#25. Katy’s Story
Katy Olson was raised by a loving adoptive family in Tampa, Florida, but her childhood was not easy. She had a mild case of cerebral palsy and had to undergo several procedures to be able to live with it, even as a little baby. But the support of her family always kept her spirits up.
Even despite her difficulties, Katy was always driven to achieve the impossible and was as curious as a cat. However, no one knew that her curiosity would actually lead her to investigate her true origins and discover them in an incredible way. But that didn’t happen until she went to college after graduating high school.
#24. Going To New York
It’s very hard to be just 18 and have to choose a career path, but not for Katy. She always knew she wanted to either be a stand-up comedian or an actress and for that, she needed to be in New York City. She was never quiet about her intentions to move there, and her family always supported her.
As soon as high school ended, Katy packed her bags and moved to the Big Apple, where it wasn’t so hard for her to get her dream going. In fact, she got a few gigs in comedy clubs pretty early on and things went well for her. However, she didn’t feel as happy doing comedy as she thought she would.
#23. A Change Of Heart
Stand-up comedians basically tell stories about themselves, regardless of whether they are real or not, and telling her story over and over made Katy realize what she really wanted to do: become a writer. So, she ditched comedy and started working towards her dream. However, this was not going to be easy.
Getting into college in your 30s is not an easy thing, and Katy had to find a writing program that would suit her and also allow her to keep her day job. If she had known, however, that this writing program would change her life forever, she would’ve done it much, much sooner.
#22. The New School
After searching for the right classes for her, she was accepted into Columbia University. And now that she was officially a student, it was time for her to enroll in her first classes and start chasing her dreams. The first class she chose to take was called “WRIT W3680”.
This class was about literary reporting, which was not really her favorite thing but had to do it for the sake of her studies. Her schedule was also filled with other classes, so it never crossed her mind that in this particular class she would find a person that would change her destiny forever.
#21. The First Day
Katy had the usual first-day jitters before her first class. Meeting new people and starting a new chapter of your life is never easy, obviously. However, she thought this day would be just an ordinary day in college, but she was definitely wrong. The moment her life was turned upside down was right at the beginning of her literary reporting class.
As usual, the students were asked to introduce themselves one by one to break the ice, and one student in particular really caught Katy’s eye. She felt that there was something special about her, and when she started introducing herself, she definitely knew she had to talk with her privately.
#20. The Student
The student was Lizzie Delgado, who grew up in Bergen County, New Jersey. She told the class that she was in her 30s, was married and had a daughter with her husband, and was there to pursue her dream of becoming a writer. But as she went on about herself, she noticed that one student was listening to her attentively.
That other student was Katy, who happened to have a lot in common with her. Still, Lizzie continued telling her story despite Katy’s looks, which only intensified. Then the teacher asked Lizzie to tell the class some fun facts about herself, and that left Katy shocked.
#19. Lizzie Delgado
When she was asked to share some fun facts about herself, Lizzie didn’t think about it too much and just said the first things that came to her mind. She told the class that she loved the Olsen twins, that she worked as both a bartender and a personal assistant, and also that she was adopted.
She shared that she was very close with her family, especially with her dad, who was a television producer. As she continued with her story, Katy looked more and more interested but also had a shocked expression on her face, and that’s because something had clicked in her mind.
#18. The Incredible Discovery
Lizzie didn’t think her story was that interesting, but Katy begged to differ. In her own words, Katy looked as though she was suffering from a panic attack, and that wasn’t so far from the truth. As it turns out, Katy had heard the story of a woman who was identical to what Lizzie had told the class.
At the point when Lizzie mentioned that she was adopted, Katy knew that this could be a life-changing discovery. For years, she had tried to put the pieces of her mysterious past together, and this seemed to be the key – but how could that be possible? Well, Katy had been doing other things with her time besides stand-up comedy.
#17. All About Family
As Katy worked as a comedian, she also spent her free time researching her origins. Although she loved her adoptive family very much, she really felt the need to know why she ended up with them and who her real parents where, so she started investigating. But finding information was not easy.
