Meribeth Blackwell, an adoptee from Alabama, found her birth mother, Angie Oracoy, after uploading her DNA to MyHeritage. The two exchanged texts and emails, and later met in person for the first time on Good Morning America.
Blackwell had searched many times over the years, but was always hit a dead end. She was adopted as an infant 31 years ago by a couple who were unable to have children.
Oracoy was 19 and living in New Orleans when she found out she was pregnant. She made the decision to place her baby for adoption. She was determined to give her child a life she felt she could not offer. Oracoy was not allowed to hold her baby at the hospital after birth. It took her a long time to grieve that loss.
Blackwell recalls, “On a Sunday night I logged into MyHeritage account. There she was, my birth mother.” She continued, “I was shocked. I never dreamed that any of this would ever happen. I had gotten it in my head that it would just have to be okay.” She learned that her mother had kept her maiden name and phone number in case she ever came looking for her. She was also happy to discover she has three siblings. Both families are looking forward to spending the holidays together.
MyHeritage is an online genealogy platform. It provides a wide array of resources for use in genealogy research. They also provide their own DNA testing services. The use of DNA cheek swabs is helping to further such research. In 2016 the company launched a new DNA Matching service. Since then they have allowed users to upload their raw DNA file from other companies like 23andMe and AncestryDNA to further the matching capabilities of their online profile.
