VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - You know what they say about history repeating itself. For one Virginia Beach man, that rang true after a DNA test he took a couple years ago led him to finding his father after 30 years!
And then, a couple years later, led to his own daughter finding him!
It’s the story for Rod Hobbs Sr. and his quest to find more about his roots.
Little did he know, those roots had grown into a tree that bore more fruit.
“I logged into my 23andMe, and up pops a new connection: Your daughter, Elizabeth,” said Rod Hobbs Sr. “And there was no question about it.”
“It was definitely the best scenario that could ever happen,” said his daughter, Elizabeth Bestow.
As they say, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree - and these two ended up having more in common than just their DNA.
“What are the odds he's gone through the same exact scenario?" said Bestow. “You know?”
You see, just 2.5 years ago, Hobbs didn’t know who his biological father was, either.
“Over 30 years, I was searching for my father because I never had a name or had a clue who he was,” he said.
When he was 15 years old, Hobbs found out the man he thought was his father wasn’t actually wasn't his father.
So, he hired private detectives and even took a DNA test that was uploaded to all the major online companies.
He got a hit, connecting him with a cousin, who then connected him to his dad.
“That changed my life 2.5 years ago,” said Hobbs.
And like history repeating itself, his life now changing again, welcoming a daughter he didn’t know he had.
“To find out like, 'Oh, my God - this is real,' it's... it was a lot. It was a lot, but incredibly exciting,” said Hobbs. “And... and then, too, after meeting and then seeing how beautiful and bright and ambitious and she's amazing.”
Like father, like daughter, Bestow wanted to know where she came from and took a DNA test.
That test matching her with Hobbs, and like any other teenager, she took to social media to hunt him down, finding a brother along the way.
“It's pretty cool. I've always wanted a sibling my age. My other siblings are around like eight years, six years older than me,” said Rod Hobbs Jr. “And you didn't even have siblings, so it's really cool for me.”
Exchanging numbers, they set up a meeting here in Hampton Roads.
The exciting reunion coming after a lifetime of waiting.
“I wanted this my whole life,” said Bestow. “I never pictured meeting him or getting to know him, let alone actually like seeing him being with him and knowing that he wants a relationship with me.”
From riding one-wheelers, to spa days, to looking at old picture albums, this week has been a crash course in getting to know each other.
“The families just exploded,” said Hobbs Jr. “It truly did.”
We wanted to know what happens next, so we asked!
The family tells us Hobbs Sr. has a birthday coming up in June, so Bestow will be flying back for it - and she'll also get to meet all of her other new family members she still hasn’t met yet.