Katy was desperate to find out who her biological mother was, but she didn’t seem to be anywhere. However, one clue led to another and she found herself down an internet rabbit hole where she found out about another woman who was potentially connected to her and her mother.
#16. A Mysterious Past
Even though Katy couldn’t find her biological mother, she did hear that her mother had had another child shortly after giving birth to her. That meant that she had a brother or sister somewhere, so she was determined to find her. That is why she felt so strange when Lizzie talked about herself, because a little voice in her mind said: “could it be?”
She couldn’t just jump to conclusions, however. After all, there are hundreds of people who were adopted, so who was to say that Lizzie had anything to do with her? Her research had to continue, for sure. So, Katy continued digging and trying to reach out to her mother, who was MIA.
#15. Could It Be Real?
When Katy heard that she may have a sibling, she began to investigate, and ended up hearing about a woman from New Jersey who could be her sister. All katy could do, however, was reach out to her on Facebook and hope that she would answer but unfortunately, she didn’t.
All Katy knew about her was where she had grown up and the photos she had on Facebook. But when Lizzie began speaking, she knew she had seen her before: she was the woman from Facebook! However, there was still no guarantee they were related at all, especially because, for some reason, Lizzie had never answered Katy’s message.
#14. Taking The First Step
After Lizzie stopped speaking, Katy was alone with her thoughts. Other students introduced themselves, but she had no strength to pay attention because she was too busy wondering what to do. Should she approach Lizzie? How would she react? What if she had ignored her message on purpose and wanted nothing to do with her?
Her biggest concern was that Lizzie would think she was some kind of stalker. At the same time, however, she didn’t want to miss the opportunity to discover her past. She would have to wait a whole week until their next class together, so Katy came up with a plan of action.
#13. Their First Talk
As soon as the class ended, Katy knew that she had to build up the courage to talk to Lizzie or else she would have to wait until the next class. She quickly went up to her and started firing a dozen questions to a very confused Lizzie. She asked her if she knew her biological mother’s name, where she had been adopted, and more.
But Lizzie was so confused that she didn’t even know what to say, so she just stared back at Katy with a shocked look on her face. Then, Katy decided to just take a breath and speak the truth directly, so she calmly told Lizzie: “I think we are sisters.”
#12. Sisters Reunited
As soon as Katy said those words, Lizzie knew deep inside that she was right, but she still didn’t have the strength to say anything. The last thing she thought about that first day of school was finding her biological sister she knew nothing about, so it was all too much to process at the time.
Katy just couldn’t contain herself because this was the moment she had been waiting for since she found out she was adopted. After hitting so many walls and not being able to find anything, she had finally found her sister, and she didn’t want to let her go now that she had her. Slowly, the two started talking and learning about each other’s past, and what they found out was incredible.
#11. Catching Up
Both women were in their 30s, so they had plenty of catching up to do. They both slowly started sharing their stories and comparing the information they had about their origins to see if they had anything in common. As excited as they were, they just couldn’t jump to conclusions.
It turns out that the very little information they had about their biological mother matched up, and their adoptive parents also helped with this. The two had been in fact put up for adoption in Tampa, so all they had to do now was find their biological mother, whose name they believed was Leslie.
#10. Sisterhood
It was getting late and the two women were still sitting in that classroom talking, so they decided to take their conversation elsewhere. They headed to the bar to continue sharing their stories and got to know each other over a few drinks – of course, after such a revelation, you really need a drink!
They also started sharing fun facts about themselves to see how much they had in common, for example, whether they both liked spicy food, or what birth marks they had, or how they felt about eating meat. After all that talk, Lizzie actually revealed some unexpected details about their mother.
#9. Digging A Little Deeper
It turns out that Lizzie knew more about their biological mother than she led on before. After a few drinks, she loosened up and started sharing all the information she had about this woman. First of all, she told Katy that she was sure that her name was Leslie and that she still lived in Florida. But that’s not all.
