An Allen family has an added reason to celebrate this Mother's Day.
They just met a relative they never knew they had thanks to a DNA kit.
Growing up, 75-year-old Janet Conn says she always thought she was an only child. She was born in 1942 to biracial parents.
Conn says she suspected it but it wasn't until about 10 years ago that she confirmed she was given up at birth. She says she searched for relatives.
“We just hit a dead end,” Conn said.
But then the purchase of a DNA kit this past Black Friday by her daughter Robin Sullivan unlocked a lifetime of mystery.
“I purchased the 23 & Me kit and then I got one for my mom for free,” Sullivan said. “About a month later we got the results back and when we got the results within several hours we found a match.”
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It was Conn's younger brother Kent Robinson.
They connected online then days later had an emotional meeting more than 70 years in the making.
“That moment it was unbelievable. When I opened the door and saw him all I could do is cry,” Conn said.
“We could not believe that after 75 years of my mom living that a simple $50 DNA kit would reveal someone who is someone in my mother's genealogy,” Sullivan said.
The siblings spent several days together and still keep in touch via Skype.
“The whole situation couldn’t have been any better,” Robinson said.
Robinson left behind a photo album Conn now thumbs through daily, baffled at how new technology is answering lifelong questions.
“That's what was so remarkable to me,” she said.
