Finding a long-lost relative used to be a near-impossible task, but a lot of that changed when DNA testing became a ubiquitous part of genealogical research. Companies like Ancestry will search for matches amongst its users to connect you to close and distant relations. Sometimes, that search can even find long lost relatives that are as close as a parent or a sibling. This was the case for Mandy Shore of the UK.
Mandy had been adopted at birth and only knew her birth mother’s name. Her father’s name did not appear on her birth certificate — a veritable dead end. Mandy then turned to Ancestry’s DNA database on the off chance that she might find something that could lead her to her dad. And did she ever. Mandy found her father, a former flying ace in World War II. She also found that her father had two other daughters in his native Texas that she’d never met.
British Airways heard about the story and decided to facilitate Mandy meeting her two half-sisters. British flew Mandy’s sisters out from Texas to London for the reunion. But her sisters got a huge surprise even before the plane took off: Mandy was waiting for them when they got on the plane!
You can watch the sister’s reunion above. Just have a pack of tissues ready.
(Via Refinery29)
