After 35 years of uncertainty, a woman from the US has finally found her biological father thanks to a DNA test and the help of a volunteer 'search angel'. Larecia Buford, who grew up believing another man was her father, took an online DNA test at age 31 that proved her suspicions correct – the man her mother had named as her father was not related to her at all.
Further DNA testing, aided by a search angel, led Larecia to a man who was one of 12 siblings. When she showed him a picture of her mother, he recognised her instantly. The match was confirmed, though Larecia's mother insists she has never met the man. Larecia believes her mother is simply in denial, and the two families now spend time together.
Remarkably, the discovery also resolved a mystery on her father's side: he had raised a son who was not biologically his. 'He needed me as much as I needed him,' Larecia said. 'Being his only child worked out perfectly for me – after 35 years apart, selfishly, I didn't want to share him.'
Now living with her father, Larecia describes him as more than a parent – he is her best friend. She plans to write a book to encourage other teenagers with missing parents not to waste time. 'If I'd found him sooner, I could have had so many more years of loving – and being loved by – my father,' she said.
