'I'm blown away': Woman meets her family - including her birth mom - for the first time after using a DNA website

  • Diane Meek managed to track down her first cousin using ancestry.com
  • From there she was able to find her mother, Sharon Aelling
  • The two met for the first time Saturday in Highland, Utah
  • Aelling also met Meek's children and nieces, her granddaughters and great-granddaughters  

By Dailymail.com Reporter

Published: | Updated:

Diane Meek never believed she would find certain members of her family, including her birth mother, but all that changed recently when she enlisted the help of a DNA website.

The subscription-based genealogy research website, ancestry.com, was able to match Meek with her first cousin, Andrea Conley. From there, she was able to find her mom.

Meek spoke to her mother, Sharon Aelling, on the phone, before organizing a family reunion near her home in Highland, Utah, in order to meet for the first time.

'I just never thought this day would happen and I'm very excited,' Meek told Fox 13 Now before the meeting on Saturday. 

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Meeting for the first time: Sharon Aelling (left) was able to meet her birth daughter Diane Meek (right) for the first time in Highland, Utah, on Saturday after finding each other through a genealogy and DNA website 

Meeting for the first time: Sharon Aelling (left) was able to meet her birth daughter Diane Meek (right) for the first time in Highland, Utah, on Saturday after finding each other through a genealogy and DNA website 

Meek spoke to her mother, Sharon Aelling, on the phone, before organizing a family reunion near her home in Highland, Utah, in order to meet for the first time on Saturday 

Meek spoke to her mother, Sharon Aelling, on the phone, before organizing a family reunion near her home in Highland, Utah, in order to meet for the first time on Saturday 

'You think all these years that nobody knows, nobody cares,' Sharon Aelling said of never knowing her daughter, Diane Meek 

'You think all these years that nobody knows, nobody cares,' Sharon Aelling said of never knowing her daughter, Diane Meek 

The mother and daughter have agreed to keep in contact after meeting for the first time at the weekend 

The mother and daughter have agreed to keep in contact after meeting for the first time at the weekend 

Meek added: 'I'm just grateful and blown away from what the DNA testing can accomplish.' 

Much like her biological daughter, Aelling did not believe such a moment would ever happen.

'You think all these years that nobody knows, nobody cares,' she said.

'Then you find out different.'

The meeting was incredibly emotional for all involved. Aelling was not only meeting her daughter, but also her granddaughters and great-granddaughters.

Diane Meek
Sharon Aelling

Mother-daughter: It is unclear what caused the mother and daughter to separate, but they have finally been brought back together 

Bizarrely, Meek and her first cousin, Andrea Conley, actually discovered they have been just two blocks away from each other for over 10 years, but were complete strangers to each other.  

'She's been living there 18 years, and I've been living here 13 years,' Conley said. 

'That close, and had no idea we were that closely related.'

'Wow, we're first cousins, and we hugged and we cried, and we hugged some more.'

The family have agreed to stay in contact.

Ancestry.com is based in Provo, Utah.  

'We hugged and we cried': Andrea Conley discovered that her first cousin, Diane Meek, had been living just two blocks from her house for years and she had no idea
Andrea Conley

'We hugged and we cried': Andrea Conley discovered that her first cousin, Diane Meek, had been living just two blocks from her house for years and she had no idea

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