DNA Testing Unites Green Country Woman With Brother She Didn’t Know Existed

After 15 years of searching for her biological father, a Green Country woman said DNA tested led her to find a brother she never knew she had.

Turns out, the two lived and worked just miles from each other.

"I was like, 'Who does this lady think she is? My sister?'" said Ashley Brooks, Melissa Moten’s half-brother.

"I was looking for a father and then, I found more," said Moten.

There is power in knowing that you are not alone, especially when you have been searching for years for a family member you’ve never met, a father whose absence you have felt your entire life.

"There has always been a little void," said Moten. "I just kind of gave up looking. I figured it would probably never happen and it would be better if it never did and that was just an easy way to go about it."

Moten grew up not knowing her biological dad. She said she was always curious about him and when she turned 19, she started actively searching for him.

"I started writing letters to all of the Ronnie Brooks I could find in Illinois and some in Tulsa. I got a few letters back from men, but they had never been to Oklahoma or they didn't know my mother," said Moten.

Over time, Moten got married and had babies. She still hadn't found her dad. Then her husband suggested she try Ancestry.com. While she waited for her results, a Facebook group helped her find family members in the area she could be related to. She sent out messages to everyone she could, including a man named Ashley Brooks.

"He messaged me back just moments after I got my results....'Yeah that was my father and that is my grandma," said Moten.

"When I saw the picture of her I just knew. I could see it," said Brooks.  

DNA confirmed the two were half siblings and had lived and worked just miles from each other for years.

"I am still a little in shock,” said Moten.

"I just feel lighter. I may be laughing more. The world is not dragging me down every day so hard," said Brooks.

Moten and Brooks’ biological dad passed away in 2007. Neither of them had a strong relationship with him but they will have one with each other. Their kids have cousins now. Moten has a grandmother she just met.

"I can let it go,” Moten said. “I can move on and I can make this a beautiful thing and not a tragedy.”