Woman visits Vietnam to connect with her roots — accidentally finds birth mom who prayed for her return

When traveling, a trip may churn out much more than expected. For one woman who traveled to Vietnam after high school to get in touch with her roots, it brought on the shock of her life. She had been adopted as a child and wanted to know her culture better, but surprisingly enough, she ended up meeting her entire biological family because of the trip, per PEOPLE. She owes the discovery to a family tradition in her adopted family, where they take the children on a trip of their choice after high school ends.

The woman, Melissa Brozier, had been adopted by her parents, Bob and Kim, when she was one and a half years old. She grew up outside of Cleveland with her brother, who was also adopted. Growing up, Brozier actively participated in both track and gymnastics. So, when her aunt proposed to take her on a trip of her choice after high school, like she did with everyone in the family, Brozier decided to postpone the trip and focus on training because she had been recruited for her college track team. However, in her Sophomore year, an injury forced her to rest, so at nineteen, she asked her aunt if they could go to Vietnam because she was feeling disconnected from her identity.

"I kind of wanted to know more about where I'm from and what my culture means. Up until then, the suburb I grew up in was predominantly White. I went to a Roman Catholic private school," the now twenty-six-year-old told the outlet. "There weren’t many people who looked like me, let alone other adopted kids. And when it came to mainstream media, I didn’t see much representation. I didn’t feel valued. I didn’t see myself in roles where I could do anything — be on TV, be an advocate. It felt like there was no one saying, 'You can do this, too.'" Her aunt even offered to hire an investigator to find her biological family, but she turned it down. There were two orphanages at Brozier's native place, Hội An, but one of them had shut down, so she decided to visit the one that was still open.

In a video on TikTok, where she goes by @melissabrozier, the woman shared how she accidentally met her whole biological family on Christmas. "I was touring the orphanage I am from to give Christmas presents to the current orphans," she explained. A man walked up to her and told her that he remembered when she got adopted. He showed her a baby picture, and Brozier could confirm that it was her after looking at the documents. She was told that her biological family came every couple of months to drop off phone numbers and addresses if she ever came back. "This was truly a Christmas miracle," Brozier expressed as she could be seen giving her biological mom a big hug. Both of them were in tears as they looked at each other for the first time in years.

The woman called the moment "Hozier's yell" in one of her videos as she talked to her biological mom and kept crying. It refers to the cathartic 'yell' found at pivotal points in the singer Hozier's music. Brozier's biological family also showed her around the town — something she hadn't thought she would get to experience. Many people shared their thoughts on the incident in the comments section of the video. @lottilikes wrote, "Do you know about the Vietnamese adoptee bike ride in April in the Mekong Delta? It’s to raise awareness and provide DNA tests to mothers whose babies or children were adopted." @quequesue commented, "I spent years looking for my biological family and yes, reunion is hard because they're family but also strangers."

You can follow Melissa Brozier (@melissabrozier) on TikTok for more lifestyle content.