Just two years ago, a Minnesota woman who was switched at birth and her biological mother spoke on the phone together for the first time. This year they celebrated Christmas together.
Diane Bazella told PEOPLE she visited Sherri Geerts in Sunnyvale, Calif., ahead of the December holiday, which holds a very special place in their hearts.
Geerts and Bazella first spoke on the phone together on Christmas Day 2021, shortly after Geerts’ husband of 62 years died.
Since then, they stayed in touch and Bazella visited Geerts several times. This year, the tied duo wanted to do something special for Christmas.
Family behind ‘Xmas Jammies’ celebrate 10th anniversary of viral hit and share how it changed their lives
The two had lots of fun planned for the trip, from making holiday candy to going to holiday lunches and parties. Bazella also sent a box of Christmas presents to Geerts’ home before the trip – and told her to open them before she returned home earlier this week.
Bazella tells PEOPLE that the couple needs to spend “a good time together.”
Bazella and Geerts have even found ways to continue celebrating together, despite the fact that they will be thousands of miles apart for the actual holiday. Geerts sent a box of gifts to Minnesota for Bazella and her two children to open together on Christmas Eve.
My Extraordinary Family is a new series from PEOPLE that explores fascinating families in all their forms. If you have a sweet story the world needs to know, send the details to [email protected].
Before the couple met, Bazella was convinced that one day she would meet her biological mother. At the age of 5, she found out that she was adopted and quickly became interested in finding her mom.
In 1983, Bazella found what she believed to be her original birth certificate. The woman listed as her biological mother died in 2000 of cancer.
Deaf girl, 4, tells Santa her Christmas list thanks to an elf who knew sign language
But in 2017, Bazella took a DNA test only to realize the names on her genealogy report didn’t match any of her known relatives.
After spending the next four years reaching out to people in the rest report, Bazella decided to circle back to one of the women listed as a DNA match. When she explained that she had a hunch that they had the same biological father, the woman confronted the father and he admitted that he fathered another daughter in 1960 with a woman who was no longer in his life.
Although Bazella was momentarily surprised by the news, it hit her hard.
“Suddenly I realized that everything I believed in all those years was wrong,” she previously told PEOPLE. “I was mistaken for another baby at the hospital at birth.”
Diane Bazella with her biological mother Sherri Geerts.
Caroline Yang
In 2021, Bazella learned that her real biological mother was still alive—and was even able to talk to her for the first time. Nine months later, she and Geerts met in person for the first time.
Now the couple is in regular contact. They email each other once a day and rarely talk on the phone for less than five hours.
“We are definitely making up for lost time,” Geerts told PEOPLE. “I never lost hope that one day I would find her.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education