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  • 3 days ago
After 32 years apart, Ashley DiNunzio finally got to hug her biological mom for the very first time. Ashley, from Langhorne, Pennsylvania, was adopted from Peru as a baby by a loving family in the US. She always knew she was adopted, and over the years she wondered about her birth mother, but never had any luck finding her. That search took on new meaning after Ashley lost her adoptive mom and later faced a string of major health setbacks, including a serious car accident and multiple strokes. During one of the darkest periods of her life, Ashley asked her partner to keep searching for her biological mom and only tell her if there was good news. That news finally came in 2024, when her birth mother’s contact details were discovered in an old online document. Ashley’s partner sent a letter in Spanish along with photos and a phone number, and not long after, her birth mom called. The pair stayed in touch using translator apps, and in early 2026, Ashley traveled to Ica, Peru, to meet Aurelia Victoria Mayuri Pacheco in person – ending with an emotional reunion hug outside her home.
Transcript
00:00When I saw her, it was just like, this is my life.
00:05Around the age of three, four, I was looking at my parents and saying, why don't I look like you?
00:11When I was 13, as a birthday gift, my mom gave me like a photo of my birth mom.
00:16It was a lot of mixed emotions. Why doesn't she love me?
00:20In 2020, I got in a really bad car accident.
00:24I started having strokes in about 22.
00:26After my second stroke, my partner, Kevin, had started looking for my birth mom for me.
00:32But when the third stroke had happened, we were getting ready for surgery and we get a random call from
00:39Peru.
00:39And it was my birth family.
00:43I had spoke to my birth mom for the first time.
00:45And that was the inch of hope that I needed.
00:49It's definitely that.
00:53Hello?
00:56It really just felt like a dream.
01:00I was still at shock.
01:03My initial reaction when I saw her was just like, this is my life.
01:09You know, something I had really struggled with a lot growing up.
01:15My identity, where am I coming from?
01:19And it was so beautiful to kind of establish this relationship I've had with her and then come in full
01:26circle of it all.
01:27I love you.
01:28I love you.
01:30I love you.
01:30I love you.
01:31I love you.
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