Paul knew he was adopted from a young age.\nPassionate about genealogy, he had developed extensive family trees for his\nadoptive family and his wife\u2019s family. Paul\u2019s first success story, published in\n2017, recounts his discovery of the identity of his birth mother. Although she\ndeclined to have any contact with Paul, knowing her identity allowed him to\nresearch his maternal roots, where JewishGen resources played an important\nrole. To read Paul\u2019s initial success story, click <\/em>here<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The following account is Part Two of Paul\u2019s\nsearch for his biological roots. Note that the family surname he used in this\nstory has been changed to protect the privacy of those involved.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIn November 2016, after many years of searching,\nI finally discovered the identity of my biological mother. While she didn\u2019t\nwant to have any contact with me, I at least got a brief medical history from\nher brother. I kept telling myself that obtaining a medical history was the\nmain purpose of my search (and it was), but looking back, I don\u2019t know if I was\nbeing totally honest. Not being able to speak with my birth mother was hard.\nMore so than I was ready to admit. After all the time and effort put into tracking\nher down, hitting another brick wall was difficult, to say the least. But of\ncourse, there are always two sides to every story, and I didn\u2019t know what hers\nwas. I\u2019m sure she had her reasons for wanting to keep her distance. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThinking of myself as being genealogically\ndriven (as well as not wanting to give up), I delved deeper into the\ninformation I had gathered about my birth mother\u2019s family. By sheer coincidence,\nit turned out that her daughter, my half-sister, was Facebook friends with one\nof my (adopted) cousins. I reached out to that cousin and asked if she could\nmake a connection between us on Facebook. Introducing myself, I told my half-sister\nthat I was doing research on the family and was hoping to get some information\nfrom her mother who didn\u2019t really want to talk with me. She was surprised about\nher mother\u2019s reluctance but was glad to listen. After a lengthy conversation,\nand with genuine interest on my half-sister\u2019s part, I revealed our connection.\nWhile this shocked her at first, she seemed happy to know of my existence and we\nstill chat from time to time on Facebook. Over time, I also reached out to other\nfamily members (from biological second and third cousins to more distant\nrelatives) who have been quite open and forthcoming \u2013 even providing me with\ncopies of family trees on the various branches of my biological mother\u2019s family.\nA number of these branches even have a considerable amount of data on JewishGen’s\nFamily Tree of the Jewish People<\/em> and various cousins are active on\nJewishGen. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFinding all these connections, and learning\nabout my biological mother\u2019s family background, was amazing, but the identity\nof my biological father still remained a mystery. As the years went on, and not\nknowing where else to turn to, I was beginning to think I would never track him\ndown. I told myself that I was OK with that and had to accept the situation for\nwhat it was, but again, deep down, I knew I was only fooling myself. This meant\na great deal to me and one way or another I had to push on. Seeing numerous\nvideos posted online about positive meetings between adoptees and their biological\nparents didn\u2019t help matters either. Why couldn\u2019t that be my story as well? \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe next year for my birthday my kids bought me\nan AncestryDNA test which they knew I wanted. I sent it off right away and\neagerly waited for the results. However, it didn\u2019t turn up too much. I did get\nmatches, but mostly cousins from my biological mother\u2019s side or people I didn\u2019t\nknow how to connect with. Without any clue as to my biological father\u2019s\nidentity it seemed nearly impossible to make a match. Seemingly another dead\nend. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nOver the next year things died down and the\nsearch for my biological father was put on the backburner. However, family\nmedical issues started to pick up again and getting a more complete medical\nhistory became imperative in my mind. Just to know what I was up against and if\neverything my kids and I were going through was genetic or not would have gone\na long way to ease my mind. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFor my 50th<\/sup> birthday, my kids bought\nme a 23&Me DNA test which I was hoping might yield some more positive\nresults. Still not knowing my biological father\u2019s surname, I didn\u2019t know what\nto expect but I was more than willing to take the test. For some reason (I\ndon\u2019t know why) I thought this could be the breakthrough I needed. At the very least,\nit couldn\u2019t hurt. Once again, I eagerly waited for the results. