and I had a half-brother named Jhonatan. For many years I tried to find more information, but had no idea how.
My adoptive father, a philosophy teacher, passed away suddenly when I was 16 years old. It was a major shock. Then, in 2012, I was diagnosed with cancer and had to undergo a series of surgeries that damaged my back and my eyes, impairing my vision. Two years later, my condition deteriorated and I had to undergo surgery again.
For my 40th birthday, I decided to take a DNA test to learn more about my medical history. I didn’t want any more surprises.
The DNA Matches I received at first were not very interesting — just distant cousins. Eventually I decided to let it go. I would get notifications about new matches, but I didn’t even check them anymore.
Then, I got a message on Facebook from a woman named Ayla. She claimed that we were a close match on MyHeritage. So I logged in to check, and there it was — she was my half-sister!
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