After 50 years apart, my father's first words to me were, "Where have you been?”

It’s funny how some moments get seared into your brain. I was getting tires put on my car when I got my DNA results. I had always been told that my twin brothers and I had the same father, but according to my results, I had a different father and was half Italian.

- Kimberly Moore Francis

I was distraught. I called my brother, crying, and he said, “You're still my sister.”

Originally it was my mom who wanted to learn our history. She had grown up in foster care, so we decided to work on her family tree. When she found out her mother had died, she lost interest. Then, in October of 2021, my mom died; I sent off my own test at the end of December. In February of 2022 I got a close match, but when I messaged the person, I never heard back.

Then in February 2023 I got another close match on MyHeritage: my biological dad's cousin. I messaged his son, who managed his MyHeritage profile, and said, Hey, I don't know how we match. He didn't either. I am from Florida and live in Kentucky, while they live in Rome. But the next April his father went to Sicily to meet with my Italian dad. One day he messaged me, We have confirmation on who your father is.

After that, an aunt on my father's side found me on social media and started video-calling me. I don't speak Italian—I was at lunch, sitting in my car, and I thought, I can’t answer this. I don’t even know how we would communicate. I think she was just super excited.

I learned about my mom's relationship with my dad through conversations with my aunt. She had photo albums and sent me pictures of my dad and my mom on an Italian ship with the Italian flag in the back.