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nI received an email a few weeks later stating that\nmy results were ready and nervously logged onto the 23&Me website. I was\nshocked and dumbfounded as I looked at the first two matches \u2014 FATHER and\nBROTHER. Not cousin or distant relative but the family I was looking for all these\nyears \u2014 right in front of me. I was beyond ecstatic and just started screaming.\nTaking a few deep breaths, I called my wife and told her the news. She couldn\u2019t\nbelieve it either. I then drafted an email to my biological father explaining\nwho I was and hoping he would be receptive to talking. A short while later I\nsent a similar message to my half-brother. Later that evening I received their\nresponses and spent the rest of the evening on the phone with both of them. I\nwas beyond elated. Not only did I find my biological father and a new half-brother,\nbut they were just as happy to meet me as I was to meet them. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nOver the past few months, I have had numerous\nconversations with both of them as well as video calls (ZOOM and Facetime) introducing\nall our family members to each other. We all live in different cities and\nplanned on meeting in one central location, but due to COVID-19 that has been\nput on hold for the time being. For now, the weekly calls continue and we all\nlook forward to meeting in person when travelling restrictions eventually ease\nup. One particularly meaningful moment for me was being able to join the ZOOM\nsimcha of my \u201cnew\u201d nephew\u2019s Bar Mitzvah and see all the family members online. During the course of the\ndiscussions I\u2019ve had with my father and brother we realized that there are a\nquite a few coincidences:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRight now, I use my spare time researching my newly\ndiscovered family. I count myself very fortunate that my biological father also\nhas a presence on JewishGen and has shown me many family records listed on the JRI-Poland\nindexes \u2014 including my great-grandfather\u2019s birth record and one for his sister\n(my great-great-aunt). It\u2019s amazing what you can find when you have a surname\nto go on. My next task is to go through the various Romanian indices (where my\nfather\u2019s maternal family was from) to confirm the information I was given. \n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a side note \u2013 I recently found my biological\nmother\u2019s maternal grandparents\u2019 marriage document (from 1905) listed on the JRC-UK\nMarriages index. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nI have also been researching the JewishGen Online\nWorldwide Burial Registry<\/em> to search for gravesites for members of both my\nbiological parents\u2019 families. Many of them are buried in the same cemeteries as\nmy adoptive family. Besides supplying exact death dates, the data on the burial\nregistry has provided birth dates (both exact and approximate) for numerous\nrelatives and helped me work out birth orders for many family members. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nI am also going through the many family pictures\nmy father has sent me. As with my biological mother\u2019s family, my father\u2019s\nfamily came to Canada in the early 1900s; they also lived quite close to where\nI grew up.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nOn the medical front (which was really the\nimpetus for the whole search to begin with), I now know the source of the\nissues that my kids and I have encountered. That might not seem like much, but\nto me it\u2019s very significant. I can finally go to our numerous doctors and say\nthis is what I or my kids are dealing with or may have to deal with in the\nfuture. It truly is a relief to have that information. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nI ended my first article \u2013 after finding my\nbiological mother \u2013 saying that: \u201cfor now, this chapter is over and I have\nclosure. I finally know where I came from and have some knowledge of my biological\nfamily. I\u2019m satisfied.\u201d Looking back, I don\u2019t think I really was satisfied but\nhad to accept the situation for what it was. Now, however, I finally have the\nclosure I have been searching for. It\u2019s quite a gift, and I plan to make the\nmost of it. November 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hewlett, New York, USA<\/p>\n\n\n\n The gift of a DNA test kit from his children led\nPaul Howard directly to his biological father and previously unknown\nhalf-brother, both of whom were happy to connect with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul\u2019s biological father was able to point Paul\nto information about the family on JewishGen.org <\/a>and the Jewish Records Indexing-Poland<\/a> website. Searching the JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry<\/a> yielded results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jewishgen.org\/jewishgen\/testimonials\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Image2_tiny2.jpg\")
\n
\n<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jewishgen.org\/jewishgen\/testimonials\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Image1_tiny.jpg\")
<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\nResearch Notes and Hints<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n