Malia Pattison is from Jacksonville, Fla. Soon after her birth, she moves to Minnesota with her new family.

New parents, Gregg and Denise, adopt Malia at birth.

Just like a curious child does, Malia starts to question her parents about why she looks different.

“Why is my skin so much darker than yours?”

Over the years, Malia lacks details behind her adoption. She knows her birth mom still lives in Florida, but other than that she has no idea if she had siblings, what ethnicity she truly is, and any information about her birth father.

Malia believes she is Alaskan Indian until her DNA test.

Malia’s parents and herself discuss the idea of taking a DNA test. Malia is an open book and ready to learn more. After hours of thinking and reflectiont, they collectively decide to have her take the test.

She waits.

And waits.

And waits.

The DNA results take weeks to make its way back to the Pattison household. When the results came back, they announce she is African American, specifically Nigerian. Malia along with her family,  feel a sense of shock with the information they read. Along with the ethnicity, they learn that Malia has two half sisters.

Learning more about herself and her birth family intrigues Malia to reach out to them. Malia recently became in contact with her two half siblings, but she is still waiting to hear back from her birth parents.

Although it’s important to Malia to learn more about her beginning, she values the family that grows with her.

Coming from Jacksonville, Fla., to Neenah,  Malia continues to be grateful for all the support her family and friends gave her to dig into her early life.