When TikToker @postpartumdiva’s mom was 73 years old, she found out that she was the product of an affair. Her own mother passed away at 93 and carried this secret to her grave.
“My mom’s dad was half Japanese,” @postpartumdiva said. “For our whole lives, it has been such a source of pride to say I’m a quarter Japanese, or even me as a kid, I would say I’m an eighth Japanese.”
“It was something unique and interesting about us that not a lot of people had, so it was a conversation starter.”
Her mom’s three older siblings and younger sibling all looked a lot like their dad. They had dark hair and an olive skin tone, while her mom was blonde and fair-skinned. She resembled her own mother, who was also blonde and fair-skinned.
There was a running joke in the family that @postpartumdiva’s mom was “the milkman’s kid.” At some point after her grandmother passed away, her mom received a DNA testing kit as a Christmas gift. She thought it would be fun and interesting to do.
When she got the results of her test back, they showed English, Scottish, and some German roots, with only one percent Japanese.
She knew she didn’t really look like her siblings, but she didn’t think she had such a small percentage of Japanese ancestry. Still, she didn’t think too much of it at the time.
A couple of years later, she gifted her brothers DNA tests for Christmas. Their results showed a much higher percentage of Japanese.
There was only enough DNA matched between her and her brothers for them to be half-siblings or cousins. She assumed that DNA tests might not be entirely accurate.
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But then, she started asking her cousins about what they remembered during the time her mother would have been pregnant with her.
Her cousins revealed that her parents had been separated right before having her. They got back together and ended up getting pregnant with her.
She began thinking that her father may not be the man who raised her. A couple of years ago, she received a notification from the DNA company that she had a relative somewhere in California who showed up as a half-sibling or cousin.
She contacted the guy and asked about his parents. He told her that he was adopted and had no interest in finding out about his family.
A couple more years later, he reached back out to her. They exchanged pictures and talked on the phone to discuss their parents. They are still getting to know each other.
“So, that is the story of how my mother found out in her 70s that her dad wasn’t her dad, and she has a half-brother who lives in California, and she’s going to meet him for the first time at the age of 73,” @postpartumdiva said.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
