A B.C. woman in her 70s met her two siblings for the first time, solving a multi-decade mystery.
Lorraine Williams discovered she had an older sister and brother when she did a genealogy test on MyHeritage.com.
“Just a joyous, ecstatic reunion,” she said.
“Or not even a reunion, a meeting. Because this is the first time we ever met in person, and it was kind of overwhelming, but a very, very happy event.”
More than 70 years after they were born, the trio only discovered each other existed last year.
Williams, from Chilliwack, and Josephine Morey from the United Kingdom both submitted their DNA to MyHeritage and got a match.
“My tummy flipped over,” Williams said. “And I was just so, so excited. I can’t put it into words. Just awesome.”
From there, the half-sisters found their half-brother, James McLaughlin, in Liverpool.
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All of them are between the ages of 74 and 77 and are related through their biological father.
Williams was raised by him in Canada.
“It’s been nothing but positivity and happiness,” she said. “And if my dad, our dad, was here, I know he’d love this.”
In the United Kingdom, Morey and McLaughlin had different upbringings.
McLaughlin was raised in an orphanage and Morey was raised in foster care. Neither of them met the man who was their father.
On Friday, after months of online correspondence, the three adult children finally reunited in person in the U.K.
“An explosion of emotions,” Morey said.
“It’s the first time that we’ve actually physically seen each other and been able to talk to each other. After 12 months, really waiting for this particular day.”
Williams plans to stay in the U.K. over the weekend for a long-overdue visit.
“Although we’ve only just met each other, it’s like we’ve known each other our whole lives,” McLaughlin said.
“And that’s how strong the connection is.”
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