Woman finds out late husband was her dad
The New Paper
Thursday, Oct 18, 2012
USA- She found out that her husband was also her long-lost father, some six years after his death.
While he was still alive, nobody told Mrs Valerie Spruill that her husband, Mr Perry Spruill, was also her father.
It was only after Mr Spruill died in 1998 that a relative came to her with the devastating truth.
She later confirmed it through a DNA test.
She had unknowingly married the father she never knew, reported the Akron Beacon Journal, a newspaper in Ohio.
"It is devastating. It can destroy you," Mrs Spruill, 60, told CNN last month.
"It almost did."
Mrs Spruill, from the US state of Ohio, went public with her story last month with the hopes that it would help others facing what seem like insurmountable problems.
The story was first published in the Akron Beacon Journal.
She learnt the truth in 2004, six years after her husband died.
"I don't know if he ever knew or not. That conversation didn't come up," she said.
But she said that she believes he did know, but was simply afraid to tell her, reported the Daily Mail.
DNA test
Mrs Spruill confirmed that her husband was indeed her father through a DNA test, with his hair taken from one of his brushes.
She had met and married Mr Spruill in the city of Akron, in Ohio, and the couple settled in Doylestown, a working-class suburb.
It was Mrs Spruill's second marriage.
She said that he was a nice man and a good provider.
And he was kind to her three children from her previous marriage.
"We had a good life," she said.
Apparently, Mrs Spruill's mother had got pregnant as a teen while dating her then-15-year-old father.
Valerie Spruill was three months old when she was sent to live with her grandmother and grandfather, whom she initially believed was her father.
She said that when she was about eight or nine, she discovered that the woman who often visited the house was not a family friend but her mother.
But nobody, she said, talked about her father.
Her grandparents have been dead for some time and her mother died in 1984. So have a number of Mr Spruill's relatives.
She only knows her mother worked as a prostitute.
Siblings
She believes she has siblings or half-siblings from her father's relationships with other women, including the one with her mother.
So far, she knows she has six brothers, reported the Daily Mail.
She said she wants to find them and let them know they are not alone.
Mrs Spruill, meanwhile, has three children and eight grandchildren.
She struggled with telling her children that the man they believed was their step-father was their grandfather.
She said. "I told them about two years ago. They are remarkable. They are handling it better than I am."
Get The New Paper for more stories.
The New Paper
Thursday, Oct 18, 2012
USA- She found out that her husband was also her long-lost father, some six years after his death.
While he was still alive, nobody told Mrs Valerie Spruill that her husband, Mr Perry Spruill, was also her father.
It was only after Mr Spruill died in 1998 that a relative came to her with the devastating truth.
She later confirmed it through a DNA test.
She had unknowingly married the father she never knew, reported the Akron Beacon Journal, a newspaper in Ohio.
"It is devastating. It can destroy you," Mrs Spruill, 60, told CNN last month.
"It almost did."
Mrs Spruill, from the US state of Ohio, went public with her story last month with the hopes that it would help others facing what seem like insurmountable problems.
The story was first published in the Akron Beacon Journal.
She learnt the truth in 2004, six years after her husband died.
"I don't know if he ever knew or not. That conversation didn't come up," she said.
But she said that she believes he did know, but was simply afraid to tell her, reported the Daily Mail.
DNA test
Mrs Spruill confirmed that her husband was indeed her father through a DNA test, with his hair taken from one of his brushes.
She had met and married Mr Spruill in the city of Akron, in Ohio, and the couple settled in Doylestown, a working-class suburb.
It was Mrs Spruill's second marriage.
She said that he was a nice man and a good provider.
And he was kind to her three children from her previous marriage.
"We had a good life," she said.
Apparently, Mrs Spruill's mother had got pregnant as a teen while dating her then-15-year-old father.
Valerie Spruill was three months old when she was sent to live with her grandmother and grandfather, whom she initially believed was her father.
She said that when she was about eight or nine, she discovered that the woman who often visited the house was not a family friend but her mother.
But nobody, she said, talked about her father.
Her grandparents have been dead for some time and her mother died in 1984. So have a number of Mr Spruill's relatives.
She only knows her mother worked as a prostitute.
Siblings
She believes she has siblings or half-siblings from her father's relationships with other women, including the one with her mother.
So far, she knows she has six brothers, reported the Daily Mail.
She said she wants to find them and let them know they are not alone.
Mrs Spruill, meanwhile, has three children and eight grandchildren.
She struggled with telling her children that the man they believed was their step-father was their grandfather.
She said. "I told them about two years ago. They are remarkable. They are handling it better than I am."
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