KENNESAW, Ga. — The slogan for purchasing a DNA test kit on the genealogy website Ancestry.com is "Open a world of possibilities."
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For a Georgia college junior, a DNA test earlier this week opened up his family history and helped him connect to a long-lost sibling and his birth parents.
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Kieron Christian Graham, 20, is majoring in political science at Kennesaw State University, which is located northwest of Atlanta. He was adopted in 1997 when he was 3 months old. Growing up, he knew the first names of his birth mother and father and that his birth mother had another child named "Vincent," who was nine years older, BuzzFeed reported.
"I periodically would look for them and check on Facebook, but I never knew their last name so it was always hard," Graham said.
His adoptive parents gave him an AncestryDNA test kit as an early Christmas present. On Tuesday he received the results in an email, BuzzFeed reported. Out of the 100 loose matches was a strong match to a 29-year-old man named Vincent Ghant, who also had taken a DNA test.
When Graham checked on Facebook, he found a Vincent Grant whose birthday matched the documents his adoptive parents had. He sent Ghant a friend request, and as they chatted on Tuesday, Graham mentioned the name of his birth mother, Shawn.
“My heart stopped,” Ghant told BuzzFeed. “I asked my mother about him throughout my life, but the pain was so heavy on her that it was hard for her to drum up the words to explain it to me. ... So it just got to the point where I was, like, I'll just wait for her when she's ready.”
The two men learned they were not only brothers, but they also were attending the same college, were both majoring in political science and lived only 15 minutes apart, BuzzFeed reported. Oddly enough, they also attended a class together.
The brothers finally met at a local bar this week, BuzzFeed reported. Graham recalled Ghant telling him, "I've been thinking about you for 20 years."
Ghant said the meeting was “very emotional.”
“I was excited but a little bit scared if he had any resentment towards my family,” Ghant said.
Graham had no hard feelings, understanding that his birth mother was a single parent and chose adoption to give him a better life.
"When I realized he didn't [have resentment] and that he had a great life, I was amazed," Ghant said.
Graham has since contacted his birth mother and plans to meet with her this weekend. He said he also plans to meet with his birth father, BuzzFeed reported.
"My birth father broke down in tears," he said.
Graham also met Ghant’s 17-year-old brother, Christian,
Graham told BuzzFeed that his adoptive parents have been wholly supportive of his journey of discovery. They also plan to meet Graham's birth mother and that entire side of the family, he said.