Meeting My Birth Father For The First Time ♡ My Adoption Story

Hey guys, Michelle here, and today I'm going to be talking about something a little different than usual. Something that's very near and dear to my heart, which is adoption. As some of you may know, I was adopted as a baby. My birth mother had me when she was just 23 years old. She was not ready to have kids, didn't feel that she could take care of me well, and so she decided she wanted to give another family that couldn't have kids the opportunity to have a child. So she put me up for adoption and chose my parents, my mom and dad, to take me home from the hospital and bring me home as their daughter. And it's because of that incredibly courageous decision that my birth mother made that I have had the life that I've had, that I am who I am today, and that I got a really beautiful upbringing. I very much grew up with a mom and a dad and aunts and uncles and cousins that are as close to me as anyone could be to their blood family, but as with many adopted kids, it means that I grew up the vast majority of my life never knowing a single person whose blood related to me, never knowing anyone who looks like me or has behavioral similarities because we have similar DNA. That was just not a part of my life, as is the case for many adopted kids. Growing up, I had just one photo of my birth mother and her name on adoption papers, but I was so little when I found out. I just wanted to see the photo and know her name, and I had no information about my birth father. My birth mother didn't even know who it was, so I had no name, no information, nothing. But all growing up, I was always so curious and had a hunger and fascination and just like quest to one day hopefully be able to find my birth mother. At that point, I didn't ever think it would be possible to find my birth father. I remember I'd always wonder like, oh, maybe I have siblings out there or something because I grew up an only child. It was just fun really to think about that there can be some elements of my history, why I'm here, who brought me here on this crazy planet is out there somewhere even though I can't touch it. I don't know who it is. I don't know where they are. I don't know anything about them, but they exist out there somewhere. So I've always wanted to know, to find these people and see who they are. I get a ton of fulfillment from that, but being able to know them or meet them would be awesome. So 10 years ago, I actually was able to find my birth mother through Facebook and I connected with her and it was beautiful. We met and for the first time, I was able to see elements of myself reflected in someone else, someone who shared personality traits and just so many similarities because 50% of our DNA is the same. So it was just a really cool, beautiful experience. And as soon as I met her, I hoped and dreamed of potentially one day being able to somehow meet my birth father. And more recently, now that DNA testing exists and there's things like 23andMe and Ancestry where you can just spit in a tube, send it off to a lab and in a few weeks, you suddenly have all this information and are connected to hundreds, if not thousands of DNA connected relatives, cousins, second, third, fourth, fifth cousins. So as soon as that became a possibility, I got really excited because suddenly the potential to possibly find my birth father, even though I had no name, no face, no context, no location, nothing, it was now possible that one day I could find him. So as soon as I learned about this stuff, I sent my DNA off everywhere, Ancestry, 23andMe, all the DNA kits, just hoping that maybe I would find a match that would lead me to my birth father. And a little over a month ago, a match came up for a first cousin and I was like, oh my god, oh my god, a first cousin. Because before that, it was a lot of like second, third, fourth cousin. But I found a first cousin match and I realized, holy cow, one of his uncles is my birth father. And so I reached out to him and I spent like five hours that night just deep stalking the internet, delving into Facebook, family photos, and family tree information online and just MacGyvering my way through the internet to figure out who this person was. And yeah, like five hours later, I landed on the Facebook page looking at the photo and seeing elements of the personality and writing and photos from who I thought was probably my birth father. Oh my gosh, probably one of the top five moments in my life. This thing that I had been dreaming about, literal birth dad dreams. I'd have, like over the past few years, just random dreams where I'd meet my birth dad who was a Native American chief or my birth dad who was working at a bait shop or whatever it was. They would all take completely different forms because I just had no context to design who this person was. And now suddenly I was looking at a picture, looking into the eyes of who I thought was my birth father. And there is no feeling like that. So I immediately wrote a letter and I sent it a couple hours later and sat back and crossed my fingers that it would be received, that he would read it, that he wouldn't totally freak him out, and that he would respond. And the next day I got a phone call from Southern California. I saw the number pop up on my phone and I was like, holy, like that's him. I took a deep breath and I answered the phone and we exchanged our first words ever in 31 years. And it's really funny because I'm certain that he was like, this girl's clearly on a mission to find something important for her, but it's not me. I never lived in New York. I don't recognize her birth mom's name. We don't look so similar that you'd be able to tell immediately that we're father, daughter. But he was really kind and sweet and said he'd try and help me however he could. And we ended up having a five-hour conversation. And throughout there was just piece after piece after piece of things that were aligning in our personalities and who we are as individuals and in our bodies, in our genetic conditions. All of these things were aligning. And when I got off the phone, I was like, that's my birth dad. That's my birth dad. So yeah, that is the beginning of what has been this past month for me. So we set a date for me to come meet him in person, which is nuts. And that happened this past weekend. And I'm going to take you guys along with me and show you that experience because it was one of the most special things I've ever experienced in my life. And