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Who Would Believe It?
If he hadn’t known his story was true, Phil Silvers said even he would have been skeptical. “Who would believe it?” said Phil, a 72 year-old retired middle school social studies teacher in New York...
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An Extraordinary Turn
Jeremy Kuykendall grew up in Texas, went to college there and settled down. He has a good job, is happily married and has two daughters. His life is pretty normal. “I’m just a middle class family man,”...
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It’s a Girl
When Kelli read the message, she froze thinking that her next move would likely change her life forever. It was a note from a fellow 23andMe customer, who’d been identified as a second cousin. She had...
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Sharing Her Story
Jayne Berry’s adoptive parents let her know she was special. As a child, her parents told her: “Most children are just given to their parents, but you were chosen to be our daughter.” Jayne felt lucky...
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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...
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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....
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How I Met My Father
For decades, the mystery of his birth felt paralyzing to Jonathan Hay, a well-known hip-hop producer and Santa Monica-based PR maven. That all changed late last year after connecting for the first time...
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Mending a Broken Heart
When he was 21, Gary Skillings tried to contact his mother through a nun at the Catholic orphanage from which he was adopted in the 1950s, but she didn’t want to see him. Gary Skillings’ Photo “That...
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Boy. South Carolina. 1963.
It wasn’t a wish, but on many of his birthdays, Lenny Scovel would take a minute and imagine the thoughts of a woman he’d never met.“I would wonder if my mother was out there somewhere thinking about...
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Who I Am
Barbara Weir, right, with her daughter Casey. 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...
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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 flanked on her...
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How Lucky I Am
Of course he knew he was adopted but that only made Tony Mercer wonder more about what made him so tall, and his thumbs so stubby, and where he got his passion for playing the piano.“My adoptive family...
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Breaking Through A Brick Wall
The memory is fleeting but Josh Schultz remembers speaking to his father once. It was a phone call, and Josh was just a boy. He can’t conjure up everything his dad said, or what his voice was like. He...
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Eyes Wide Open
John, standing, with his sister Kathy and their half-brother Brian, who they found through 23andMe. Brothers from different mothers, John and Brian came together because of 23andMe.For John, 68,...
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A Most Amazing Gift
When Kelle Scott connected with some distant cousins on 23andMe she didn’t realize Pat Nosko she’d also stumbled on the perfect gift for her mom — family.Kelle’s mom, Pat Nosko, was adopted, and never...
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Nobody Knew
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...
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Deep Healing
An accomplished scientist and businessman, Stephen Levine has spent his whole life searching.That restlessness is driven by a quest that is both emotional and intellectual, a desire to learn more about...
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A Need To Know
On Mother’s Day last year, Robin Butler’s children gave her 23andMe as a gift, not knowing that it would change all their lives.“I thought it would be fun to learn about my genome,” Robin said.But...
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Mother’s Day Delayed
Sandi had 50 years to prepare for this moment, but as she walked off a plane in Sacramento she felt the anxiety and doubt well-up inside. From left Candace, Christine, Sandra and Sandi. “It was like...
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A List For Midlife
For his big birthday Adam Keim wrote out a to-do list titled — “40 for 40.”It included little things like walking across the Golden Gate Bridge, volunteering for a day, and getting a massage.“These are...
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