We’re all very different, aren’t we? Some experiences, although similar, cannot be concluded as the same. But we all share a curiosity as to who we are; what are the building blocks that have made us this way and not another? Lots of those depend on our families and, most importantly, our parents.
However, sometimes those stories are more difficult to find out, especially for adoptees who’ve not had a chance to meet their biological parents. The questions that lots of us never had to ask ourselves or the people around us, the answers we’ve taken for granted; some search forever. Yet, for this person, the search is over.
After two decades, one man reunited with his birth mother after she sent him a Facebook message. Let’s get into the details, shall we?
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Holly and Benjamin have reunited after 20 years apart, when Holly had to make the tough choice of giving Benjamin up for adoption
Image credits: stmarkshospital
One message changed Benjamin Hulleberg’s life forever as it came from someone very special. The 20-year-old middle school substitute teacher knew from a young age that he had been adopted by his parents, Angela and Brian Hulleberg.
The curiosity regarding his birth mother had followed him throughout the years, yet all he knew was her first name - Holly.
“It was always a very positive conversation,” Benjamin told Good Morning America (GMA). Through her sacrifice, he’d been given a life full of opportunity and possibilities, resulting in gratefulness from both Benjamin and his parents. Hence fueling the want to meet her one day.
The woman was only 15 when she had her son and without many possibilities to provide him a good quality of life, so she found someone who could
Image credits: stmarkshospital
The dream was shared by Holly Shearer, who never forgot about the baby she had placed for adoption on Thanksgiving Day 20 years ago. She was 15 years old when she had Benjamin.
“He deserved a mother and a father, a home with a playset in the backyard that he can play on, a dog, all of those things I couldn’t give him,” Holly told KSL TV.
“He deserved a mother and a father, a home with a playset in the backyard that he can play on, a dog, all of those things I couldn’t give him,” Holly said
Image credits: stmarkshospital
The day was bittersweet for all the parents, as it was the beginning of parenthood for a couple who'd struggled to conceive, yet it was the distancing of a mother from her child. It was the hardest decision Holly had ever had to make and Angela and Bryan worried about the teenager.
“We knew Holly loved Benjamin from the day she handed him to us,” Angela said. “She loved him with her whole heart and soul.”
Though the years went by, the longing didn’t diminish. “He was always on my mind. More so on holidays and his birthday, a roller coaster of emotions,” Holly told GMA. The woman was updated on her baby’s life by the Hullebergs with letters and pictures of Benjamin.
“We knew Holly loved Benjamin from the day she handed him to us,” Angela, Benjamin's adoptive mother, said. “She loved him with her whole heart and soul”
Image credits: stmarkshospital
After three years, the letters stopped as the adoption agency closed in 2014. With nothing linking the two families together and Holly only knowing the parents by first name, they lost connection. Holly said, “I thought about him all the time.”
With the boom of social media, Holly took to searching online for him. After a while she landed on Benjamin’s social media page. “He was 18 when I found him and I was very hesitant,” she explained. “He had so much going on in his life… The last thing I wanted to do is to throw a wrench in his life. So I just watched from a distance.”
All the while Benjamin had been trying to find his biological mother for years. He wrote letters, signed up with an adoption registry, and even took a DNA test, but all leads hit a brick wall.
Image credits: stmarkshospital
The pair, Angela and Bryan, had troubles conceiving a child, hence this day became one of the most joyous in their lives
Image credits: stmarkshospital
Suddenly, it all changed. And it took just one Facebook message, with Holly wishing Benjamin a happy birthday. “I can remember the exact place that I was at when I got the message. I was at work. I was a machine operator and I remember I was in machine No. 15,” Benjamin said. “I was in between our hourly quality checks and I got on my phone and I saw her message.”
The message read: “Happy birthday. I hope you had a wonderful day!” As it had come from a complete stranger, Benjamin replied: “Hi there, how do I know you?”
They kept Holly up to date on Benjamin's life for 3 years, until the adoption agency closed down and they lost all contact
Image credits: stmarkshospital
Benjamin had longed to meet his birth mother. He tried contacting adoption agencies and doing DNA tests but it all led to nothing
Image credits: Benjamin Hulleberg
Holly gathered the strength she’d been searching for and explained: “You don’t know me. Which is weird to have a stranger message you. 20 years ago I made the hardest decision of my life and placed my beautiful little baby up for adoption with a beautiful family."
