EX-DIPLO'S SURPRISE: A DAUGHTER
DNA reveals child from 61 years ago
At age 92, he thought he had lived a full life.
A former US ambassador and decorated Marine, Theodore Roosevelt Britton Jr. had traveled to 175 countries, met Queen Elizabeth II and prayed with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
But life still held one more twist for him — a daughter he never knew existed.
In March 2018, Long Island native Debra Biagini reached out to Britton by e-mail, saying that she had taken a DNA test — and that he was an irrefutable match as her father.
“There are people I know who still can’t believe I never knew she was my daughter,” Britton, now 94, of Atlanta, told The Post. Biagini was equally stunned. She said she took the DNA test on MyHeritage Web site in December 2017 because she had been dreading her upcoming 60th birthday and a friend thought it would be a bit of fun.
The pals decided they would take a trip to whichever country Biagini had the most DNA from to help her connect more with her African heritage.
Never would Biagini have imagined it would lead her to Britton, who served as the US ambassador to Barbados and Grenada in the 1970s.
“I opened the results, and I see this name: Theodore Roosevelt Britton Jr., and then underneath it said ‘father,’ ” said Biagini, 61, who lives in Rome.
“It was surreal. I literally got up and went to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror like, ‘ Who are you?’ ”
The florist, who moved to Italy 30 years ago, already had a father, the man who raised her as his daughter and who she thought was her biological dad. Both he and her mother had since died.
“I said, ‘I know this name. I’ve heard this name before,’ ” she recalled.
It turns out Biagini had grown up hearing her mother talk fondly of “Ted Britton,” whom the older woman had described as a charming and intelligent man she once worked with at Carver Federal Savings Bank on Long Island in the 1950s.
But her mother never told Biagini that she and the married Britton had an affair — and that she was the result of it.
Britton, whose wife at the time has since died, said Biagini’s mother never told him about their daughter, either.
Biagini said she eventually messaged him through MyHeritage, and the pair met in Poland in September, where Britton was attending a conference.
She said they found an “unbelievable” amount of similarities between them. For example, both love museums, adventure and history. And they hate lamb.
Still, Biagini said, she thought that she would meet Britton once and never see him again.
But her four new brothers and sisters and one mischievous nephew had different plans.
“We want you,” her nephew Gabriel told her. “If you want us, we’re here for you.”
Britton beams at how his family has welcomed Biagini.
“Gosh, I’ve been so blessed, so blessed. Above all, to get his beautiful lady,” Britton said.
He said that at his age, “I was about to say, ‘Well, I guess that’s it.’ But suddenly, she shows up, and I can’t leave her now.”