A woman has revealed how she tracked down her birth parents and discovered she was half black, almost 24 years after being adopted.
Sydney Parkhurst was put up for adoption as a child after her mother, Inga Coleman, was unable to raise her.
The 24-year-old Florida resident had always known her birth mother was unable to raise her, but she had no information about her birth parents’ names, ages or locations.
But that all changed in 2020 when her half-sister on her mother’s side, Kayla Hensley, 32, reached out and told her the tragic news that their mother had passed away in 2018.
Following the heartbreaking message, Sydney decided to go out and find someone to find out everything she could about her birth parents and sent a DNA test to Ancestry.com.
A woman revealed how she tracked down her birth parents and discovered she was half black, almost 25 years after being adopted
It was then that he finally reconnected with his father more than two decades later, during a “surreal” reunion.
Sydney began searching for her biological parents in 2018 when she submitted a sample to 23andMe.
After submitting another test to Ancestry.com, she received a message from her paternal first cousin, ChanDreas Barkley, 31, who put her in touch with his father, Lenton Mitchell, 53, who works in paving.
Her father texted her to say that he wished he had met her sooner and the couple met for the first time on June 23, 2024, in Cartersville, Georgia.
They described their reunion as “surreal.” Because she had no information about her father, she didn’t discover he was biracial until after the search for her biological family.
Sydney, a multimedia designer, said: ‘I always knew I was adopted.
‘I’m not sure of the details of why; all I know is that my birth mother couldn’t keep me and didn’t give the hospital many details about who my father was.
‘I grew up in Rhode Island and I didn’t look like anyone else in that community.
Sydney Parkhust (seen with a member of her biological family) was put up for adoption as a child after her mother, Inga Coleman, was unable to raise her.
The 24-year-old Florida resident (who is seen reconnecting with her father) had always known that her biological mother was unable to raise her, however, she had no information about her biological parents.
‘I had a lot of trouble fitting in at school and I didn’t know I was mixed race until I took a DNA test in my senior year.’
Sydney was born on March 10, 2000 in Rome, Georgia, and was placed up for adoption at birth.
A month later, she was taken in by Kimberly Parkhurst, 64, and her husband, David, 61.
Her adoptive parents moved 1,000 miles from Atlanta, Georgia, to Barrington, Rhode Island, where Sydney grew up.
Sydney said: ‘Rhode Island doesn’t have a lot of diversity and my parents are both white; growing up, I felt like an outsider.
‘I had a hard time fitting in, but I was good at sports and that was what helped me fit in.
“It was still very difficult for me because I didn’t have anyone who looked like me.”
Sydney said she had a wonderful childhood and was “blessed” with her adoptive parents, but was nervous about telling them she wanted to find her biological mother and father.
She revealed: “I didn’t want to seem ungrateful for everything they had done for me. I would look on random websites and try to find out everything I could. I always had that question and I always wanted to know who my birth parents were.”
In 2018, during her senior year of high school, Sydney took a DNA test and submitted the results to the website 23andMe.
That all changed in 2020 when her half-sister on her mother’s side reached out and told her the tragic news that her mother had passed away in 2018 (seen with her biological family).
“My half-sister contacted me in April 2020 and told me we could be half-siblings,” she said.
‘I met my half-sister on my mother’s side in January 2021, who told me that my mother had passed away two years earlier.
‘I knew then that it would be difficult to find my biological father, since my mother did not leave any information about him.’
Sydney then took another DNA test and posted it on Ancestry.com, where she received a message from her paternal first cousin.
She said: ‘I thought I needed to find my father in case he had passed away.
‘I found my cousin and she was able to reconstruct which of her uncles was my dad.
‘She asked her uncles if they knew my birth mother’s name and he said yes.’
Sydney then received a text from her father, Lenton, who said he wished they had met sooner.
Following the heartbreaking message, Sydney (seen with members of her biological family) decided to go on a quest to find out everything she could about her birth parents.
It was then that he finally reconnected with his father more than two decades later during a “surreal” reunion.
He said: ‘I’m glad you tried to contact me, if I had known about you we would have met sooner.
‘I love you and I’m happy to have a new daughter that I didn’t know about, if you have any questions you can call me.’
Sydney said the message came as a “surprise” as she had prepared herself for him not wanting to meet her or be dead like his mother.
She said: ‘I waited a couple of days to reply and told him it was crazy and I was glad to hear from him.
“It took me a whole year to process what had happened.”
In May 2024, her half-brother, Tony Mitchell, 31, approached her and told her that Sydney should go to Georgia to surprise her father.
She drove to Cartersville and met with her cousins and aunts on June 22, the day before the surprise dinner to meet her father.
She said: ‘We had planned a brunch, the family said it’s hard to get in touch with him sometimes so I didn’t expect him to turn up.
‘We went to a restaurant where I met some of my other aunts and my grandmother.
“Suddenly, he walks through the door.”
The 24-year-old was delighted to be able to spend quality time with her family.
Meanwhile, her father revealed he was ‘nervous’ about meeting his daughter.
The 24-year-old was delighted to be able to spend quality time with her family.
She said: ‘It was really cool to meet the family and see the qualities I share with them. They’re all short, like me, and they all seem super genuine. They were all very welcoming and friendly.
‘My father was a lot more emotional than I thought he would be. He was quiet and reserved, and he kept looking at me and saying that I looked a lot like my biological mother.
“He was very excited to meet me and said he was sad he didn’t have a relationship with me at first.”
Meanwhile, her father revealed he was ‘nervous’ about meeting his daughter.
Lenton said: ‘When I met Sydney I was excited and nervous at the same time.
“When I saw her I was glad to finally meet her. I wish I had met her sooner.”
