Her mother had become pregnant after a short affair with her father and had hidden her pregnancy out of shame, before giving her up for adoption shortly after her birth.
What was the surprise of Georgian journalist Tamuna Museridze when she discovered the name of her biological father on her Facebook friends list, whom she had been looking for for years! An unexpected discovery which marked the culmination of several years of research into its origins, as recounted in the BBC.
The story begins in 2016, when when the woman who raised her died, she found among her belongings a birth certificate bearing her name, but with a different date than her birthday. A discovery which made him think that she had been adopted.
To document her research into her past, Tamuna Museridze decided to create a Facebook group called “Vedzeb” (“I’m looking”, in Georgian), in the hope of finding her biological parents.
The journalist’s work first brought to light a baby trafficking scandal in Georgia that affected tens of thousands of children. For decades, parents were misled and told their newborns had died so the infants could be sold.
His mother initially denies
However, Tamuna Museridze was still unaware of her origins. Things accelerated this summer when an Internet user contacted her, pclaiming to know a woman who had concealed a pregnancy and gave birth in Tbilisi in September 1984, date close to the birth of the journalist.
After receiving this information, she shared it on her Facebook group. Shortly after, someone responded that the woman in question was their aunt. Tamuna Museridze’s possible cousin agreed to take a DNA test, which came back positive.
When she received the positive DNA test, the journalist’s biological mother first strongly denied being so, before finally recognizing her relationship and giving the father’s name: Gurgen Khorava.
Her father had been friends with her on Facebook for 3 years
After learning the name of her biological father, Tamuna Museridze tried to contact him via Facebook. There, she discovered that he had been on her friends list on the social network for three years. The latter was actually interested in his work of reconnecting families.
Unlike many of the people the reporter helped reunite, she discovered that she had not been a stolen child. His mother had become pregnant after a brief encounter with Gurgen and hid her pregnancy out of shame.
A shame which means that they still have no relationship: as Tamuna Museridze explains, her mother demanded that she pretend that she had been a stolen child to avoid public ridicule for having given her up for adoption, a request that Tamuna did not grant.
“As soon as he saw me, he knew I was his daughter”
Gurgen, for his part, was unaware that a daughter had been born from this relationship. Delighted to learn it, it was with joy that he decided to organize a meeting. “As soon as he saw me, he knew I was his daughter. I felt so many conflicting emotions”Tamuna confided.
By talking, they got to know each other and realized that they shared a common passion for dance.
Now, Tamuna has discovered a new family, including several half-brothers and half-sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins. “Of all his children, I am the most like my father.”
