Jenny Thomas [above], of Rochester, NY, has known she was adopted for the past 36 years.
Thomas, 40, has been intently searching for her mother for 15 of those years, but never managed to find her.
Mom
All she knew was that her mom lived in the same town as she did. When she read about the TLC show Long Lost Family, Thomas decided to apply.
The new show reunites foster and adopted children with their biological parents.
They use DNA testing and public records to reunite the relatives, and then catch the reunion on camera.
As seen in the preview clip below of the show’s first season, the show’s hosts hand Thomas a photo of her birth mom, Nita Valdez, and her jaw immediately drops.
“Oh my God, I know her.”
It turns out Thomas and her mother worked together at a Rochester hospital for two years, and neither of them had any idea of their powerful connection.
Thomas was a patient care technician and Valdez was a patient transporter, so they both interacted frequently when patients had to be taken to rehab therapy.
“She’s very quiet, funny. I’m comical, so she would always laugh at my jokes, so that was a plus.
“We never went past a working-professional relationship at all,” Thomas told the NY Post.
