A Windsor woman used a mail-in DNA test to help her trace her biological family she spent decades searching for.

“It's a dream come true to know where you come from, where your bloodline is coming from,” says 49-year-old Shula Burstin.

Burstin was born in Montreal and six weeks after birth she was adopted by a couple who lived in Costa Rica.

“In my heart I always had that calling inside of me, of searching for my birth mother, or a birth father, or any living relatives,” she says.

Burstin did not have a lot of information to go on and knew finding them would be a long shot. But with the help of a friend, in 2014, Burstin started posting on social media.

This past January, determined to find them, she turned to a DNA test for answers.

“I found my mother…and lots of cousins, .aunts and family,” she says.

Burstin and her biological mother are now corresponding through letters and planning to meet in the summer.

“I can't wait to meet her and to just feel her heartbeat next to mine,” says Burstin.

“She is amazing. She is the spitting image of me.”

Burstin hopes her story will inspire others to never lose hope. “Never give up. Do a DNA test. You never know if your biological parent are looking for you too.”