Vietnamese-Australian Adoptee Reunites with Danish Birth Family at Last

In December 2023, we shared the story of Kim Catford, who was abandoned as a baby in his birth country of Vietnam and adopted by an Australian family at 9 months of age. Kim was raised in a warm and loving environment, but he always wondered about his origins, and as an adult he travelled to Vietnam several times in an attempt to find information about his birth parents. However, it was only when he applied for a free MyHeritage DNA kit via our pro bono initiative DNA Quest that he made a major breakthrough. Having assumed that he was likely the result of a relationship between an American soldier and a local Vietnamese woman, he was shocked to learn that he was actually half Danish — and through a DNA match with a first cousin once removed in Denmark, he learned the identity of his birth father, Niels Korsgaard.

Niels, who unfortunately passed away in 2005, was one of 10 siblings. Kim suddenly found himself part of a huge family on the other side of the world. This summer, he and his wife Katy finally had the opportunity to visit Denmark and meet his birth family in person.

They arrived in Copenhagen and saw some sights before meeting up with Kim’s cousin Ninna, who had flown over from Idaho in the United States and her sister Hanne, who lives in Denmark.

Left to right: Henrik, Hanne, Kim, Katy and Ninna in Copenhagen

They then travelled to Skive, where Kim’s father grew up and worked on a farm. “It’s been fantastic so far meeting family and touring the countryside to see all the different locations my father lived and also seeing the cemetery where he is now resting in peace,” says Kim.

Kim with Hans on their first night in Skive

A few days later, Kim’s oldest cousin Hans hosted a family reunion in Junget to bring everyone together to meet Kim and Katy. Over 40 people gathered to meet the long-lost family member they had never known about — including Kim’s half-sister, Catherine.

Kim with all the cousins

“It was so good to see Cathy, knowing that we have the same father,” says Kim. “She told me a lot of her memories and about her own life in France. I keep saying it can’t be true, but it is — all of it.”

Kim and his sister Catherine

‘I feel so much love’

Hans and Ninna prepared a family tree to help get everyone oriented, and distributed copies of a family booklet containing all the details about Kim’s grandparents, father, uncles and aunts, and all 37 cousins — now including Kim. Ninna translated Kim’s booklet into English for him and Katy.

“It’s all very emotional, but mostly great, to feel so much love and connection to my Danish family,” says Kim. “And the best bit is they are just as excited to meet and accept me as a cousin and family member.”

Kim with his uncles and aunts in the front and cousins in the back

Hans is so happy to welcome Kim into the family: “It’s heavenly to get a cousin like this, and from Australia, where I have lived myself for a number of years,” he says. “It is like he belongs here.”

“It was very special,” says Kim. “Memories I’ll treasure forever. Some of my older family spoke to me… even though I couldn’t understand their words, I felt the love.”

Kim says that he is particularly grateful for this experience given that many adoptees in his position may never find their biological families. “Having some identity of knowing where and who I came from and being accepted are such big things that matter to me,” he says.

Connecting to his Danish heritage

Another significant part of the trip he has been learning about all the similarities between Kim and his father. “My father became a farmer after his time serving in the military — he did not like talking about his experience in the war when he returned from Vietnam — and I think he might have had some traumas, which he processed through a connection with nature. I was a police officer and detective for almost 20 years and had a lot of bad experiences. I saw a lot of death and spoke with many grieving families. It became too much, so I stopped and became a farmer and worked in viticulture. There is something calming about nature, and I think my father felt that too.”

Kim was sad that he didn’t get to meet his father, but he feels it may have been for the best, especially knowing about his fight with cancer and strokes he suffered during his final years. “I would not want him to be full of shame about not knowing me. I’m so grateful to have met Cathy and have the chance to hear her stories about him and all the good things about him.” Besides, he’d never had high hopes about finding his father: “When you are adopted, you know that you can’t expect very much,” he says. “I’m just happy I took the DNA test, because otherwise I would never have found my father’s family.”

Kim has really enjoyed connecting with his Danish heritage, from smørrebrød (the Danish open sandwich), hot dogs, beer, and ice cream to the Danish concept of ‘Hygge’: the cozy contentment of enjoying simple pleasures in a warm, comfortable, and intimate atmosphere with loved ones. “The concept of ‘Hygge’ is something Katy and I really like and have brought into our own home in Australia,” he says. “It is delightful to see it come alive. I now keep in regular contact with my father’s family, which I know would make him happy.”

Many thanks to Kim and his family for sharing their experience with us, and to our researcher Naama Lanski for her work on this story.

If you’ve also made a life-changing discovery thanks to MyHeritage, we’d love to hear about it! Please send it to us via this form or email us at stories@myheritage.com.