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A Utah man finally gets the answer he has been searching for over 20 years. After receiving a Facebook message from his birth mom last November, he was able to fill the void of wanting to meet his birth mother.
Benjamin Hulleberg, knew from a young age that he was adopted and had always been curious about his biological mother. The only info he had was her first name Holly.
“It was always a very positive conversation,” the 20-year-old told “Good Morning America.” “It was my parents either expressing gratitude for Holly or me talking about how I'm grateful for her and how I want to meet her one day.”
Holly Shearer his biological mom never forgot about the baby she had place for adoption over 20 years ago.
“He was always on my mind. More so on holidays and his birthday, roller coaster of emotions,” Shearer, 36, told “GMA.” “I thought about him all the time.”
She was a young mom and also agreed to an open adoption with the Hulleberges, they would sent photos and updates but after the adoption agency closed in 2014 the photos stopped coming. However Holly's curiosity was still there. She would even search for him on social media.
“He was 18 when I found him and I was very hesitant,” she recounted. “He had so much going on his life. … The last thing I wanted to do is to throw a wrench in his life. So I just watched from a distance.”
Benjamin had no idea that she too was searching for him. He would fill out adoption registry's take DNA tests in hopes of one day finding his biological mother.
So when he discovered who she was through Facebook he was through the roof.
“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,” Hulleberg said. “I was in between our hourly quality checks and I got on my phone and I saw her message and I just replied.”
He added, “When she texted me back and she actually explained who she was, it hit me like a load of bricks.”
Hulleberg said that after receiving the message he was so emotional with the discovery.
“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.”
Ben wasted no time to try and meet holly.
“He asked to meet, like right away, which I was like, shocked a little bit,” Shearer said. “I wasn't expecting that but he wanted to meet right away. And so we planned a dinner the next day to meet at Red Robin with both of our families.”
Added Benjamin Hulleberg: “I was not willing to wait any longer. I'd waited 20 years and that was long enough for me.”
Shearer and Hulleberg finally reunited with their families in Nov,21 2021
Shearer and her family met with Angela and Brian Hulleberg first. “They looked the same basically as I remembered so it was nice. We just sat there talking until we sat down,” she said. “Then, about five minutes after we sat down, Benjamin arrived and 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 and it just, I can't believe that it happened.”
Hulleberg said, “When I saw her, she stood up and she gave me a hug and I cried. I just looked at her and I was like, ‘You're real, like you're in front of me.’ And it was surreal.”
“I would definitely say it was a dream come true,” he continued. “I've said that about things in my life, like ‘Oh, I'm so glad I graduated. It's a dream come true.’ But this? This was the most true time I've ever said it.”
The reunion lasted over three hours of catching up and getting to know each other.
“It felt like it hadn't been 20 years, even though it had been 20 years because Benjamin had grown up, but that connection is still there,” Angela Hulleberg, 46, told “GMA.”
“I think Benjamin is super lucky to have all of these people in his life that love him,” she added.
After trying to search for each other for so many years they learned that they weren't so far away from another, both working at St. Marks Hospital in Salt Lake City. Shearer is a medical assistant at St. Marks while Ben volunteers onsite.
“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,” Shearer said.
Since reuniting they have kept in touch and Ben was even introduced to his half brother and sister, he even started calling her mom. He also tries and visits her once a week at work.
“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.
“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,” Shearer said. “My heart is full.”
Benjamin Hulleberg wants to share this message with other who are in search of their biological parents.
“Don't give up hope. For me, 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.”
Watch the reunion below.
SOURCE: " target="_blank">GMA