"I have no intention of flipping your life upside down. I have thought about you every day and finally had the courage to send you a message. Wishing you a happy birthday.”
Benjamin stated that the message hit him like a load of bricks; the one person he’d been searching for had found him instead. “I was crying. It was all very positive emotions,” he said. “But to me, this is a day I had been waiting for the past 20 years of my life and to imagine that it was finally happening was outrageous. It was a lot to take in.”
However, one day his dream came true as Holly found him on Facebook and gathered the strength to reach out on his birthday
Image credits: Benjamin Hulleberg
He wasted no time asking for them both to meet up. “He asked to meet, like right away, which I was like, shocked a little bit,” Holly said. “I wasn't expecting that but he wanted to meet right away.” They planned to meet for dinner the next day at Red Robin with both of their families.
Benjamin added: “I was not willing to wait any longer. I'd waited 20 years and that was long enough for me.” He stated in a Facebook post: “My roots. My DNA. I have never had that in my life. Another fun fact? I received this on November 20th. National Adoption day.”
He wanted to meet her as soon as possible, so they arranged a dinner date with their families. Benjamin said: "I'd waited 20 years and that was long enough for me"
Image credits: Angela Johnson-Hulleberg
On November 21, 2021, Holly and Benjamin finally reunited, their families accompanying them. Holly met with Angela and Brian, Benjamin’s adopted parents, first. Holly noted that they looked very similar to how she’d remembered them.
Then, after around 5 minutes of waiting, Benjamin arrived. “He walked up and tapped me on the shoulder and joy just overflowed me, and we just sat hugging for about five minutes and crying,” she said. “I can't believe that it happened.”
Benjamin was just as overwhelmed, disbelieving the reality in front of him. “I just looked at her and I was like, ‘You're real, like you're in front of me.’ And it was surreal,” he recounted. “I would definitely say it was a dream come true.”
The meeting was an emotional one, with the families spending over 3 hours together and a realization coming forth - they work together in the same hospital
Image credits: Benjamin Hulleberg
Their meeting lasted more than three hours, with a funny realization coming forth - they’d worked in the same hospital for the past 2 years. Benjamin volunteers at the neonatal intensive care unit, whilst Holly is a medical assistant at The Heart Center at St. Mark's Hospital in Salt Lake City.
“Every morning, I would come in through the women's pavilion to come into work. So I passed right by the NICU every single day. We parked in the same garage, could have been on the same floor, had no idea that we were so close,” Holly said.
Although they couldn't be together in the beginning, they're spending all their time available now, grateful for how everything turned out
Image credits: stmarkshospital
Since the two reunited, Benjamin has met with his younger half-brother and half-sister as well. He tries to meet with Holly at her office at least once a week. They’ve gotten close enough that he now calls her ‘mom’ as well. “Being able to sit down with my biological mom and just have coffee and talk before I go on my shift at the NICU? It's been amazing,” he said.
But Benjamin isn’t the only one elated to be reconnected with his birth mom. “It's just exciting. I'm part of his life. Just knowing that his phone number is in my phone and I can call him or text him anytime… it's amazing,” Holly said. “My heart is full.”
Benjamin encourages all those searching for their parents to not give up hope as sometimes good things come when you least expect them
Image credits: Holly Shearer
For any of those still in search of their biological parents, Benjamin advises not to give up hope. “I felt like I was at a point where I'd given up just a little. I had tried so many things, and they just hadn't worked,” he said. “It came when I was least expecting it. It was something that just happened out of the blue. That isn't what happens to everyone.”
“Meeting my biological family and meeting my half-siblings and meeting my biological mom, it was very healing for me. There was a little hole in me that I didn't know about and finding them really filled that in. I feel very whole, I feel very complete. I feel like I'm finally ready to continue in my life.”
We wish them the best of luck and lots of beautiful time together! Let us know what you thought of the story, dear readers, and I shall wish you a beautiful day!
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