Healing the Hole in My Heart: I Found My Biological Father at 42

People who are adopted have a constant hole in our hearts. Throughout our lives, we have the need to fill it.

That is how I have felt for as long as I can remember.

I had a wonderful life growing up. I was raised by an incredible woman who loved me unconditionally, and I will always be grateful to her. But after I learned I was adopted, there was always a part of me that wondered who I was and where I came from. I carried those questions with me for decades, never imagining where they would eventually lead.

Learning I was adopted changed my life

I was born in 1983 in San Cristóbal, Venezuela. My biological mother was a Colombian immigrant who placed me for adoption shortly after I was born because she couldn’t raise me.

My adoptive mother had just lost her husband one month before I was born. She took me in as her only child and gave me a home full of love.

Carlos as a child

When I was 12 years old, she told me the truth.

When I found out I was adopted, my life changed completely.

I loved my mother just the same, but from that day on I couldn’t stop wondering about my biological family. Then, when I was only 15, my adoptive mother passed away too.

Years later, I moved to Spain to build a new life. I married my wonderful wife, Andrea, and together we are raising our son. I was happy, but that question never disappeared.

Who was my family?

Finally taking the first step

For years I thought about searching, but I never quite found the courage to begin.

Then a close friend said to me, “Have you heard about MyHeritage? They have a good offer. Why don’t you buy it?”

My wife encouraged me too.

So, in July 2025, I finally ordered a MyHeritage DNA kit. About a month after sending my sample, I received my DNA matches.

At first, I thought they would finally give me the answers I had waited my whole life to find.

Instead, they seemed to lead nowhere.

Thinking my search was over

My closest matches on my father’s side were 2 second cousins. One was a woman named Elvia, but she didn’t have enough information to help me move forward. The other was a man from the Canary Islands. I discovered he had recently passed away, and I thought I had reached a dead end.

The disappointment hit me so hard that I stopped searching for a while. After waiting my whole life for answers, I couldn’t see any way forward.

Carlos with his son in Spain

But I couldn’t completely let go, either.

Eventually, I contacted the widow of my DNA match. I knew she was grieving, so I tried to be patient. Little by little, she shared what she could. One day, she found a Venezuelan phone number that had been saved in her late husband’s contacts — a man he had reconnected with years earlier at a university conference.

She sent me the number.

I had no idea that message was about to answer the question I’d carried for 42 years.

The call I’ll never forget

At exactly 5:00 p.m., I sent a cautious WhatsApp message.

Hours went by.

Then, at 11:30 that night, my phone rang.

I asked him: “Did you know a Colombian woman in Maracaibo in 1983 who became pregnant and then disappeared?”

There was silence.

Then he answered: “Yes.”

“You’re not pulling my leg, are you?”

“No.”

Another silence.

“Are you still there?” I asked.

“Yes,” he replied. “But… what do you mean by that?”

I took a deep breath.

“There’s a very good chance you’re my father.”

He suggested we switch to a video call.

When I saw his face, I was speechless. The resemblance was undeniable. It felt as though I were looking into a mirror.

The man on the screen was Idelmo Ramón Medina Soto. My biological father.

Carlos’s father, Idelmo

A family I never knew existed

He told me he had never forgotten my biological mother. After she disappeared, he had spent years wondering what had happened to her and to the baby she was carrying. He had prayed for answers, never knowing whether he would find them.

We wanted to be absolutely sure, but DNA kits are very difficult to obtain in Venezuela. So my father’s daughter, who lives in Houston, Texas, took a MyHeritage DNA test. The results confirmed that she was my half-sister.

Carlos’s sister, Mariel, who lives in the U.S.

In one moment, my world became so much bigger.

I discovered not only my father, but also 5 half-siblings — 4 sisters and 1 brother — living between Venezuela and the United States.

Carlos and Idelmo in a group call with two of Carlos’s sisters

Making up for 42 lost years

We haven’t been able to meet in person yet. He was planning to come visit me in Spain this summer, but had to put off the trip due to the devastating earthquakes in Venezuela.

Still, we refuse to lose any more time. We talk on video calls almost every day. Every conversation feels like we’re recovering another small piece of the 42 years we lost.

Idelmo holding photos of Carlos

I never imagined something so huge in life like this. I’m super happy that MyHeritage has helped me so incredibly. Without MyHeritage, I honestly wouldn’t have anything at all.

Today, the hole I carried in my heart for so many years has finally begun to heal.

Many thanks to Carlos for sharing his incredible story with us! If you’ve also made an amazing discovery with MyHeritage, we’d love to hear about it. Please share it with us at stories@myheritage.com.