Benjamin Hulleberg, a young man from Florida, recently reunited with his birth mother after being adopted as a baby.
The adoption was arranged between his birth mother, Holly Shearer, and his adoptive parents, Angela and Brian Hulleberg when Holly was only 15 years old. Holly, knowing she would not be able to care for the baby, made the difficult decision to give him up for adoption.
The Hullebergs kept her updated on his developments, but when the adoption agency closed they lost contact with one another. Ben was raised knowing that he was adopted, and as he got older he searched for his birth mother.
However, it was his birth mother, Holly, who found him first. On his 20th birthday, Ben received a message from a stranger: “Happy Birthday. I hope you have a wonderful day.”
When he asked who the stranger was, Holly replied that she was his birth mother. Ben was shocked but ecstatic to finally have the opportunity to meet her and soon enough, he and Holly and their respective families were able to meet and get to know each other.
What made the reunion even more remarkable was the fact that Ben and Holly had actually been working together in the same hospital for years: Ben in the NICU and Holly in the heart department.
The two of them had probably passed each other dozens of times without knowing it. Now, the pair are able to meet in between shifts at work and can start to get to know each other better, as adults.
Adoption can be a difficult experience for both the birth parents and the adopted children, but in this case, it was a beautiful story of reunification. Holly’s selfless act of love was repaid when she found out that her son had been taken in by loving parents and was taken care of throughout his life.
