Woman believes she has found her dad after 63 years

May 30, 2025

For 63-year-old Martha*, her father's name on her birth certificate has haunted her for decades.

Now, after decades of searching, Martha believes she has found the man who could be her biological father - Delroy*, an 84-year-old Jamaican man now living overseas. Their connection was sparked just a month ago, but a DNA test has not yet confirmed the match.

"Even though my stepfather was good to me and my mother, I always knew he wasn't my dad," Martha told THE WEEKEND STAR.

"It didn't feel right, and I didn't want to pretend. I needed to know where I came from."

Before she was even two years old, Martha's mother migrated to North America and her stepfather took care of them both. However, when Martha was 12, he asked her permission to adopt her and change her last name to his.

"I didn't want to change my name. I felt like I'd be erasing something that was already too far out of reach, my name was the only part of my father that I had," she said. Her refusal came at a cost.

"When I told them no, everything changed. My mother said I was ungrateful, and after that, my stepfather became distant."

From that moment, Martha's quiet ache turned into a determined search for the truth. But every time she asked her mother about the man on her birth paper, she was met with anger and silence. Years passed, and Martha eventually gave up asking. But then her mother was diagnosed with dementia and unexpectedly, it opened the door to the past.

"One day she just started talking about him. She told me how they met, and shared little bits and pieces," Martha said.

That sliver of information led to a breakthrough. While scrolling through Facebook, Martha spotted a profile of a man whose name matched the one on her birth certificate. So, she reached out and shared everything she knew. He was one of Delroy's relatives. The man connected Martha with Delroy's sister, and within days, they spoke on the phone.

"I remember her mother," Delroy told THE WEEKEND STAR. "We were together, and then she had a baby, but after some months she left. I never saw her after that, until somebody told me she left the country. So maybe she's my daughter - but I really don't know for sure," he said. Martha's details matched Delroy's memories. His sister even swears the resemblance is undeniable.

"She says she looks like me so if she really is my daughter, I'd like to know. I'm an old man now, and if she is, we've lost enough time," he said.

Martha agrees. She reckons that after decades of searching, she may finally find the truth she has chased her whole life - and the family she never knew she had.

"I'm not trying to replace anyone. I just want to know my father - if he's really my father," she said.

*Names changed to protect identities.

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