Associated Press State & Local
 Tuesday 9:24 PM GMT


Missouri woman finds biological father after 35 years

By CARMEN GEORGE, The Kansas City Star
LEE SUMMIT, Mo.

LEE SUMMIT, Mo. (AP) - For 35 years, Tiffany Dow of Lee's Summit
thought her dad was her mom's high school boyfriend, a blond,
blue-eyed man who left before she was born.

Dow always thought it was odd that her mom, also blond and blue-eyed,
would give birth to a dark-haired, dark-eyed baby who looked different
from everyone in the family - but she left it at that.

That is, until this Christmas, when her boyfriend bought her a DNA
test as a present. She expected the results to show a diverse
ancestry. It instead revealed she's half Armenian.

"I'm not a mutt at all!" Dow recalled thinking.

"I called my mom. I didn't think she was lying, but I was in shock."

Her mom asked if she could come over to her house later to talk.

"I said, 'No, we're not doing this. You're telling me now.'"

So she told Dow who she suspected was her biological father, a man
named Doug Davidian from Fresno, California, The Kansas City Star
reported. She said he had a beard, a light blue van, and was on a road
trip across the U.S. when they met in Kansas City in 1971.

Dow searched for Davidian online and found his LinkedIn profile within
minutes, which showed he worked as the sales and marketing
administrator at Total Care Medical Group.

It was already evening so she waited until the morning to call his
Fresno office. Davidian answered the phone.

The start of that exchange, as Dow recalls it:

"Hi Doug, do you have a minute?"

"Well, sure."

"Well, good, my name is Tiffany. Have you ever been to Missouri?"

Davidian said he had, on a road trip in the 1970s. Dow proceeded to
tell him the story about her DNA test and how his name "came up."

Davidian then called Dow's mother to help jog his memory, and the two
decided Davidian was likely Dow's father.

Davidian and Dow became sure of it as they talked more later that
night. Their resemblance in personality and appearance was striking
and they felt an instant connection. They are thrilled to have found
each other.

Before Davidian was contacted by Dow, he was reading a Bible passage
about such a "crazy (expletive) miracle" that he started to laugh.

It also inspired him to pray: "I prayed if there's something or
someone who needs friendship or attention, I don't just walk by it, I
show up. I do my part. . One hour exactly after I prayed that prayer,
Tiffany was on the other line."

It was a different prayer than normal.

"A lot of times when I pray, it's about me and my need," Davidian
said. "This prayer was not about me and my need, it was about being
aware of other people, and I think that's something that God wants."

Another amazing twist: They learned each starts the day reading from
the same Bible study daily devotional.

They met for the first time in March, when Davidian flew to Missouri
to visit Dow at her home in Lee's Summit for her 46th birthday.

They've gotten more out of their relationship than each other.

Davidian, 65, also got grandchildren, Dow's children: Olivia, 24, Sam,
21, Jack, 20, and Ben, 17.

And Dow got grandparents. She met Horace and Dolores Davidian for the
first time this month. Dow flew into Fresno on June 15 to celebrate
Father's Day with her dad.

"We both talk a lot," Dow said of how they're alike. "We both don't
let many people get words in, so we interrupt each other the whole
time, but it's OK because we both don't find that disrespectful, and
we talk with our hands."

Both are business savvy. Dow sells real estate, and Davidian is a past
president of the Fresno Chamber of Commerce who once ran a large
office furniture company.

They also share a reputation for winning arm-wrestling matches, Dow
added with a laugh.

Dow was disappointed her mom didn't tell her about Davidian earlier,
but she's found solace in the belief that "God's timing is perfect."

Dow's mother gave birth to her when she was 17 years old. When Dow was
11, she learned the man she thought was her father - her mother's
husband - was actually her stepfather. She later learned the high
school boyfriend she thought was her real dad died in a car accident.

"It's like a miracle," Dow said of finding Davidian. "I kept saying
that inside, 'I have a dad. It's a miracle.' It really was a miracle."

Their families have been accepting of their relationship, including
Dow's stepfather and Davidian's two adopted sons.

Davidian said finding Dow has brought more meaning to his life and
helped "connect the dots."

Dow said finding her dad gave her "a peace."

"It was like all the pieces finally fit and I didn't even know they
were missing," she said. "I'm still who I am, just finding out you
have a father, it shouldn't make a difference, but it really, really
did. I think for the first time in my life I felt 100 percent whole."