Woman switched at birth, Diane Bazella, finally finds her real mother after a lifetime of searching, unraveling a story she never expected.
Diane Bazella, now 63, learned about her adoption as a child and set off on a mission to find her birth mother. Her search, which began when she was just 5 years old, finally ended in 2021 with a remarkable twist. Diane and Sherri Geertz, her 81-year-old biological mother, were reunited after decades apart, an event they celebrated together on Diane’s birthday in September, as reported by People.
Diane’s journey was far from straightforward. In the 1980s, she located two individuals listed as her parents on her birth certificate. For nearly 40 years, she believed she had found her biological parents, only to discover later that this wasn’t the case. A nagging doubt, prompted by a lack of resemblance to her supposed birth mother, led Diane to take an at-home DNA test in 2017. The results confirmed her suspicions: the people she thought were her relatives were not actually related to her.
Undeterred, Diane continued her search. It took another four years, but Diane eventually made a breakthrough. She reached out to a woman who responded to her inquiry, revealing herself to be Diane’s half-sister. This connection led Diane to her biological father, who acknowledged having a daughter with another woman in the 1960s, known then as Sherri Nordlie.
“I realized everything I’d believed for all those years was wrong,” Diane said, reflecting on the moment she learned the truth. Further DNA testing confirmed Sherri Geertz as her birth mother. Now, Diane and Sherri are in constant communication, visiting each other regularly and emailing daily. “We’re definitely making up for lost time,” Sherri said.
But Diane’s quest isn’t over. She’s now looking for the woman she was switched with at birth on September 29, 1960. “If she were ever to look for her birth mother, she would have found my real birth mother,” Diane explained. This ongoing search is a new chapter in her extraordinary journey of self-discovery and family connections.