Wellington woman with terminal cancer's dying wish is to connect with her birth family
About two years ago Amy Slevin felt a nagging urgency to track down her birth family, now she's so glad she did.
The Wellington woman was diagnosed with breast cancer last year and in April, three days before her 43rd birthday, she was told her cancer was terminal.
Slevin was born in the UK and adopted with her twin brother as a baby.
The pair grew up in London with their adoptive family, then moved to New Zealand 30 years ago.
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Slevin said a couple of years ago she felt she needed to find her birth family, so she enlisted the help of a professional who tracked down her birth father.
Slevin, and her twin Jack, wrote separate letters to their father.
"I guess I had this sense of urgency that I needed to find them."
While her father said he had his own life now, he did connect Slevin with other members of her birth family.
Since then she had spoken on the phone to her aunties and had connected with a half-brother.
Slevin planned to travel to the UK to meet her family before her time was up but her doctor said told her she was now too unwell to travel.
So her adoptive brother Daniel set up a Givealittle page to help raise money to get her half-brother to New Zealand.
"It's a thing I wanted to do before I leave," she said.
Slevin, who is a single mother, said it was important for her 15-year-old daughter Aroha to "find her roots".
A couple of years ago, she travelled back to London with Aroha to show her where she grew up.
"I had a feeling then that I wouldn't be back again."
Now Slevin's daughter would have the opportunity to meet another side of her family.
It would also give her daughter a chance to learn more about her Caribbean roots, Slevin said.
Growing up in London, there were quite a few people of Jamaican descent so Slevin and her twin knew about the food and music and Bob Marley.
"But in regards to our personal roots, we didn't know anything."
Her half-brother would arrive in New Zealand at the end of May - just in time for "Amy's Celebration".
Slevin said she didn't believe in funerals: "I find them really negative."
Instead she was throwing a huge party to give back to everyone who had supported her throughout her life.
She said she wanted to give thanks to friends, family and her oncologists for all their help and support.
"You know who you are," she said.
Slevin said she didn't want to set up a Givealittle page when her brother Daniel first suggested it.
"I love people and I love helping but I don't like getting it back."
But after she received the terminal diagnosis, she decided to raise money to meet her birth family so she could leave her KiwiSaver funds intact for her daughter's future.
The support had been "amazing", she said. So far, the page had raised more than $6000.
Connecting with her birth family had also given her the chance to warn them to get checked because the illness ran in the family.
"Cancer is insidious... I was the one that found my tumour. It was really late in the piece for me."
Slevin said her experience highlighted how important it was to support cancer research and get regular check-ups.
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