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The Isaacs Connection
Finding My Jewish Roots
“Fortunately, I was guided to JewishGen, where a review of the Isaacs names posted in JewishGen’s Family Finder led to a breakthrough.”
This unusual story takes us from New Zealand to England as Geoff Lloyd searches for his parents and, through JewishGen, connects with his cousin, Laurie Rappeport, in Israel. Geoff and Laurie each tell their stories. Geoff’s Story The news of my adoption came as a total surprise to me. Once I absorbed the shock of this news, I immediately began a search for my natural parents and family, not realizing what a journey it would become and how it would ultimately enrich my life. The information on the adoption papers enabled me to locate my natural mother, a half-brother, and two half-sisters who were still alive in England. I tried to arrange a meeting, with mixed results. I met with all of my half siblings, but my natural mother, who had been told by her mother that I had died of diphtheria when I was 18 months old, was in shock and denial about my existence and declined any contact with me.
My focus then turned to locating my natural father, whose name was not on the adoption papers. I made many enquiries to various agencies, including the National Health Service Adoption Unit, and with much help discovered documents that showed my natural father was Leslie Lewis Isaacs and that he died in 1977. Documents also indicated that my natural father and all of his family, both paternal and maternal, were Jewish. Neither my natural mother nor my adoptive parents were Jewish, so this added an entirely new dimension to my family history. I was determined to make contact with living relatives of my father. Fortunately, I was guided to JewishGen, where a review of the Isaacs names posted in the JewishGen Family Finder led to a breakthrough. Laurie’s Story Then in August 2008 I received an email from Geoff Lloyd regarding his father, Lewis Leslie Isaacs, and grandfather, Joshua Isaacs, of Birmingham. My Isaacs family came from Birmingham, too – so this sounded promising. After checking with other family members, we determined that Geoff’s grandfather and my great-grandfather were brothers. What joy to make this connection! Geoff had taken a Y-chromosome test in the hopes of confirming his Isaacs heritage. A comparison with the same test by my uncle conclusively confirmed the relationship – Geoff was our second cousin. I invited Geoff and his wife to our son’s wedding in Israel in August 2009. When we met him, it felt like we had known each other all our lives. Thank you, JewishGen!
Geoff’s Story I petitioned the British Courts successfully for a new birth certificate to show my true parentage and to have my surname changed from Lloyd to Isaacs. This change of name was important to me to clarify my sense of identity and to strengthen my family ties. To further reinforce this connection, I am in the process of converting to Judaism. Without the JewishGen Family Finder, my connection with the Isaacs family may never have happened. And the rest, as they say, is history! July 2010
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