‘Why didn’t they tell you?’: Adoptee only discovers they’re in witness protection when they reach out to the person they’re in hiding from

Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse. Please read with caution.

Sometimes TikTok is stranger than fiction. An adopted person reaching out to their biological parents for the first time is always a dramatic and life-changing experience, but this turned out to be more true than could ever have been dreamed possible by TikTok user androidscout21.

In short, when the TikToker — who goes by the alias Buffy The Trauma Survivor — got in contact with their birth mother after years of being raised by their adoptive family, they discovered that they weren’t just adopted… They were in witness protection. The reason they were in witness protection? To keep them safe from their biological mother.

Androidscout21 revealed their mind-blowing story in a surprisingly light-hearted seven-second video that left the entire app desperate to know more.

Naturally, everyone in the comments is in agreement: this is really something that androidscout21 should have already known. “Sounds like witness protection dropped the ball on protecting the witnesses,” read one reply, to which the OP responded: “they def did.” As for why she was never informed, the TikToker explained in another comment that it a shameless case of everyone shirking the responsibility. “I was a toddler when I entered witsec and they thought my adoptive mom would tell me. She didn’t.”

Others were eager to know if, after exposing her identity to her mother, androidscout21 had to get a new one. The TikToker admitted that she ultimately elected to opt out of witness protection. “I ended up keeping the witsec identity but leaving the program,” she said. As for the reasons behind her decision, the OP said that it stemmed from wanting to get to know her biological father: “I just wanted to have my dad back in my life, I didn’t grow up with one and I wanted to know him at least!”

Got more questions? For those curious to know all the facts, androidscout21 posted a follow-up video in which she gives an in-depth explanation for what her birth mother did to warrant her going into witness protection. Despite the TikToker’s good humor, the truth is truly tragic and no doubt far beyond what her followers had anticipated.

“I was placed in witness protection because my biological mother was a human trafficker who not only trafficked her own biological children but participated in the torture and sexual assault of us children,” androidscout21 revealed. She went on to say that her mother continued to make death threats to her children during her trial, which is what prompted androidscout21 and her siblings to be placed in witsec in the first place.

Androidscout21 also stated that her mother forced her to eat out of a dog bowl because she saw her “as less than human.” In the comments, the TikToker explains that she only learned this after she had reached out to her biological mother, who is now out of prison. She was let out of jail on parole after only serving seven years of her 15-year sentence due to “good behavior” (something her daughter is clearly angry about).

In the video, androidscout21 explains that she decided to exit the witsec program even though “Mummy Munster,” as she dubs her biological mother, is still out there. First, she assured us that her mother is not the dangerous woman she used to be, as “her mind and body are failing her,” but that she still has a PI hired to tail her at all times for insurance. Mostly, though, the TikToker really wanted to reconnect with her dad.

“I wanted my biological father to be a part of my life, to know him, my other siblings from him, and his side of the family in general. In order to do that, I had to leave witness protection, I had to take on that risk,” she revealed. “And it was the best decision I could’ve ever made.” Androidscout21 goes on to tear up as she discusses the close and loving relationship she now has with her father, something she never thought would happen to her after decades of not knowing her biological family.

Buffy the Trauma Survivor has well and truly lived up to her username and while contacting her birth mother definitely did not go as planned it’s heartening to know that, after suffering through all this trauma, she has ultimately got she wanted in the first place: a meaningful relationship with her biological parent.