At 18 years old Melanie Pressley discovered she was pregnant and had a difficult choice to make.
The father of her child had no interest in being a dad, but Melanie wanted her baby to have a mother and a father and knowing that her financial situation wasn’t stable enough to support a child alone, Melanie made the very tough decision to give her baby up for adoption.
Melanie gave birth to her son on June 17, 1988, and even got to hold him before he was taken from her. Her sister took a picture of the two of them and this has been her only connection for over 30 years
Her son was adopted by the Vossler family, who named him Greg Vossler.
Melanie was left heartbroken and lived in hope that one day she would hold her baby boy again.
Since that day Melanie has married and had three more children.
Melanie Pressley spent more than three decades wondering about the son she put up for adoption. She said her questions were finally answered when she took a DNA test from 23andMe, which suggested a genetic match to her firstborn son – Greg Vossler.
Vossler, 33, of Winchester, Virginia, learned he was adopted later in childhood and grew up wondering about his origins.
After he became a father himself, he opted to take a DNA test in 2018 to learn about his genetics since he couldn’t point to any medical history from his biological family.
While she didn’t know it at the time, Pressley said her daughter purchased the DNA test hoping it would connect her to the son she longed to know more about. Instead of saying that directly, however, Pressley’s daughter cited the DNA test’s health report as the driving factor.
Within days, the DNA test matched Pressley and Vossler as potential relatives, Pressley said.
Pressley went on to message him the second she realized it was an option on the website, she added.
Pressley said she first asked him his age and when Vossler’s response confirmed the June 17 birthday she had embedded in her memory, Pressley explained that she believed she is his birth mother.
“His adoptive mother had written me a letter a couple of months after he was born. And she had said that when he is old enough, she will tell him [that he was adopted],” Pressley said.
Greg chatted with Melanie for hours and also met 20 of his blood relatives including his half-brother and two half-sisters — while Melanie met Greg’s wife and two sons.
Meanwhile Melanie said that her heart was filled up again when she first held her son again after so long.
Pressley and Vossler both said they are extremely lucky to have found each other since there are so many DNA tests on the market now.
Pressley said that before she took her 23andMe test, she feared that her son might not want contact, but after seeing how it’s worked out, she thinks other separated families could benefit from reaching out if they choose to.
Vossler said he believes their story is much like a fairytale come true.
Source:foxnews.com, en.newsner.com