Lizzie had found out she was adopted when she found an old birth certificate of hers, and there, she read her initial last name. With this information, she started investigating, and found out that her biological mother had an extremely difficult life. One of the many things that had happened to Leslie was that she survived an attack by a serial killer that left her traumatized. And there’s more…
#8. The Truth
Another thing that Lizzie hadn’t mentioned before was that she also tried to meet her biological mother. Katy tried for a long time but never managed to succeed, but Lizzie, however, did. She in fact had found her and even met with her before, which left Katy in shock. Then, Lizzie encouraged her to meet her as well.
Lizzie gave Katy their mother’s contact information but calling her on the phone was too much for Katy. She didn’t really know what do say, so she preferred to write an email instead. She was scared her mother wouldn’t want to answer her, so an email felt like a safer option. Before contacting her, Katy wanted Lizzie to tell her more about her meeting with Leslie and give her more information about their biological family.
#7. A Life-Changing Call
All the memories about her past came flashing back to Lizzie’s mind when Katy asked her to tell her more about their family, and that’s when she remembered a call that her adoptive mother had received decades ago about adopting another baby from their biological mother.
Lizzie’s adoptive mom said yes, but the mysterious caller told her that the baby may not survive due to complications with the pregnancy and birth. They waited for that person to call again, but they never did, which led Lizzie’s adoptive mother to assume that the baby had passed away. However, that baby was alive, and it was Katy.
#6. The Search
Katy finally sent Leslie an email and patiently waited for her response. Meanwhile, she stayed in contact with her newfound sister and developed a strong bond with her. After a few days, she received an answer from her biological mother, who told her more about why she gave her kids up for adoption.
At the time Leslie had Lizzie and Katy, she was still a teenager and was unable to take care of them. Years later, she gave birth to two sons who she kept, which meant that there was a total of four siblings. Upon learning this, Katy couldn’t wait to meet her mother and two brothers.
#5. The Meeting
Time went by and the girls continued their studies while waiting for their biological mother to set up a meeting. A few years after her reunion with Katy, Lizzie’s graduation was finally coming up and she was expecting Katy to be there with her on her big day, but another person unexpectedly decided to join them.
Their biological mother reached out and told them she was finally ready to meet them. This was extremely unexpected for the girls because after years of waiting, they hadn’t convinced Leslie to meet them. What could’ve caused that change of heart? Now was the time to take the next big step of their lives.
#4. Storytellers
The girls were about to graduate from their creative writing studies and had a couple years to catch up with each other, so they decided to put their studies to good use and tell the world about their story. They shared their incredible story on social media and the New York Times quickly became interested.
They gave an interview to the famous newspaper and suddenly, their story became national news, just in time for Lizzie’s graduation and their first meeting with their mother. The media wanted to be there for the big moment when the girls would finally be reunited with their biological family.
#3. Meeting Their Mom
Lizzie’s graduation finally came, and her biological mother was there to support her as she went up the stage to receive her diploma from Columbia University. Katy, who was meeting her for the first time, couldn’t believe her eyes. She was sitting next to her mother, watching her sister graduate. It was like a dream come true.
Leslie, their biological mother, was also very excited to be there and to finally meet Katy. She couldn’t believe that her daughters had found each other just like that, but it was all destined to happen. She couldn’t miss the opportunity to be with them now that the two of them were together.
#2. A New Beginning
The three of them shared a big hug after the ceremony was over, still trying to wrap their heads around everything that had been going on. Then, it was time go back to their regular lives, which would never be the same.
Although their mom returned to Florida, the two sisters became closer and closer as the days went by. They developed an unbreakable bond that would unite them forever, and they stuck together through thick and thin. To their surprise, their mother decided she wanted to be a part of their lives as well, and they, along with their two other brothers, spent the holidays together that year.
#1. The End
When asked about why she gave the girls up for adoption, Leslie explained that she just wanted the best for them, and she couldn’t give it to them. For years, she hoped to reunite with them and have a relationship with hem, but it wasn’t easy. When she received that email from Katy, her life changed forever.
She does not regret her decision at all, because she knows that their daughters had great lives because of what she did. And the fact that the two managed to find each other in such a strange way means that they were all meant to reunite at some point after all.