Thanks to MyHeritage DNA, A Father Reunites with the Daughter He Never Knew He Had
-
by Esther ·
- March 12, 2020
- · User Stories
Anne Angot was born in 1972 in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, and was adopted by a French family at a year of age. She grew up knowing nothing of her biological family. All that changed after Anne took a MyHeritage DNA test.
Watch her story here:
About a year ago, Anne decided to take a DNA test with MyHeritage in hopes of finding her biological family.
She received a 3% match with a cousin in the U.S. who was searching for his own mother. The cousin connected the dots: a relative of his, Theo Vann, was stationed in Vung Tau, Vietnam from 1971–1972.
The cousin encouraged Theo to take a DNA test — and the results confirmed that he was Anne’s father. Theo contacted Anne through the MyHeritage inbox right away.
Theo, an American army veteran from Georgia, had no idea that the brief relationship he had with a Vietnamese woman in Vung Tau resulted in the birth of a child. He had since gone on to have 2 sons and a daughter, unaware that he had another daughter growing up on the other side of the Atlantic.
This past June, Anne traveled to Georgia in the U.S. to meet Theo and introduce him to her son — the grandchild he never knew he had. In September, Theo flew to Paris to spend more time with his newfound daughter and to get to know the rest of her family.
“It’s a miracle,” Theo told RMC, a local news station. “I’m in Paris to thank her adoptive family who raised her all these years when I was absent.”
“I am so happy, because he really resembles me,” Anne told RMC. “I have answers to some of my questions. I feel like a new person. It’s reassuring. It’s a real comfort,” she says.
DNA tests for non-medical reasons are restricted in France, and Anne regrets that this is the case. “It’s a true shame, because it really allows people who want to find members of their family to increase their chances,” she says.
Jeannie, Anne’s adoptive mother, feels the same way. “Adopted children have the desire to find their parents,” she told RMC. “We must do everything we can to help them.”
Anne hopes that MyHeritage DNA, which successfully led her to her father, may one day lead her to her Vietnamese birth mother, too.
More from User Stories
Korean Sisters Reunited Thanks to MyHeritage DNA
In December 2019, an incredible reunion took place. Sisters Kim and Trine met in Copenhagen. Watch their moving reunion here: Kim Ok Le, 43, was abandoned in a Catholic church in Daegu, South Korea as a baby. After a brief period spent at the...
How My 86-Year-Old Grandma Found Two Brothers She Didn’t Know Existed Thanks to MyHeritage
This is a guest post sent to us by Ludmila Benová, a MyHeritage user who wanted to share an amazing discovery she made with us. I’d like to share with you how MyHeritage helped my Grandma find her siblings — brothers she wasn’t aware...
She Took a MyHeritage DNA Test… and Discovered That Everything She Knew About Her Family Was Wrong
When Judit Antal, Ph.D., of Pécs, Hungary, took the MyHeritage DNA test, she was expecting to confirm what she had been told about her own origins and learn a little more about her family’s past. Instead, her results threw everything she had believed about...
A Family Torn Apart in the Wake of the Holocaust Reunites Through MyHeritage
The tragedy of the Holocaust extends far beyond the unfathomable number of lives that were lost and the thriving communities that were wiped out without a trace. Families were torn apart, and the survivors were forced to pick up the pieces of their lives...
DNA Quest Beneficiary Discovers She Descends from World-Renowned Meteorologist
For many participants in DNA Quest — our initiative to provide adoptees with free DNA kits to help them search for their biological families — taking a DNA test has given them a priceless, once-in-a-lifetime gift. For some, it’s a gift that just keeps...
Johannes Finds Loving Family After a Difficult Search
Johannes was adopted as a child and grew up in Germany. When he was 20, he decided to try to contact his biological mother. I tried to get in touch with her, wrote her a letter with my picture, but she sent my letter...
100+ Years Later, a Family That Exchanged Photos to Keep In Touch Across Continents Is Reunited
When 32-year-old Gonzalo Alexis Luengo Orellana of Chillán, Chile was a teenager, he received a package from his grandmother that would define the course of his future. His journey culminated in a DNA match through MyHeritage that solved a family mystery he’d been pursuing...
Full Siblings Reunite After 60 Years
David Anderson was adopted at the age of one month. Growing up in Grand Junction, Colorado, he experienced the thoughts and fears of many adopted children: that his family hadn’t wanted him, hadn’t wanted him to be part of their family. As an adult,...
Man Discovers Half-sister Thanks to Christmas DNA Kit Gift
At 13, Al Ballard of Colorado found out that he was adopted, but his adoptive mother told him she couldn’t find any information about his birth mother. Discouraged, he didn’t try to find any more information about his birth family for the next 58...
Maty A Bono
March 12, 2020
I think these stories are wonderful. I, myself, having the benefit of a Mom totally interested in genealogy, have loved making the connections in my own family. But, the one that thrills me most is helping my friend, who was adopted, to find her birth mother, on Mother’s Day!! There is yet to be a physical reunion, but. I definitely want to be there when it happens.