New Hampshire social worker Kim Fairbank, 51, always knew she was adopted. After a rough childhood of familial disappointments, she yearned to connect with her biological family. She tried DNA testing and waited for answers. It was MyHeritage DNA that brought Kim the match of a lifetime — with her biological father.
Kim and her father Tavlos met for the first time, live on the Megyn Kelly show. Watch the exciting moment in this video:
The search
During her childhood, Kim was given up by her first adoptive family to another. She was adopted not once, but twice.
For me, being adopted, I never knew who my parents were. I just had a desire to find my biological family, or anyone who is related to me, to be able to find a family. That was kind of a drive for me.
When she was 21, Kim took the plunge and started to look for her parents. She hoped to get her adoption documents from the state, but nothing came up. She then joined other DNA testing services but didn’t receive any helpful results. Moving on, she decided to join every site that could help in her quest. She uploaded her DNA results to MyHeritage and hoped that the answer was out there, waiting for her.
Kim almost gave up. She began to believe that she would never meet her family, that it would never happen for her. That’s when she received an email from MyHeritage.
When I got the email from MyHeritage saying ‘you have a parent-child match’, I was flabbergasted. At that moment I was shaking and nervous, I couldn’t believe it was true.
In New Mexico, Nio Tavlos, 73, took a MyHeritage DNA test mainly to learn more about his ethnic background. He wanted to know if he had only Greek blood, or whether he also had Turkish origins. Tavlos also suspected that he had fathered a child many years ago during a short relationship when he was 20. He believed that he had a boy who was given for adoption to a dentist living in Boston. As an artist, Tavlos’ demanding lifestyle did not include any children.
Tavlos was so surprised to find that he was contacted by a daughter and not a son!
I was waiting for 35 years for this knock on the door. When the knock came, it wasn’t a boy, it was a girl – Kim, and she is 51, and has two children. I have two grandchildren!
The reunion
Tavlos is thrilled to be a grandfather, and can’t wait to share the rest of his life with his newfound descendants.
At this point in my life — in my 70s — I think I’m more prepared now to have a family. So I’m terribly excited, and shocked, amazed. Kim used a very good word to describe the situation – flabbergasted. That’s exactly how I feel.
While Tavlos and Kim have many years to catch up on, they’ve decided that they won’t waste any time getting to know one another!
Have you taken a MyHeritage DNA test? Let us know in the comments below what you’ve discovered!
Rachida Djebel
August 28, 2018
Stories of hope are perfect for any adoptee in search- but it should be emphasized that Kim was very fortunate to have a parent -child match right of the bat. That said, how marvelous that a 51 year old woman found her father, and that her father at 73 discovered her and two grandchildren! Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! I am Kim’s father’s age and still searching for my sibling from whom I was separated at 2 1/2 years of age. So far 8 data bases have not found a match, and she may not even know that she is an adoptee, and therefore not have a wish for a DNA kit … but hope springs eternal…