No social media could find his mom, so he turned to ChatGPT — and found the only woman who still knew him by his childhood nickname
One day, Avtar Singh's visiting grandmother quietly told Rosey that Singh was born from his father's previous marriage
When Avtar Singh's biological mother was separated from him as a toddler, his family buried her existence beneath decades of silence. They kept her identity such a secret that he grew up with almost no clues to trace her. As an adult, he combed through Google, Facebook, and countless paper archives, but the search yielded no results. Running out of options, the 66-year-old retired chartered accountant decided to give Artificial Intelligence a try. So, he put in several details of his mother, such as her first name and approximate age, on ChatGPT on a whim. To his surprise, the chatbot led him to a woman named Nicci Dhamu, who knew his nickname. What happened next was truly unbelievable, according to the Guardian's report published on July 25, 2026.
Childhood whispers
Growing up in Amritsar back in the 1960s, a young Singh was often told by neighbors that the woman he was living with wasn't her mother and that his real mother lived overseas. At first, he refused to believe these claims until he grew a little older. He then realized that they were right; the woman who had been raising him was his paternal grandmother, who affectionately called him "Titu." Shortly after this realization, at just nine years old, he was dressed up in a three-piece suit and sent alone across the globe to live with his father, mother, and siblings in Canada.
For some reason, even though he was reunited with his family, Singh always felt what he labelled as "an outsider, an afterthought." Although his father showed him warmth, his mother was nowhere near as caring as his grandmother. In fact, he felt like she resented him. Nonetheless, he continued to adapt to the new life in Canada, cutting his hair short. Despite the difficulties and language barriers, he grew up into a successful young man and started his professional career. Soon, he even invited his grandparents to live with him and his wife, Rosey.
Unearthing a family secret
One day, his visiting grandmother quietly told Rosey that Singh was born from his father's previous marriage. Shocked, Singh then realized why his stepmother was so cold to him. Moreover, this prompted him to press his father for some details about his actual mother. But he unfortunately stonewalled him, only yielding her forename, Savinder. Armed with a single word and the fact that she was from Africa and later moved to the United Kingdom, Singh knew finding his biological mother would be next to impossible.
Still, he spent years hitting brick walls through Google searches, social media scrolling, and even public records. Being a privacy-conscious man, Singh refused a commercial DNA registry. "They can sell it. Not only that – if they see something in my DNA, that affects my kids. I don’t want that information up there," he told the Guardian. He also revealed that he even deleted the Facebook account once again, citing data theft concerns. That being said, all hope seemed lost for Singh to reunite with his mother. But he didn't know someone else was going through the same pain.
Sifting clues in silence
Across the Atlantic in the United Kingdom, jewellery designer Nicci Dhamu was slowly discovering the other side of the silent heartbreak. She learned that her mother, Savinder Kaur Nagi, had been married off young in India and bore a little boy whom she called "Titu." During her mother's battle with late-stage dementia, Dhamu listened as the ailing woman openly cried, "Mera bacha (my child)." She remembered the loss she had been forced to leave behind. Determined to grant her peace, Dhamu took it upon herself to find "Titu." She searched the archives and even visited Amritsar, but couldn't find any clue. Sadly, her mother passed away in 2024, prompting her to publish a tribute for her.
ChatGPT sparks hope
It seemed like a lost cause from both ends. Until one day, resting in a French hotel following his grueling cancer treatment, an idea popped into Singh's mind. "I've tried everything else; why don't I give AI a shot?" He told himself. So, he picked up his phone and typed in everything he knew about his mother. From her forename to her approximate age, and even her geographical path from Africa to India and to the U.K. To his surprise, the LLM pulled up Dhamu's tribute honoring Savinder Kaur Nagi.
He was wary that AI chatbots could make things up. So, he decided to investigate further. Upon going through it, he stumbled across a snapshot of a 1962 sewing diploma earned in Dhariwal. The location struck a chord with Singh as it was in proximity to where he grew up. Singh's journey is one that resonates with a lot of Americans. According to the American Adoption Congress, 72% of adolescents separated from their parents want to know why they were adopted. Meanwhile, 65% want to meet their biological parents at least once, and 94% want to know what they looked like.
Reunited at last
He then reached out to Dhamu through her brand website. Singh laid out his background and the names of his father's relatives in Punjab. During a first remote conversation, he enquired whether his mother had any offspring in India. This led Dhamu to drop her guard and break decades of silence, saying, "Titu, is that you?" That's because this was all she knew about her half-brother. Soon, Singh realized he was late to meet his mother. Nonetheless, he did get to meet her siblings as well as Dhamu during his recent trip to the United Kingdom.
More on Scoop Upworthy
73-year-old woman who grew up as 'only child' stunned after DNA test returned an exact match
Share on Facebook
