A Colordao woman found her family through Ancestry.com and then live tweeted her journey to meeting her mother and siblings. Now, she wants to help others do the same. Read the touching story inside...
Social media and technology are connecting us more and more like never before.
A Colorado woman named Albreanna Watson began a live thread on Twitter to share her journey of finding her biological mother and siblings.
Albreanna was adopted as a baby, but has been on her own since the age of 17 after her adoptive mother died. She had a "closed adoption," so she knew nothing about her biological family.
However, technology stepped in to help her out. She registered with Ancestry.com to take a DNA test in hopes of finding out about her ethnic background. Later, she was contacted by her half-brother who took the same test and made a match.
I found my biological family. I’m a daughter. I’m a sister. I’m an aunt. I’m a granddaughter. Bitch I’m a relative!!! A thread...
— albreannafindme (@Albreanna89) July 8, 2018
She soon discovered she has two half-brothers and one-half sister. And she didn't waste any time hopping on FaceTime to call them up. That's when they decided to meet in Atlanta. They wanted to link up to surprise their mother.
So I get a message from this guy off of @Ancestry. He asked me ?’s like is your name Albreanna? Were you born in SC and is your bday in August? I’m like yeahhh... pic.twitter.com/4EqpuW1a5T
— albreannafindme (@Albreanna89) July 8, 2018
Albreanna discovered she has two half-brothers and one half-sister. She used FaceTime to call them all, and then decided to meet them in Atlanta and surprise her biological mother.
So he gets me on group FaceTime with all my siblings. We all share the same Thai mom but different dads. Mom was a rolling stone back in the day. pic.twitter.com/wYRmaauPWO
— albreannafindme (@Albreanna89) July 8, 2018
Albreanna was SUPER nervous about meeting her biological mother, but once they laid eyes on one another it was magical:
She is loud, crazy, and wild just like me! pic.twitter.com/ygDqNQm9Al
— albreannafindme (@Albreanna89) July 8, 2018
My mom got my name tatted on her ankle the next day after she gave me up. She told me she was never going to forget about me. And she didn’t. pic.twitter.com/uvBueGl0eN
— albreannafindme (@Albreanna89) July 8, 2018
Thank you @Ancestry for connecting me with my long lost family. My journey is complete and life has new beginnings. pic.twitter.com/NXbK6WoG9K
— albreannafindme (@Albreanna89) July 8, 2018
Read the full thread here.
After sharing her journey on Twitter, she received over 10 Million views in less than 24 hours. She also received tens of thousands of messages from people from all over the world who shared their own personal journeys and reached out asking for her assistance in helping them find their biological family members. So, she has launched a GoFundMe to raise money to help other people find their families like she did.
She's looking to raise $50,000 to go towards DNA testing, travel expenses and more. She wrote:
I have created #AlbreannaFindMe which allows people to share their stories with me. I want to unite people with their families as well as provide encouragement and a strong support system through the entire process.
The funds raised will go toward the execution of this effort of helping people locate their family members. This includes: research, travel expenses, DNA testing, advertisement which will continue to grow the platform necessary for people who want their stories heard around the world.
This is a very emotional process and I do not want a lack of finances to be the reason why people are not able to fulfill their wish of finding their families so I am asking for assistance in this endeavor to help spread love and support for those who need it!
You can donate here.
Shoutout to Albreanna for wanting to help others for such an incredible journey. We wish her nothing but the best!
Photos: Albreanna's Twitter
