North Carolina man reunites with the biological family after 75 years of separation ahead of Christmas.
According to CNN, Dixon Handshaw, throughout his life, thought he was the only child but learnt about his real family right on time before the holidays.
Ahead of his biological family’s annual Christmas party, he flew to Rochester, New York, and met more than 50 relatives and half-siblings he never thought existed.
CNN affiliate WHAM captured this special first meeting of Handshaw with the siblings at the airport on Friday, December 20, 2024. He expressed, “All my life, I dreamed about having siblings somewhere. This is my Christmas miracle.”
Talking to CNN after meeting his family, he said, “I’ve never met anybody who shares my DNA. It was wonderful. I have never felt such an outpouring of unconditional love as I had from my new family. I always wanted to find them, but New York State sealed the pre-adoption birth certificates, and it was impossible to find out.”
Handshaw was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1949. He was just three months old when he was adopted by parents who were honest about his adoption. In 2020 he got his original birth certificate after a law change in 2019.
He recalled, “The first thing I did when I got my father’s name was Google him, and up pops his obituary. Not only was I shocked to see that I looked exactly like him, but I immediately knew that I had all these brothers and a sister.”
Handshaw's father, Robert “Bud” Romig, who settled with a mother of three sons in Rochester and adopted those boys.
After learning about his father, Handshaw contacted one of the adopted boys, Gary Romig, after which they exchanged pictures, and the boys recognised their “new brother” due to the resemblance with their stepfather’s face.
