Meeting Roselyn

March 14, 2026

For many years, my search for connection to my biological family has felt like looking out across an ocean — hoping that someday, somewhere, someone might be looking back.

Years ago, I submitted a DNA sample to MyHeritage. Like many adoptees, I wondered if it might lead to something… someday.

A few weeks ago, that “someday” finally happened.

A message appeared from someone I had never met before — a third cousin on my biological family’s side.

Her name is Roselyn.

Roselyn was adopted from the Philippines to Norway in 2001. She’s now in her late 20s, married, and on her own journey to learn more about where she came from — searching for her birth mother and biological relatives.

Over the past few weeks, we exchanged emails and shared pieces of our stories. Then this Saturday morning, we met face-to-face for the first time over a virtual call.

And I can honestly say… it was surreal.

For the first time in my life, I was speaking with someone who shares a piece of the same biological DNA as me.

Someone connected to my roots.

Someone whose story echoes my own in ways that are both beautiful and heartbreaking.

At one point during our conversation, I realized something I had never experienced before: I was looking at someone and seeing a reflection of a part of myself I’ve spent my entire life searching for.

It’s hard to put that feeling into words.

For adoptees, identity can sometimes feel like a puzzle with missing pieces. Moments like this don’t solve everything — but they remind you that those pieces do exist somewhere in the world.

Meeting Roselyn felt like discovering one of those pieces.

A connection I have dreamed about for years.

A reminder that even across continents — from the Philippines, to Norway, to Nebraska — our stories can still find each other.

I don’t know where this journey will lead next. But I know this moment is one I will carry with me forever.

Sometimes the smallest strand of DNA can lead to the most meaningful connections.