Total strangers, John and Rhonda have one thing in common, the same father. The two made that discovery earlier this year after using 23andMe. “Nobody knew about John,” said Rhonda, a 55 year-old marketer in Buffalo New York. For John, recently retired and 67 who also lives in the Buffalo area, DNA ...
Tag: siblings
January 13, 2016
Sisters Connecting After 50 Years
Abandoned as an infant in a Minneapolis laundry room almost 50 years ago, Liz Kellner used 23andMe to help her piece together the story of her birth. In the process, she was able to connect with a biological sister, Tammy, who like her had been abandoned as an infant; the sisters have pieced together their ...
December 22, 2015
A Most Amazing Gift
When Kelle Scott connected with some distant cousins on 23andMe she didn’t realize she’d also stumbled on the perfect gift for her mom — family. Kelle’s mom, Pat Nosko, was adopted, and never knew her biological parents. Kelle had originally used 23andMe just to find out a little bit about her ...
December 15, 2015
Eyes Wide Open
Brothers from different mothers, John and Brian came together because of 23andMe. For John, 68, finding a half-brother was the last thing he expected. “I was shocked,” he said. John used 23andMe because he’s interested in science. Since his days in high school biology class, John has always been ...
November 16, 2015
Hidden in Plain Sight
Many adoptees talk about walking through a crowd, looking at the faces of strangers and wondering if they are brushing shoulders with one of their parents or a brother or sister. Carole Huber, an adoptee, was no different. That urge to learn more about her biological parents, about her story, never ...
November 6, 2015
Who I Am
Not everyone who tries 23andMe has the same sort of reaction to his or her results as Barbara Weir. “It’s mind boggling,” said the 87 year-old who lives in San Diego. “Next to marrying my husband and having my children it’s the most exciting thing in my life. It explains so much about me — who and what I ...
May 26, 2015
Goodnight Son
It was a cordial conversation, but as the phone call came to an end Mike Reed wasn’t sure how to sign off and then the man on the other end of the line did it for him. “’Goodnight son,’” the man said. “I was just floored,” said Mike. The man on the other end of the phone was Dennis Fay, Mike’s ...
May 20, 2015
A Fantastical Story
If it’s true that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, then Jimmy Cygler and Paul Leventhal are plenty tough. When both were infants, they were taken from their mother, Rebecca Kaufman, and raised worlds apart without knowing of the others’ existence. With the help of 23andMe, the brothers ...
April 24, 2015
Sibling Rivalry
There’s nature and nurture and then there’s all that bickering — or lack of it — with our brothers or sisters. Birth order, and the family dynamic between siblings — or whether or not you have siblings — plays a role in determining who we become as people. So in honor of National Sibling Day, which ...
October 3, 2014
Not Everyone is Expected to Stay
A few weeks ago Vox did a piece about a 23andMe customer, who at 50 found his biological sister and his mother using the service. He’d been adopted. His sister never knew her mother had had a son that she put up for adoption. Their initial meeting was joyous, which we wrote about, but in the ensuing years ...
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