California Woman Abandoned as a Baby 30 Years Ago Meets Siblings for the First Time: ‘I Feel So Grateful’
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A woman from Irwindale, California, met her long-lost siblings for the first time since she was abandoned as a baby 30 years ago.
Jessica Hicks revealed she didn't know she was adopted until she was 18 years old and then later found out how she ended up with her adoptive parents through an old newspaper article, she told CBS Los Angeles.
The article dating May 7, 1990 described Hicks as an abandoned "sunburned infant was found wrapped in a blue blanket in bushes near a business complex."
After DNA testing she was able to connect with her half-siblings David and Nicole from her father's side.
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"I feel so grateful," Hicks said during her emotional reunion with her brother and sister on Sunday.
Nicole told her newfound sibling, "I felt like, I don't know what she's been through, but I heard her story and I just didn't want her to feel rejected by me."
Hicks got emotional as she responded, "And that means a lot because I've been rejected most of my life."
The siblings' biological father died, CBS Los Angeles reported. Hicks has been trying to make contact with her biological mother to no avail.
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"Even though I have not spoken to my mom yet, but I feel definitely complete. I don't look in the mirror like, who am I?" Hicks told ABC 7 of her attempts to contact her biological mother.
Her siblings also spoke to the outlet expressing their joy to be reunited.
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"I thought I was the only girl," Nicole said. "She's family, and that's all that matters to me, and if our dad were here, he'd be welcoming her with open arms, and I just wanna do that too."
David added, "It's awesome. I just feel like I can't speak for anybody in the past, but it's great that I can make up now and then going forward."
