If you knew you had a sibling out there, but did not know their name or any way of identifying them, and then you meet someone you believe might be them, would you invite them into your life on gut intuition or would you get a DNA test to know with certainty that they are your kin?
Generally, most people will obtain a DNA test to verify their relationship. Gina Lozada, on the other hand, believes wholeheartedly in her gut intuition that a man name Chris is the half-brother she has been searching for over the last 29 years; a brother she has wanted all of her life.
When Lozada was a little girl, she begged and begged her parents for a sibling. She didn’t care if it was a boy or a girl, she just wanted someone to share that special bond that only siblings understand.
Lozada didn’t get her way; that is, not until after her father died some 29 years ago.
During her grieving process, Lozada confided in her mother that she wished she had a sibling that she could share in her grief. Her mother tells her that she did not need to grieve alone, because Lozada had a sibling out there.
As it turns out, Lozada’s father was engaged prior to marrying her mother. His former fiance became pregnant, much to the dismay of the fiance’s father whom forced the two to split.
Lozada’s father moved on. He only knew that his former fiance had given birth to what he believed was a boy.
Though her father believed he had a boy, family rumor made Lozada and her mother believe the child was a girl. So, for the first 15 years of Lozada’s search, Lozada looked for a sister.
Lozada first began her search by contacting family and friends, but her father’s first child was a deep family secret. No one was able to help.
After 15 years, she discovered that in fact the child was a boy. She only knew when he was born. Lozada finally turned to investigative genealogist Pamela Slaton and ABC News’ 20/20.
20/20 recently aired a show titled”Since The Day I Was Born;” the show intended to reunite families with long lost loved ones. Thousands of people responded to their requests. As a result, 20/20 aired a few of their stories, including Lozada’s.
20/20 utilized their own researchers, but also turned to Slaton whose expertise is in locating and reuniting families.
At first, Slaton could not help Lozada with the little information she had. Lozada finally did something she dreaded — she reached out to her father’s former fiance.
The former fiance told Lozada that she anticipated the phone call. She was happy to help by informing Lozada that she gave up her son for adoption, and by giving Lozada her son’s birth name.
With this information, Slaton was able to locate through birth indexes a match. One thing led to another and Slaton found a man who may be Lozada’s brother.
Between discovering that her brother existed and actually talking with him, Lozada believes she met him during a chance encounter while at the Golden Nugget casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. She stated:
“I see this person, you know, walking towards me, a man, baseball hat down, something in his hand…I looked at this person to say, like, ‘What the heck?’ And I said, ‘Oh my God, that’s my brother.'”
Lozada had a gut feeling that this was in fact her brother.
Lozada anxiously called her long lost brother, Chris. After several attempts, the two finally spoke and once they did, they hit it off.
As it turns out, her gut feeling was correct; the man at the casino that fateful day, was in fact Chris. They eventually met in person for the first time at the same casino she saw him in.
When they finally met, Lozada was astounded at how much Chris resembles their father.
Both Lozada and Chris refused a DNA test. Lozada explained:
“I don’t know what I believe in. But that was something from above. That was nothing from this world. [I] never had that feeling in my life, never. And I just knew.”
Though the science is irrefutable, these two believe that they are in fact siblings; a DNA test will not change that. The two are now close, moving forward as brother and sister, as if they have known each other their entire lives.
Featured image is a screenshot of this Youtube video.
