One night, Leslie’s husband shared his longing to feel connected to someone in a familial way. Growing up without his paternal biological family, he wished he could experience the feeling of someone resembling him, or the feeling of being biologically connected to someone. He felt strongly that he looked and behaved very differently than his maternal family, which triggered a sense of sadness for him. Leslie’s interest quickly grew to a full-blown passion to find her husband’s answers and fill the void.
Sorting through her husband’s 125,000 paternal matches was no easy task. They learned he was of Puerto Rican descent, with many cousins. As she worked to find answers and sorted through various matches, she began finding biological connections for other new-found family members. After almost three years and countless hours of research, they found the answers he so desperately sought.
During this process, Leslie felt a profound sense of exhilaration and frustration, but most of all, a deep sense of accomplishment to bring biological answers not only to her husband, but to others she helped along the way. She has no words to express the amazing feeling she gets when helping others find their biological parents, other than “an adrenaline rush of happiness for them.”
Leslie works in finance and assists in the management of $280M in AUM (assets under management) for her team. In her spare time, Leslie enjoys softball, swimming, travel and scuba diving.