Woman placed for adoption at birth reunites with biological mother 50 years later

Fate works in mysterious ways and sometimes it ends up giving us surprises that last lifetimes. Angela Saucier had given up her first biological daughter for adoption almost 50 years ago under and she never imagined that fate and some help from My Heritage will bring them together again. The 68-year-old told PEOPLE the words of her mother, "She told me I couldn't come home with a baby. I was in a place where I didn't know anyone and didn't have any family. At 18, I couldn't imagine what to do." Five decades went by after she gave up her infant and later in life, she became a mother to three more kids.

However, Saucier could never forget her eldest daughter and with the aid of her youngest daughter Wesley and My Heritage's DNA test kit, she was able to meet see her again. Her biological daughter Winona Nagy reunited with her mother. "When I first started searching, these options weren't available to us," Saucier said. "The DNA sites — MyHeritage — these things weren't even available back then. I didn't know about them when Wesley started pursuing these things."

In the early 1970s, Saucier was a teenager and had a difficult home environment in Louisiana with her stepfather, mother and siblings. "I guess I probably was afraid to bring [my baby] into that," she admitted and also the fact that she was in denial during the early stages of her pregnancy. Saucier was sent to a facility for unwed mothers in Texas, where she gave birth and had to face the harsh truth that she wouldn't be able to raise her baby.

The facility placed a lot of hurdles in Saucier's way when she expressed her desire to meet her daughter once she turned 18. Saucier got married in her late 20s, gave birth to a boy with Down syndrome who passed away at 2 years old and later became parents to a daughter, Wesley and a son. Saucier shared the story of her eldest daughter with her two younger kids when they were old enough to understand. Nagy, on the other hand, was adopted by an Air Force officer and his wife and she now resides in College Station, Texas.

"My mom was always great about telling me what an act of love it was," Nagy told the outlet. "And that it meant that Angela, whose name I now know, loved me very much, and it wasn't a case of not being wanted. I felt just doubly loved. I was always curious about Angela but never angsty about it." Her half-sister, Wesley, told the outlet, "I don't know which came first. My love of Scooby-Doo or my mom's story about my missing sister, but the two are pretty close together. I like mystery-solving stuff, so it makes sense that this is what I would end up doing."

Wesley used the DNA kit from the organization and uploaded the raw data to My Heritage's online genealogy platform in 2020. "A few days later, I got the results back and I had one close family member match," she says. "On all the [other] sites that I had uploaded my stuff, I never had a close match that wasn't my mom or grandma. I clicked on the name and I said, 'I don't know who that is, but I know I'm missing a half-sister.' The coolest moment of my entire life was being able to tell my mom that I found her other daughter."

"I held my breath after she asked me about the date of birth," recalls Saucier. "Then she said, 'I found her.' I started crying. It was so unbelievable. I was so happy." Nagy recalled the moment Wesley contacted her about the match, "I was still blown away. I sat there with the phone and cried before I responded to her. But yeah, I mean, I was thrilled. I love being able to say I have a sister." The two long-lost sisters connected over text messages and planned a reunion, but it was postponed until December 9, 2023, because Saucier was ill. However, Nagy and Saucier finally met in person at College Station.

"I was not nervous," Nagy revealed. "The hugs felt like people I'd known my whole life. The first time I heard Angela's voice on the phone, it was very familiar and very comforting. No awkwardness, no uncomfortableness. It was really lovely. We went and had coffee. I think we could have talked all day, if we didn't have other things to do." Saucier added, " I only got to hold her once before I had to sign papers and get myself sent back home. Rhere's that feeling of emptiness, your arms are empty. It felt so wonderful to put my arms around her again." Saucier thanks her youngest daughter and My Heritage for making it possible and in the words of Nagy, "They are now going to have a lasting relationship."