DNA Quest united adoptees with birth families

MyHeritage DNA Quest offered a pro bono project to reunite adoptees with their birth families using DNA testing. Melvin Gray found the daughter of his long-lost daughter and a brother who was living a 10-minute walk away. Melvin, 61, lives in Kansas. He was adopted when he was 4 by a woman who herself was adopted so he knew nothing about his roots.

When he was 17, his girlfriend got pregnant and gave birth to a daughter. He wanted to marry, but the girlfriend’s parents forced him to sign the adoption papers.

Then he enlisted in the military and served many years in the Far East, the Middle East, Iraq twice, Kuwait twice and in Europe. He did eventually start a family and now has three wonderful children, four grandchildren, and a wife who made life mostly complete. However, there was a hole in his heart for the missing daughter. He left a note in his daughters’ adoption file but never heard from her.

When he saw MyHeritage’s pro bono project to help adoptees, he decided he had nothing to lose. After he received the results, he signed into the account and found a match with a granddaughter!

It was clear this was the daughter of his daughter who was placed for adoption! He sent messages but it took a month until she saw them. They talked a lot and decided to meet. They lived about a 45-minute drive apart and met halfway at a coffee shop. The meeting was very exciting, one he had been waiting for for many years. There he learned his daughter had died several years earlier. This meeting has since become a strong bond between grandfather and granddaughter. They maintain a great relationship, meet and talk as often as they can, and have been celebrating every possible holiday together ever since.

One discovery leads to another

Melvin’s daughter continued looking for information since he and his mother were both adopted. She discovered a brother he did not know about and sent him a message on social media. The brother lived just 8 blocks away. When they first met in person, the similarities were astonishing. The brothers have mutual friends and hung out in the same places.