Will Anne Struckett’s exhaustive search for her biological Indian father ever succeed? Anne Struckett was born in New Zealand to a Kiwi woman and a Fiji Indian man. She was given up for adoption when she was just two weeks old. For more than twenty years Anne has been trying to locate her biological father.
The quest has been relentless; Though Anne was adopted by a loving and caring family who already had five kids, Anne does not even know her biological father’s name. She is keen to find her true identity and Indian heritage.
The search is like finding a needle in a haystack because apart from the knowledge that her biological father must have been about 22 when she was born in Auckland in a short relationship with a Kiwi woman, Anne does not know his name. “He must be about 73 years old, but I don’t know if he is even aware of my existence. My biological mother and he were pen friends. He came down to Auckland for a short visit and met my mother and left after a few days,” says Anne. She goes on to add that her biological mother wrote to him in Fiji that she was pregnant but never heard back from him.
Source: Supplied
Anne has left no stone unturned to find her father but without much success. She did meet her mother in 2012 through a genealogical researcher and flew down to Auckland to meet her. “We felt no bond, I myself was quite uncomfortable and my mother was no help at all, she said she did not even remember the name of Anne’s biological father.” That was a huge setback for Anne.
Not having given up hope, Anne attended an adoptees support group, where someone suggested to her to undergo a DNA test. Her excitement soared when the results showed up a match with a cousin from Anne’s father’s side by the name of Nathan Singh. She then laboriously contacted Nathan Singh who lived in California with his father Narendra Singh and told them about her quest. They were originally from Fiji. Nathan’s father Narendra Singh kindly agreed to undertake a DNA test but no specific match was found.
Utterly disheartened Anne sought help from the DNA site requesting help to understand the results. The researcher said, “Given the information you have passed on to us, we think your biological father could be a first cousin of Narendra Singh.” Anne has not heard back from the Singhs.
Anne says, “Recent court records in New Zealand mention that the man supposed to be her biological father was 22 when he visited Auckland in 1966, where he had a sister. His family owned a transport business in Fiji.” That’s the dead end where she has reached! “I am desperately trying to connect with my roots and hope someone could help me connect with my father’s family.”
