All my life I had known that I was adopted and wondered what my biological family was like. Did I have any siblings? What did they enjoy? What were they like? Well, I got all the answers to those questions and more when my birthmother and I reunited in the Adoption.com reunion registry. I had just turned eighteen so I was legally allowed to begin the search. I entered the scanty information I had and hoped that it would be enough.
Three months after I had registered, I got the phone call I had been waiting for my whole life. It was early evening and I was half-asleep on the couch, with the TV blaring in the background, when the phone rang. I looked at the Caller I.D. and didn’t recognize the number, but I answered anyway. There was a woman on the other end, an unfamiliar voice, looking for me. When I asked her who she was she replied, “My name is Cindy and I came across your profile on Adoption.com. I think I may be your biological mother.” I couldn’t speak. I wasn’t sure whether to believe it; I knew that many adoptees searched for years or even decades before finding or being found. Could I really be this lucky?
We continued to talk, alternately asking questions about each other’s lives and arranging a time that we could meet face to face. We had lived in close proximity for my entire life, small details of our day-to-day routines had been intertwined, and we’d never known.
I drove into Jacksonville, FL that weekend, full of nervous excitement, but also cautious. When I pulled up to her house, she was waiting out front for me. She pulled me into a long, tight hug, and we cried. She took me inside the house and introduced me to the rest of my family, my older sister and younger brother. Both of my siblings look like their fathers, but I look just like my biological mother; it’s like looking in a mirror at times.
It’s been almost seven years since that day, and I still feel so incredibly blessed to have, not one, but two loving families, my adopted and biological. Together, we celebrate holidays and birthdays. I recently attended my birthmother’s wedding, and felt chills when I saw my adoptive family participating in her special day.
I know that my story seems too good to be true, but it is true. I feel incredibly blessed that my adoptive family kept their hearts open to accept my desire to find my biological family. I will always cherish my birthmother’s heart, so open and ready to accept me when I found her. Ultimately, I’m thankful that my own heart never closed.
