In a heartwarming Christmas miracle, a 75-year-old North Carolina man who was adopted as a child recently met more than 50 members of his biological family he never knew existed.
Dixon Handshaw was adopted from Buffalo, New York in 1949 at the age of three months. said 13WHAM says that although she was happy being raised as an only child, she always wanted to know if she had any brothers or sisters.
“My whole life, I've dreamed of having a brother somewhere,” he said last Friday at the Rochester, New York, airport, as local news cameras captured his first meeting with his new sibling.
“This is my Christmas miracle,” Handshaw said.
On Tuesday he explained He told CNN how he learned he had four half-brothers, a half-sister, and many more relatives.
“I always wanted to find them, but New York state sealed their birth certificates before they were adopted, so it was impossible to find them,” Handshaw said.
A 2019 state law changed that, and people were finally able to obtain their original birth certificates in August of this year.
He finally learned the name of his long-deceased biological father, Robert “Bud” Romig. However, he had three adopted children and five biological children.
“The first thing I did when I learned my father's name was Google and pull up his obituary,” Handshaw said. “Not only was I shocked that I looked just like him, but I quickly realized that I had so many brothers and sisters.”
Handshaw said Romig was a graduate student in the physics department at Cornell University, and his mother was a secretary in the physics department.
Although his mother had no more children, his father ended up adopting three children of the woman they settled down with, and learned that the couple had five more children. I did.
Thinking he would be well received by one of his father's adopted children, Handshaw contacted one of his stepbrothers, Gary Romig.
“I chose Gary to call because he was an adopted child and I knew I was also adopted, so I thought he would empathize with my situation. '' Handshaw recalled.
“I got a call and it was a number I didn't recognize. I rarely answer a call if I don't know it. But for some reason, I answered it,” Gary told 13WHAM. . “And he said, 'Hello, my name is Dixon.' Are you Gary Romig? I said, 'Yes.' He's like, “I'm your brother,'' and I'm like, “What? ” I thought. ”
When Gary receives Handshaw's photo, he quickly learns that he is his stepfather's biological son.
“I sent him a photo, [Gary] I sent pictures to all my siblings,” Handshaw explained. “They said, 'It's your father.'
Gary then said to his five brothers, “That's your new brother.''
When Handshaw came to Rochester just before Christmas, he was able to meet more than 50 relatives.
“I've never met anyone who shares DNA with me,” he said. “It was amazing. I've never felt so much unconditional love from my new family.”
The reunited family is currently planning a camping trip for summer 2025 and is enjoying communicating through a large group chat.
“We're working on it every day,” Handshaw said.
“I had great adoptive parents. They were amazing. I love them and miss them, but I always wanted a sibling and now I have them,” 75 he told CNN. “I thought I would only need one or two. I got six!”
