DNA test connects cousins born half a world away

The holidays are a time to gather, a chance to reminisce and come together with those we love. This year for the Jones family, it’s also the first chance to connect cousins born an ocean apart.

"As I was growing up, I wanted to know who my birth mother was and my birth father,” said Huynh-Cuc Nguyen.

Adopted as a young child, Nguyen spent years working to learn about her Vietnamese mother and American soldier father who met and had her during the war.

"It was a point where I didn't know where I was from. If I was Afro-American, if I was Vietnamese. I didn't know where to fit,” she said.

While Nguyen searched for her heritage from her home in California, Ultra Power logged on to ancestry.com from her Grand Prairie home, using a DNA test to learn more about her heritage.

"My kids, they wanted me to find out more about our background, our ancestry,” said Powe.

Last year, Powe unexpectedly found an aunt, a younger sister to her mom and uncle neither of whom knew existed.

"We're just now getting to know her better and loving on her just as if she's been there the whole time,” she said.

Together, the newfound family members found a second relative through DNA testing.

They learned Powe’s late uncle, the oldest of her mother’s siblings, Willie Earl Jones, fathered a daughter during his service in Vietnam.

Nguyen, whose father was unnamed on her birth certificate, got a message from Powe. And before long, the first cousins were meeting for the first time on Zoom.

“I was a little overwhelmed but excited. I wanted to see where I was from,” said Nguyen.

Wednesday, Nguyen landed at DFW Airport to hug Powe for the first time.

Though she learned her father died seven years ago, this week his younger brother, sister and niece are helping Nguyen piece together answers to questions she’s long asked.

They also hope to create a place where Nguyen can feel she finally belongs.

"Now I know where I fit, and I'm happy,” said Nguyen.