Woman Learns Sexual Assault Led to Her Birth. Here’s What She Wishes She Could Tell Her Biological Mom (Exclusive)

She told me that everyone needs to know where they come from,” Daniels, 57, tells PEOPLE. “I remember her saying, ‘Just be careful as you begin to search. You have to be prepared for what you might find.’ ”

Those words proved to be prophetic. After a law in Illinois was passed in 2010 allowing greater access to adoption records, Daniels was able to eventually track down a biological brother, Benjamin Chambers, who worked at a church just a 15-minute drive from her own home in Chicago’s southern suburbs.

“I just showed up at his church,” says Daniels, now an assistant high school principal. “I sat through the service and after it was over, I approached him and said, ‘Hey, do you have a minute to talk?’ “