Turkish woman adopted by biological mother shocked over father’s DNA results
İZMİR
In the latest plot twist of a real-life drama in Turkey, a young woman who was adopted by her biological mother years ago was shocked when she learned about the results of a DNA test on her “father.”
According to the TV program Esra Erol, aired by private broadcaster ATV on Nov. 14, Kader Özel was born in İzmir’s Yeşilyurt neighborhood at a state-run clinic in 1993.
Her mother, Hicran, breastfed the baby on the first day and then fell asleep on her hospital bed. An unidentified person then sneaked into the room and kidnapped baby Kader.
An eyewitness in the hospital helped the police to draw a sketch of the kidnapper. Fearing he would be arrested, the kidnapper left the baby in a bus in the Central Anatolian province of Konya.
The couple then traveled from İzmir to Konya and took the baby from social service officials at the child protection center.
However, a prosecutor later objected and the couple took a DNA test, which revealed the woman was indeed Kader’s biological mother, but the man, İdris Özel, was not her biological father.
As a result of the DNA test, public authorities deleted the registration of the baby as the child of the couple in official documents, which triggered a decade-long legal battle.
Legal battle ends on TV show
Finding no other option, the couple finally adopted Kader in 2003 when she was 10-years-old.
For more than two decades, İdris Özel claimed the DNA test results cited by the prosecutor were erroneous, seeking another test the state would accept as enough evidence to switch Kader’s legal status from an adopted child to a biological child.
After the couple told their story on live television, new test results arrived stating again that İdris Özel was not Kader’s biological father.
As the young woman burst into tears, the man left the studio, saying his “psychology had been ruined.”
The mother also seemed puzzled as the question about the identity of Kader’s biological father remained unanswered.
“She is still our daughter. We have been raising her for 25 years,” said Hicran and İdris Özel.
“Nothing changes much for me but I would like to learn the identity of my real father,” said Kader Özel.
