An adopted Alabama woman who spent years searching for her biological parents sadly never got a chance to know them well.
Megan Kennedy, 37, always knew she was adopted. She applied for her original birth certificate on her 18th birthday in the hope she might find her birth parents.
She discovered her mom’s name is Patti Neil, and she managed to track her down using Ancestry.com in December 2018.
Reaching out to Neil via Facebook, Kennedy said she introduced herself and thanked her for giving her up for adoption.
“I wrote, ‘Hi, this may be an odd message — I’m looking for my biological mom, her name was Patti Neil Whiting, I thought I looked a lot like you,'” Kennedy, a wedding photographer, told South West News Service.
Kennedy was nervous she wouldn’t reply, but Neil — then 64 and living in Scotland — did respond.
“Patti replied, ‘Oh my goodness. Megan you’re beautiful — was just thinking about you last night,'” she gushed, admitting she “screamed” when she received the note.
“Every dream and wish I had come true, every birthday I’ve ever had I’ve looked for her,” she said.
Megan Kennedy contacted her birth mother over Facebook. Megan Kennedy / SWNS
Her mother had a fling with her father when she was in her 20s. Megan Kennedy / SWNSKennedy was planning to travel to the UK in June 2019, so she and her mom made arrangements to meet in Glasgow, where she said they sat and talked for hours. Kennedy was able to find out more about her mother’s past.
Neil’s mother was from Wales, and her father was from Fort Worth, Texas. Neil grew up in Fort Worth and went to live with her sister, Sherrie, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, when she was 27.
It was there that Neil — who was working as a deckhand on a boat — met 24-year-old Johnny Cavalier. The two had a monthlong relationship, and she became pregnant.
Neil reportedly didn’t tell Cavalier she was pregnant. She gave birth to their daughter in Mobile, Alabama, where she was adopted by Arthur Forehand, 71, a retired pharmacist, and Cassie Wilson, 72, a medical transcriptionist.
Despite losing both her birth parents, Kennedy feels she has found her “true identity” and “all her people.” Megan Kennedy / SWNSSadly, Neil passed away unexpectedly in February 2020 after suffering stomach issues.
Kennedy was determined to meet her biological father, whose name Neil couldn’t remember. She was ecstatic when she received a DNA match in September 2020 for a half sister, Kayla, 30, from New Orleans; and an aunt, Kathy, 66, who lived in Highlands, Texas.
“I cried because I’ve always looked for a mother and a father — I never thought I would have siblings,” she gushed.
The sisters downloaded their “raw DNA” and uploaded it onto another website called GEDmatch, which revealed they share a father.
The pair reached out to their aunt, who helped connect them with their birth father — even sending them a photo.
“When I saw the photo, my heart dropped to my toes,” Kennedy recalled. “I knew it was him, he looked like Kayla.”
They began writing letters to each other, with Cavalier; his wife, Ragnhildur; and their seven-year-old son, Ajay, living on Roatán, an island off the coast of Honduras.
“He completely accepted us both. He was so open and sweet and wanted to get to know us,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy is pictured with her own family in Scotland. Megan Kennedy / SWNSShe made plans to travel to meet him in September 2021, but was waylaid due to COVID-19 concerns. She settled on November 2021 instead, but postponed when her father was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease.
Tragically, he died in February 2022 at the age of 62 before they could meet in person. His death came two weeks after Kennedy was scheduled to travel to Honduras, but had to cancel because she contracted the coronavirus.
“That was terrible. It was so hard. I hated we got COVID the week we were meant to go,” she said, adding that she has been seeing a therapist over her loss.
Kennedy made it to her father’s home in March 2022, helping his family spread his ashes.
“We all spread his ashes in the Caribbean Sea, and it was the only time I got to touch and hold him,” she said, adding that although the journey has been difficult, she is thankful it’s brought her closer to her biological family.
“I feel like a transformed person from the woman I was in 2019. I have found all of my people,” she said.
“When you look at your biological parents and see your features in them, it is the purest self you have ever known.”
