Merced County Woman Reunited With Child She Thought Was Dead

LOS BANOS, CA — One day after a Merced County woman gave birth 30 years ago at the age of 17, the woman's unsupportive mother told her that her newborn baby had died.

"The next day, she comes back to tell me, 'The baby died 15 minutes after it was born. It never made it. It was sick,'" Tina Bejarano told KMPH.

In the ensuing years, Bejarano would celebrate the baby's birthday each year, routinely falling into a major depression.

Then, last year, Bejarano's daughter convinced her to take a DNA test. Not long afterward, she got an email from a stranger: "I think we need to talk, it says we're related, and it says you're my mom."

Bejarano discovered that her child Kristin, now 29, is living in New Jersey with his wife and baby. Kristin had in fact been adopted five days after he was born, raised by a loving family in Las Vegas.

Kristin and his family plan to visit Bejarano and her husband, Eric Gardere, in Los Banos next month.

The family hopes their story will encourage others to make use of DNA testing to find long-lost loved ones, KMPH reported.