Lori Starr was adopted at a very young age, when she was just over two months old, and at the age of 60, she met her siblings for the first time.
“I think that’s the biggest smile I’ve ever had,” Star said when she met her original family. “I’m in shock, but I’m so happy. I now have 3 sisters and 3 brothers.”
Decades later, curiosity — along with encouragement from her adoptive family — prompted Starr to begin tracing her ancestry through 23andMe. According to Starr, “Nobody knew my mother was pregnant with me. She already had 4 children. Then she got pregnant with me but her husband died. Back in the ’60s, it was a no-no – to get pregnant out of wedlock.”
With the information she got from 23andMe as well as her adoptive parents before they died, Star did some digging on social media, especially Facebook, where she eventually found one of her siblings nearby – in Payson.
After communicating with one of her brothers, and with the help of a family friend, the family members were able to hold an influential personal meeting in Queen Creek.
And while Starr may never know why her mother did what she did – she died several years ago – she says she doesn’t blame her, instead she’s excited to start this chapter with her brothers and sisters.
