At 92, Michigan woman raised an only child discovers she has 19 half-siblings

Old genealogy family records.
(Image credit: iStock)

Mariann Jeffery just found out her family tree has more branches than she ever imagined.

Jeffery, 92, of Southgate, Michigan, was adopted as a baby and raised an only child. Her biological parents, Margaret Corwin and Thomas Dumas, were teenagers when she was born, and Jeffery had no idea that they separated after her birth. She certainly didn't know that both ended up getting married twice to other people, with Corwin ultimately having 11 additional children and Dumas having eight.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.