An adopted woman who spent her whole life searching for her birth parents finally tracked them down – just months before they both tragically passed away. Megan Kennedy, 37, grew up knowing she was adopted and on her 18th birthday, she applied for her original birth certificate and found her biological mother’s name – Patti Neil. In December 2018 new records were made available on ancestroy.com and, after trawling the site, Megan found her mum’s details on the 27th page.
She discovered that her mum lived in Scotland, where Megan was set to travel in June 2019.
Megan reached out to her birth mum, Patti, 64, a retired sales person, on Facebook, who was delighted to hear from her – and the pair reunited in Glasgow sitting and chatting for hours.
But tragically, Patti died in February 2020 unexpectedly after struggling with stomach issues.
Megan then found she had a genetic match with a half-sister, Kayla, 30, in 2018, via GEDmatch and then an aunt, Kathy, 66, in September 2020.
These matches led her to discover her biological father, Johnny Cavalier, 62, a retired businessman.
Johnny tragically died in February 2022 from polycystic kidney failure before they could meet in person.
Megan has traveled over 4,000 miles across the world to reunite with her long-lost family – and despite losing both birth parents, feels she has found her “true identity” and “all her people”.
Megan, a wedding photographer, from Birmingham, Alabama, USA, said: “It’s almost hard to put into words how it feels – it’s an immense feeling of peace. Every birthday I spent hours looking for Patti, it’s amazing to think I will never have to look again. It’s bittersweet, but I’m so grateful I reconnected with my biological parents before they passed.”
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Megan was over-the-moon when her biological mum, Patti, agreed to meet up in June 2019.
She said: “I was so nervous but so excited. I felt every feeling you could have felt – we met at Glasgow train station and literally ran across the platform to hug each other. Everyone watching cried, it was like a movie.”
“I feel like a transformed person from the woman I was in 2019, I have found all of my people.
“When you look at your biological parents and see your features in them, it is the purest self you have ever known.”
