Mother & Daughter Reunited After 60 Years In Miami
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- A mother and daughter were reunited after being apart for more than 60 years. It's something neither of them expected.
The mother, Beverly, met face to face with her daughter Becky Chechak on Thursday in Miami after not having seen each other since Becky was 2-years old.
"I never touched her," said Beverly, but that changed for both of them on Thursday. "That was a tough part."
Beverly had put up Becky for adoption but DNA testing brought them back together. It's something that Becky said was a relief.
"A little relieved that we finally pulled it off and excited to finally meet somebody that I didn't know was out there till a few months ago. Lets face it, I'm getting older and the odds were we were never going to meet up," said Becky.
Beverly felt the same way.
"I'm 83 now and I thought what are the chances," said Beverly.
Becky never tried to pursue her birth mother but in 2013, something prompted her to do so.
Becky wanted to visit her husband's cousins in Canada but she could not provide documentation proving she was born in the U.S.
On top of that, Becky had no medical history from her birth parents.
That's when her husband took it upon himself to order a DNA test for her.
The results came back matching Becky and another cousin who told them Becky's birth mother was alive and had lived just hours away from them in Miami.
Now Becky lives in South Carolina but until about five years ago, she lived in Clearwater.
"That hit me hard. It's just unbelievable that we were so close and it would have been great if it had happened a few years ago," said Beverly.
Becky's first conversation with her mother lasted four hours. In the conversation, her mother told Becky she had two sisters.
And it didn't stop there.
Becky's DNA test helped her trace her birth family back to the Revolutionary War and the Mayflower.
Beverly and Becky said they intend to stay in contact.