Surprise twist after adopted woman, 24, tracks down her biological parents with DNA test

A woman has revealed how she tracked down her biological 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 mom, Inga Coleman, was unable to raise her. 

The Florida-based 24-year-old had always known her biological mother couldn't raise her, however, she had no information about her birth parents' names, ages or location. 

But, that all changed in 2020 when her half-sister on her mom's side, Kayla Hensley, 32, reached out and told her the tragic news that her mom had passed away in 2018. 

Following the heartbreaking message, Sydney decided to go on a hunt to find out everything she could about her biological parents and submitted a DNA test to Ancestry.com. 

It was then that she finally reconnected with her father more than two decades later during a 'surreal' reunion. 

Sydney began looking for her birth parents in 2018 when she submitted a sample to 23andMe. 

After submitting another test to Ancestry.com, she got a message from her first cousin on her dad's side, ChanDreas Barkley, 31, who put her in contact with her father, Lenton Mitchell, 53, who works in paving.

Her dad sent her a text to say he wished he met her sooner and the pair saw each other for the first time on June 23, 2024, in Cartersville, Georgia. 

They described their reunion as 'surreal.' Because she had no information about her dad, she didn't discover she was biracial until after the search for her birth family. 

Sydney, a multimedia designer, said: 'I always knew that I was adopted.  

'I am not sure on the details why - all I know is that my birth mom couldn't keep me and she didn't give the hospital a lot of details about who my father was.

'I grew up in Rhode Island, and I didn't look like anyone else in that community.

'I struggled a lot with fitting in at school and I didn't know I was half black until I took a DNA test in my senior year.'

Sydney was born on March 10, 2000, in Rome, Georgia, and was put up for adoption at birth.

One month later, she was taken in by Kimberly Parkhurst, 64, and her husband, David, 61.

Her adoptive parents then moved 1,000 miles away 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 struggled fitting in but I was good at sports and that is what I used to fit in.

'It was still super hard for me as I had nobody who looked like me.'

Sydney said she had a great childhood and she was 'blessed' with her adoptive parents, but she was nervous telling them she wanted to find her birth mom and dad.

She revealed: 'I didn't want to look ungrateful for everything they have done for me. I would search on random websites and try to find whatever I could. I always had that question and I always wanted to know who my birth parents were.'

In 2018, during her high school senior year, Sydney took a DNA test and submitted the results to the website 23andMe.

'My half-sister reached out to me in April 2020 and said we might be half-siblings,' she said.

'I met my half-sister on my mum's side in January 2021 who told me my mum had passed away two years earlier.

'I then knew it would be a stretch to find my birth father as my mom left no information about him.'

Sydney then took another DNA test and posted it on Ancestry.com, where she was messaged by her first cousin on her dad's side.

She said: 'I thought I needed to find my dad in case he had passed away.

'I found my first cousin and she was able to piece together which one of her uncles was my dad.

'She asked her uncles if they knew the name of my birth mother and he said yes.'

Sydney then got a text message from her dad, Lenton, who said he wished they had met sooner.

He said: 'I am glad you reached out trying to find me, if I had known about you we would have met sooner.

'I love you and I'm glad to have a new daughter that I did not 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 know her or being dead like her mom.

She said: 'I waited a couple of days to reply and I said it was crazy and good to hear from him.

'It took me a whole year to process what had happened.'

In May 2024, her half-brother, Tony Mitchell, 31, reached out and said Sydney should go to Georgia to surprise her dad.

She drove down to Cartersville and met her cousins and aunties on June 22, the day before the surprise meal to meet her dad.

She said: 'We had planned brunch, the family said he is hard to get hold of at times so I wasn't expecting him to turn up.

'We went to a restaurant where I met some of my other aunties and my grandma.

'All of a sudden, he walks through the door.'

The 24-year-old was overjoyed that she got 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 are all short, as am I, and they all seem super genuine. They were all so welcoming and friendly.

'My dad was a lot more emotional than I thought he would be. He was quiet and reserved, he kept on looking at me and saying I looked so much like my birth mom.

'He was very excited to meet me and said he was sad he didn't have a relationship with me early on.'

Meanwhile, her dad revealed that he was 'nervous' to meet his daughter. 

Lenton said: 'When I met Sydney I was excited and nervous at the same time.

'When I saw her I was glad that I was finally able to meet her. I would have love to have met her sooner.'