70-year-old Michael Bennett purchased a 23andMe DNA test kit in 2018 only to discover a whole family waiting for him.
He was born in post-World War II occupied Japan. Michaelโs biological mother is a Japanese woman named Yoshiko Nakajima. His father is Dick Webster, an American serviceman.
In 1953, 3-year-old Michael was adopted by an American couple. And thatโs all he knew about his family. He did have a happy childhood he says.
Michael joined the Army, becoming a Green Beret, before starting his own family.
Michael lives in Fort Worth, Texas. In 2019, he received a message on the 23andMe app from a Cincinnati-based man called Damien.
โIt was someone who said โhey, we have a lot of DNA in common and I donโt know who you are. I know all my family. I donโt know who you are.โโ he told KENS 5.
Michael responded by telling his own life story.
โIs your motherโs name Yoshiko Nakajima? Were you born in Japan in the 1950s?โ Damien pressed.
Thatโs when Michael realized there was more to the conversation.
โHey, we know who your father is,โ Damien responded. โAnd you have a huge family and they all want to talk to you.โ
Michael was on the phone a few hours later with Damienโs aunt, Robin Reid.
Michael finally found out that he had seven half-siblings in Ohio, including Robin. She had a picture of him as a child.
โThat picture of that little boy stayed with me all these years,โ Robin said of the photos that their dad kept. โThat head full of black hair and those beautiful dark eyes stayed with me all these years and I wanted to know where my brother was.โ
Robin told him that their late father, Dick Webster, tried his best to stay in Japan with Michael and his mother. Webster re-enlisted for another three-year stint but the Air Force sent him back to the U.S.
Dick, a low-ranking airman, had no choice. He never saw Michael again after his son was adopted.
And Dick was heartbroken according to Robin.
Dick remarried a woman named Alma Jean. But he couldnโt stop thinking about the family he left in Japan. In the 80โs, he even sent two of his sons to locate them.
His wife was gone and Michael was adopted, but his sons did get information talking to the locals. Yoshiko had put Michael up for adoption to protect him as he was her only son.
Yoshiko died in 2017.
โShe knew it was going to be hard for me as a mixed-race child in post-World War II Japan with a single mom,โ Michael said. โThereโs no question she did what she did out of love.โ
Michael and his wife, Mari, then made their way to Cincinnati to meet the family. Michaelโs siblings were all waiting for him and there were so many hugs that day.
Robin says meeting Michael felt like seeing her dad again. They now celebrate holidays together. And Michael now gets to be a big brother.
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