49 Years Later Daughter is Reunited With Birth Mother and Other Family After Taking DNA Test

If you have ever been curious about your DNA and who you are related to, you have probably used a service like 23andMe. This was the case for a North Carolina woman, Sharon Crickmar. And what she found when she did was a fantastic blessing.

Sharon grew up with her parents and brother in Binghamton, New York. One day, their parents sat them both down and told them that they had been adopted by two different families. “We always wondered, like I think he and I both did, as to who was out there. Are they out there? Will we ever find them?” Sharon says.

Her Adoption Had Been a Closed One

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Since her adoption had been a closed one, she wasn’t able to figure out much about who she came from. In New York, adoptions from the 1970s are sealed. That’s what led her to 23andMe.

In November 2023, she found out she had a mom match, a woman named Shirley Bendeck, who lived 1,300 miles away in Lubbock, Texas. At the time, Shirley had wondered if the child she had given up for adoption 49 years before would ever find her.

As soon as Sharon got the notification, she went to Shirley’s profile and saw a picture of her. “She looked exactly like me,” Sharon says. “So it kinda freaked me out. I was like oh my gosh, she looks just like me.”

Sharon and Her Birth Mother Were Reunited

Sharon sent Shirley a message that 23andMe had linked them as mother and daughter. Shirley got the message as she was walking into her house. She told her husband, “She found me!” And then the phone rang. It was Sharon who had found her number from her address. The two talked for hours, with the phone call being an answered prayer for both of them.

“I told her, I said, I prayed for you over all the years,” Shirley shares.

And as if finding Shirley wasn’t a blessing on its own, Sharon also found out she had other family members in addition to her birth mom. “I have siblings and I have cousins and I have family,” Sharon says. “Like, my family was very small growing up and a lot of my family has passed away.”

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Sharon Found More Than Just Her Birth Mother

Shirley was 18 years old when she got pregnant with Sharon, and 19 when she gave birth and adopted her out. “It was one of the hardest decisions in my entire life to make,” Shirley says about the adoption.

After the adoption, Shirley joined the Army Reserves, and also met her husband who she has now been married to for 46 years. They had two daughters, and adopted two sons. Shirley and her husband had told them about their half sister when they were in junior high. In fact, it was one of her daughters that encouraged her to get on 23andMe. “She kinda tricked me into doing it,” she said.

Mother and daughter met again in person in March of 2024. “Got out of the car, and we just hugged,” Sharon says. “It was amazing.”

Finding One Another Was An Answer to Prayer

And we are certain it was. Finding one another was an amazing miracle and the answer to many prayers for both of them.

“It’s a true blessing,” Sharon shares. “I never thought I would have a wonderful family like this.”

Prayers to Sharon, Shirley, and the whole family as they start this new year together after so many years apart.

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"Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me" - Matthew 18:5

WATCH: Daughter and Birth Mother Reunited From DNA Test

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h/t: WBTW News 13

Featured Image Credit: CBS 17