Family meets for first time after 50 years of searching, with help of DNA test
MADISON, Wis. — July 2 is a day Levaniel McMurray, 72, will always remember.
“It’s been over 50 years. It’s about time. They’ve been looking for me all this time,” McMurray said.
McMurray headed to the Dane County Regional Airport from his home in Westfield Tuesday morning, anxiously waiting to meet his daughter and son for the first time.
“I just don’t know what to expect. I’m looking forward to it though,” he said.
When McMurray was about 18 years old, he went overseas to serve in Vietnam. While he was there, he was involved with a woman who became pregnant. McMurray never knew she was expecting a child, and they never kept in contact.
The kids, who are twins, were given up for adoption by their mother when they were three days old.
Ty Nguyen and her brother, Tam, have lived with adoptive families their entire lives.
Nguyen said she grew up with one loving family. Tam moved through five different families while growing up.
When Nguyen was 26 years old, she met her brother for the first time.
“I found him because I came into this country; 1990 I came here. In 1997, I went home. He stopped by the orphanage just visiting at the same time I did,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen went back to Vietnam to visit the orphanage in which she began her life. By a miraculous coincidence, her brother was visiting at the same time.
Nguyen and Tam are now in their 50s. After creating an account with ancestry.com, Nguyen located some of her biological family members.
“I never thought my father was still alive,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen was able to get McMurray’s phone number through relatives.
“It’s so exciting. I’m very excited because I never had a family. But now, God has given me a big family,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen lives in Alabama with her four children and husband. McMurray has two daughters and family who live in Milwaukee. Tam lives with his family in Houston, Texas.
Nguyen said she was able to learn her mother’s name through the DNA test but was never able to find her. She is still looking.
Until then, Nguyen, Tam and McMurray will spend the rest of their lives getting to know each other and their respective families as well.
Ty Nguyen never met her brother or dad. At three days old, her and her twin brother were given up for adoption. The dad didn’t even know he had kids. After 50 years of searching, the family met for the first time today.https://t.co/B29ZutCcs9 pic.twitter.com/7JFemkTghG
— Jamie Perez (@JamiePerezTV) July 2, 2019
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