Lauren Robilliard's Story

I was adopted in 1998 exactly a month after I was born. I grew up in a loving home on Vancouver Island with a younger brother who was also adopted. I was raised knowing I was adopted and even had a picture of my biological mother that I would look at from time to time. I always wondered if I looked like her, but her head was turned, so I wasn’t able to tell. As I grew up, I was told a little bit of information about my biological parents, but not much.

I chose to study digital media and sociology in university, and in my second year of my studies, I had an assignment that involved me going out to a local cemetery and documenting some gravestones and researching the people buried there. At the cemetery I went to, I was surprised to find a gravestone with my last name on it (Robilliard). My last name is fairly unique, and I was curious, so I started researching the man to see if we were related. It turns out we were related. He was my great-grandfather’s first cousin, so my first cousin three times removed.

This sparked an interest in genealogy, and over the next few months, I worked on my adoptive parents’ family trees, building their lines back and being impressed with the amount of information and records I could find online. At the same time, I was wondering about my own origins and what countries my ancestors were from. Who did I look like? What were the last names in my family tree?

In late summer 2018, just before I turned 20, I decided to order an AncestryDNA test. Much to my dismay, it didn’t help much. My matches weren’t very good, nobody closer than a half first cousin once removed (although now I realize he was a decent match, he didn’t know my biological family since I was related to him on an NPE line). After some persistent asking/begging to my parents, I received a booklet full of information from the adoption agency that my parents had been keeping for me. With that booklet and social media, I located a biological aunt, who helped put me in contact with my biological mother. My biological mother then introduced me to my biological father, who was surprised to learn about my existence!

Over the course of the next three months, I met most of my biological relatives, both bio parents and their families, several cousins, aunts and uncles, and even my biological maternal grandmother. It was fascinating to see people who shared a resemblance with me. I learned more about my adoption story. It felt so good to finally get some answers to the questions I had growing up. There were some ups and downs at the beginning of my adoption reunion, but nearly 8 years later, it is very much the “new normal,” and just like the family I grew up in, there are relatives I talk to more than others.

In the months and years that followed, I began learning more about genetic genealogy and ended up finding the identity of my maternal grandfather’s biological father using my own DNA results. It was a 78-year-old family mystery solved. I was hooked and amazed by this powerful tool. I started helping other relatives, family friends, and eventually strangers with their DNA results, finding their biological parents and grandparents. I knew the feeling of getting DNA results back and being puzzled and frustrated with them. Helping others out with their results became a passion, and it was nice to help fellow adoptees and sometimes give advice based on my own personal experiences.

Over the last 6 years or so, I have helped over 350 adoptees or other people searching for biological relatives. Eventually, this led me into the field of investigative genetic genealogy, and I became an investigative genetic genealogist with Toronto Police Service. I now help solve cold cases and identify John and Jane Does with DNA, which is very rewarding. It’s only been three years of doing this, but I hope to be in this career for the rest of my life.

I had no idea that this journey would begin from a simple cemetery assignment while in university. But I’m so glad it did.