At 45, She Found Out the Truth About Her Dad That Even He Didn’t Know

Vikki Michèle had a fairly normal childhood, complete with a loving mother and father who raised her in her hometown of Canberra, Australia. Despite her close-knit and supportive family, Vikki often felt like there was something “off” — something different about her than what her parents had led her to believe. As it turned out later, she was right.

Even so, the years and eventually, the decades, went by. The girl Vikki grew into a woman. She moved to Canada and started a family of her own. When Vikki was in her 40s, her father, John — the man who had raised her since birth — passed away. That’s when Vikki’s mother revealed the truth about her roots.

You see, John wasn’t Vikki’s biological father. Her real dad was a man named Ian; a man that Vikki had never met, nor even heard of. In fact, Vikki’s mother hadn’t been in contact with Ian since 1969.

A light switched on in Vikki’s heart. That feeling that she had since growing up, the sense that some piece of her was missing, suddenly became clear. She knew right away that she wanted to track down her biological father, if only to learn more about her genetics and heritage.

There was just one other problem: Ian, wherever he was, had no idea that Vikki even existed. Her mother had never told him that she had gotten pregnant.

Vikki started the search anyway. She had little more than a name and a few old photographs to work with. She scoured the Internet, from Facebook to Google, without developing any promising leads. She sent letters to local church parishes in Australia and beyond, hoping to find some kind of clue. She made hundreds of international calls from Canada, phoning up anyone she could find with the same surname as Ian, in hopes that they might be some distant relative or know where he was.

For over two months, Vikki persisted. By Thanksgiving, the list of possible names and phone numbers was beginning to dwindle, and she started to have doubts.

On Thanksgiving Day, Vikki resolved to spend time with her children and husband in the here and now. But she just couldn’t resist checking her email one last time before dinner.

And there it was: A message from Ian himself.

Over the following months, the two continued to correspond, and Vikki found that there was a lot more to be learned besides her medical family history. She discovered that she had a younger half-brother, also named Ian, from her father’s marriage to another woman.

Those emails eventually led to a true family gathering. Both father and brother Ians flew out to Canada to meet Vikki and her family. Their first meeting in the airport was one of smiles, tears, and an obvious family connection.

That missing piece that Vikki couldn’t figure out while she was young turned out to be a beautiful addition to her adult life. It may have taken some 45 years, but a father and a daughter can now enjoy the connection they never knew they were missing.