Kate, @juust_kate on TikTok, was raised in France under the belief that she was Portuguese. But her darker skin and naturally sunburn-resistant face would lead people to remark that she had a more Middle Eastern look than European. While her blue-eyed, fair-skinned siblings were unremarkable-looking, Kate always felt different.
Kate had always been fascinated by ancient Egyptian civilisation, a fact her mother indulged by calling her lovingly ‘little Cleopatra’. The joking nickname did little to dispel Kate’s lingering doubts about where she really came from.
In 2019, out of curiosity about her heritage, she got a DNA test, expecting to have the results verify her upbringing. What arrived was surprising: Kate was 58.4% Egyptian, 22.9% Portuguese, 14.1% South Italian, and 4.6% Algerian.
Shocked, she asked her mother, and her mother brushed it off with vague, philosophical musings on identity and the shared humanness of all beings.
Stranger Unlocks Family Secrets
The true shock came in 2022 when Kate was sent a message by someone who said they knew her biological dad. Faced with her mother once more, Kate was told that the man she had grown up with wasn’t her biological dad. Her real dad was an Egyptian man and he had since died.
Looking back on this dramatic turmoil, Kate stated: “Crying over someone I never got to meet was the hardest thing for me.”
Finding Family in Egypt
But from that suffering came a deep happiness: Kate learned she had three brothers and sisters in Egypt, with whom she has now formed an intimate connection.
Now Kate offers a wise caution to others thinking of genetic testing: “If you’re not emotionally ready to cope with the implications, it’s best not to do it,” she advises. “It can alter your life, your relationships, your identity.”
