SHOCK REVELATION EXPOSES A
GROWING up, Emma Cooper had adored her dad Ray. The two were so close her three siblings used to joke she was his favourite.
After he died in a motorcycle crash in 1998 when she was 16, Emma was devastated. And, because of her wonderful memories of him, she put a disturbing nagging doubt she had always felt to the back of her mind.
Why did she look so different to the dad she loved?
Twelve years later, as Emma planned her wedding, her suspicions were further aroused when she ordered her birth certificate for the wedding paperwork, and she found no father listed.
Those childhood doubts came rushing back – and Emma was unconvinced by mum Frances’ explanation that she and Ray had not been together when she was born.
Last year Emma finally gave in to her curiosity and took a £79 ancestry DNA test, and she uncovered the bombshell family secret her mum and some other family members had kept from her – Ray wasn’t her real dad.
She eventually discovered that her biological father was Trevor Ranger – an 18-year-old her mum had had an affair with when she was in her 30s.
And it turned out he had lived just down the road from her throughout her childhood.
I was brought up on a lie. If I’d been told the truth it wouldn’t have been as hurtful EMMA COOPER ON FINDING OUT BOMBSHELL FAMILY SECRET
SECRET
Now she has traced him – and they are making up for those long lost years apart. “I’ve been brought up on a lie – the family secret,” said Emma, now 38. If I had been told the truth, it would never have been as hurtful as what I’ve been through emotionally.
“The lies have been so damaging compared to what the truth would have been.”
Now she is thinking about renewing her wedding vows with husband Pete, 38 – so her biological father can walk her down the aisle.
“All of a sudden I’ve got this parent who’s like me – we keep the same breeds of dogs, we both like our cars and we both like sailing,” she said.
“We even have the same crap taste in wine. It’s wonderful.”
Hugging her, Trevor, 58, said: “I was really pleased to hear from her. We need to make up for lost time.”
Both share the same blue eyes and fair skin – it was Ray’s black hair and olive skin that always confused the young Emma.
Yet Ray had always treated her as his own, and as she grew into her late teens he taught her guitar and also took her for spins on his motorbike.
“We were so close, but it always really bothered me I couldn’t see any similarities,” said Emma, of Rochester, Kent. Her insecurities were reinforced after his death at 53 when she claims her mum, now 73, went cold on her.
Their relationship deteriorated and they haven’t spoken since 2012.
At Easter last year, Emma persuaded her older sister to take an