something that I never thought really would happen. And it just, everything unfolded beyond any of my most wild dreams. I'm just so grateful for this experience. And I know there's a lot of other adoptees out there that are searching for biological parents. And I think more of the positive stories deserve to be told and shared because yeah, if you want to know, and if you're questing to find out, just don't give up, power on. And I hope this video you're about to watch gives you a little extra inspiration to keep going. So I am leaving in a few hours to fly to Southern California to meet my birth father for the first time. And I can't believe today's the day. I just checked the mail and my paternity test is here. And there we have it. This was the most affordable, fastest, and well-rated one that I could find on Amazon. So we'll see. I am heading to the post office to mail out my swabbed paternity tests. I'm mailing it over to my presumed birth father and he'll complete it and send it in. I'm really grateful that there is a way to do this faster than 23andMe because six to eight weeks, come on. I'm starting to feel just butterflies. I'm excited. I'm anxious. I don't know. This is something that I've been dreaming about my whole life. And the fact that it is about to happen in a few hours is just crazy. I'm driving to pick up Dan and my eyes started welling up with tears like 15 times. I don't know. I'm like, Michelle, don't cry. I think the emotion of this is starting to hit me. And with travel and so much just like being in the car, listening to music, and sitting in the airplane, and just having time to reflect and really think about what is happening today and what's happening right now is a lot. It's making me feel really emotional and excited and grateful to have something like this unfold is really cool and awesome. I can't even believe it. What's going on? What are we waiting for? What are we waiting for? We did it. I got my mile running. Michelle. Michelle and Danielle. I am the most awesome cousin in the world. Michelle and Danielle. Hey, wow. I've got to share. Outside of the just mind blow of receiving a message a couple of months back from someone searching for their birth father and believing that I'm him. Oh my gosh. Initially, a lot of suspicions around that receipt. But after getting some additional information, moving toward curiosity, and then connecting and putting some more dots together, it was like, wow, this is real. Goodness gracious. What does one do? So thankfully, I didn't deflect, dismiss, deny, delete, ignore. Instead, I chose to explore, confirm, and open up my arms, embrace, and celebrate. And for that, I've been blessed. I truly have. The love that I've extended, that my family has extended to Michelle, has just ignited this joy and fulfillment and love in Michelle and multiplied back to us. It's truly remarkable what we've all experienced, what I've experienced. You know, I have a son that I absolutely love, that motivates me in this life, and now I have double the motivation. Another blessing that just came about from where? From the heavens. All I can say is I'm truly, truly just happy. And isn't that what we're all looking to be? Is a little bit more happy in this world? I encourage any of you out there, if you're on either side of the equation, pursue. Continue down the path if you're searching. And if you're on the receiving end like me, oh my gosh, yeah, it's a surprise. When unexpected things just fall in your lap this way, it can be a little stirring. But it's okay. It's okay. You know, run around, shake it off, settle back down and say, okay, what am I in store for? And enjoy it. Enjoy the process. Embrace it. Celebrate it. Somebody that is a piece of you. Just like Michelle's a piece of me. I want to love that. Just like I want to love Austin. I love Michelle and my family. We're connected. Extend love, you'll get a lot more back. So this is just the beginning of the journey, right? I found my biological father and was already so happy and satisfied with that. But to be able to know him and to connect with him on such an awesome level and be able to meet my aunts and my uncle and my cousins and my half brother, who I haven't met in person yet, but I cannot wait, and he is awesome, has just been the most amazing experience in the entire world. And just one of the beautiful elements of adoption, I think there tends to be a lot of cautiousness and negativity put around searching for biological family. I know parents can be very protective and individuals can be very fearful of rejection or of things not turning out beautifully. But in my heart, that was never a concern. Not because I thought it couldn't happen, but just because I knew I'd rather know. I just need to know who this person is that I came from. And if they're a sociopath or if they're crazy or if we don't connect on any level, that's fine. That's what it is. I just needed to know. And anything beyond that is just cherries on top. But right now, I definitely feel like the luckiest human being on the planet. I have the most amazing parents, the most amazing family. And now I also have been able to meet and get to know my birth mother and her family. And just this last weekend for the first time, I was able to look my birth father in the eyes who had no idea that I existed on this planet and gave him a hug and meet his family and hang out with his family and see my blood grandparents. I just have no words. It's awesome. I mean, it's better than any movie I've ever watched. And it's my life. And it's just really cool. All the elements that may feel like they're missing from your life, if you're adopted, if you stay positive and just do what you can to go after the things you want in your life, when they come to be, they're infinitely more special than they ever would be if you had had them from the beginning. Okay, so sorry for talking so much. I never know how to end these videos. But yeah, that's my story. Thanks for watching. This is just the beginning. I can't wait to meet my half brother. And yeah, I hope you guys found a little bit of something to smile about today because this world can be a really, really special, beautiful place sometimes. Thank you guys so much for watching. If you want to see more videos about vegan things, be sure to subscribe. Stay tuned for more. And I'll see you in the next video. Lots of love. Have a beautiful day and go after everything you want in life because if you don't, you'll never get it. Love you.