She was left at a police station as a baby. 50 years later, she got a text: 'Sorry, it took me so long to find you'

Amber Nichols, from Seattle, Washington, was abandoned at a South Korean police station as a 10-month-old infant and adopted soon after by an American family. For most of her life, she had accepted that she might never know the full story of her origins, but that changed this summer when a DNA test matched her with a sibling she never knew existed, as per Newsweek. Nichols documented her entire journey in a video on her TikTok account @nicholsamber that has since been viewed over 9 million times and liked by over 812k people.

Nichols grew up knowing her adoption story as it was openly discussed in her home. Her parents had faced miscarriages and stillbirths before deciding to adopt, and when a friend suggested South Korea as an option, they began the process. Raised in a religious household alongside her adoptive siblings, Nichols was told her adoption was part of "God's divine plan." In her late teens, she began to feel the sting of abandonment and wondered how her birth mother could let her go. With time, her perspective changed, and she began to think about the pain her birth mother may have experienced, believing she may not have had any choice at all. 

Just like Nicolas, many adoptees spend their lives separated from their birth families, and South Korea is one of the largest sources of international adoption, with hundreds of thousands of children sent abroad since the 1950s. An investigation led by The Associated Press found that most of these children were recorded as abandoned by agencies, but in reality, many had living and identifiable relatives. Determined to search, Nichols tried DNA testing in the past with no results. 

Then, in May 2025, she discovered a company connecting adoptees with relatives. She submitted her DNA, and two days later, she received a message that she had a full sibling match. "I literally went numb," she said. Shortly after, a text arrived with a letter from her sister, along with photos of her brother and her birth parents. That's when she learned her birth mother had died when Nichols was only three months old. Her father, a police officer, became ill, and relatives stepped in to raise her siblings. Nichols was placed in the care of her grandmother and an aunt, but when her sister visited, she was told the baby had "moved away." For decades, her sister kept searching, eventually turning to DNA testing herself.

Her sister's letter read: "It's been such a long time, but I truly hoped I would see you again someday. I'm truly sorry it took me so long to find you. I love you dearly, little sister. I hope we can meet again soon." That reunion finally happened in Seoul this August. Nichols, her husband, and their daughters traveled to meet the family she lost five decades earlier. "It unlocked a deep longing inside me for my culture that I didn't know existed. I thought this story would help adoptees feel less alone, but what I've realized from all of the messages I've gotten is that it touches everyone. We all have family wounds," she said. Today, Nichols and her sister keep in touch through calls and texts, and they are planning another visit. "It's all still very recent and raw. We are still figuring out how to have a relationship with someone whom you feel you know, and yet don't," she said. 

You can follow Amber Nichols (@nicholsamber) on TikTok to follow along with her journey. 

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