Family Ties: A Houston Woman Finds Birth Family Through 23AndMe

HOUSTON — Most of us can look in the mirror and see a family resemblance, but that is not often the case with children in adopted families. For Melissa Snyder, that was always the question in the back of her own mind. Snyder, who as olive skin and dark her, didn’t resemble her fair-skinned parents of northern European descent

“I asked my parents why I looked different from them, kids in school were mean, and I was bullied for not looking like my parents or my brother,” Snyder recalled.

Snyder, who lives in Houston, recently found out she was the spitting image of her birth mother through 23andMe DNA and Ancestry testing.

Snyder, 41, who grew up in Houston, never questioned if her adoptive parents loved her. In fact, she had a wonderful and loving childhood.

“I was a very happy child growing up i just wanted love and attention and to be happy,” she told Patch.

But she was still curious about her ancestry, and about a genetic disorder she’d been diagnosed with called Hashimoto's disease.

Her brother, who has always been over-protective of his little sister, bought her the 23andMe kit.

She completed the 23andMe kit in January 2018 and sent it in to be analyzed. Six months later, she received a from a woman who was her half-sister.

“I was so shocked that I even called 23andMe to see if I was in some way being scammed. The adviser on the phone chuckled and said, ‘ma'am the DNA doesn't lie you both share a lot of DNA,’” Snyder said.

She hung up the phone and cried happy tears, which left her co-workers wondering if everything was OK.

It was better than OK, Snyder though.

“So many emotions came flooding to me that day, I was in disbelief. I talked to my sister later that day, and she shared pictures with me of my birth mother. I look just like her. I had finally found out who I looked like,” she said.

She met her sister in August 2018, but has yet to meet her birth mother face-to-face. Snyder said her mother was very young when she gave birth to her 41-years ago, and she was not emotionally or financially ready to care for a baby who’d been born premature.

Her adoptive brother was also cautious, and worried that his sister would be hurt by meeting who he considers strangers. In the months that followed, her brother softened to the idea, but he still worries, she said.

While finding new members of her family tree has made her happy, taking the test also reinforced for her just how wonderful her life already was, she said.

“The best thing I have learned about myself is that [it] confirmed how grateful I am to have had my parents and my family. I was truly blessed to have my life exactly how it was and the people who loved me and still love me,” she said.

Snyder said she hopes 23andMe can help connect her with her biological father some day, and recommends the testing for those who want to find family members, or learn about themselves.

“I'm still discovering family members. 23andMe has given me the opportunity to find out answers I have wondered about since I was 9...,” she said.

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