Adopted Daughter in New York Finds Out Her Real Mother is Her Workmate

new york Rochester Jenny Thomas Long Lost Family Strong Memorial Hospital Nita Valdez

By Arvin Matthew Paculaba , Parent Herald Mar 15, 04:00 am

An adopted daughter in Rochester, New York recently had the surprise of her life when she found out that she was workmates with her biological mother all along. The woman had been searching for her birth mom for over 15 years.

Jenny Thomas knew she was adopted since she was four years old. Her adoptive parents were very open to her about the situation. They also told her that her real mother was also from Rochester, as per Time Warner Cable News.

"I always had that in the back of my mind," Thomas said about the possibility of meeting her birth mom on the streets. "Does she know me? Is she looking because I look familiar? Maybe I need to move so she can get a better look? And if someone was approaching, maybe she's going to ask me, was I adopted? And it would be that aha moment."

After multiple failed attempts of searching for answers, Thomas decided to seek help from "Long Lost Family," a TLC show dedicated to reuniting family members. The program learned that Thomas' birth mom has been working at Strong Memorial Hospital for quite some time, same as her daughter.

"Never in a million years would I have thought that the woman that was my mother was an arm away," Thomas mused. "Right there, next to me, for a couple years, working side-by-side, talking with her, laughing with her. Seeing her as a co-worker, but also seeing her as a nice person that I worked with, someone that I got excited about when I saw, because she was a great worker."

Despite the reunion, Thomas admitted that there are still questions left unanswered. Her biological mother, Nita Valdez, was also stunned by the news and has hidden from the limelight ever since. Reporters have tried reaching out to Valdez, but to no avail.

Metro pointed out that Valdez was a daughter of a minister. She was forced to surrender her daughter to social services because she thought having the child out of wedlock would dishonor her parents. Thomas and Valdez have been working together for two years before the big reveal.