One of the hardest decisions many women have to make is the decision to put their child up for adoption. This choice can be incredibly painful, impacting the mother and child for the rest of their lives. And in the U.S., this choice is made by approximately 135,000 women each year. Stacey Faix had to make this decision when she was 15-years-old, an age when most teenage girls are not capable of raising a child. Without even having a chance to hold her son, she assumed that she would never see him again. “They didn’t want me to hold him, they didn’t recommend it,” Faix told WTAE.
Most of the time, mothers who give up their children for adoption chose to keep their identities secret, should they not want to be found later on. But today more and more children are passing laws making it easier for people to track down their birth parents. The baby she gave up for adoption was later named Stephen Strawn, and once he grew up, Stephen decided it was time to find his birth mom. However, he thought that his chance to find her was lost after his birth records were destroyed during a flood. But then, in 2017, a new law gave Stephen access to documents he didn’t have legal access to before, including his birth mom’s name and state of residence.
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With that information, the military veteran and Ohio resident used Facebook to try and find his biological mother by entering her name and state. He managed to find a few women that fit the criteria but narrowed the list down to one based on his gut instinct. Strawn decided to take a chance and send her a message.
“I sent her a message and said, ‘Hey, I have a really weird question. Did you put a baby boy up for adoption in 1982?’ She said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘I think you may be my biological mom,’” he told ABC News.
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Fortunately, Faix was very happy to respond, and the two found that they have a lot in common. They are both members of a veteran support network called Team Red, White, and Blue (RWB).
Amazingly, they were also both registered to run in the Pittsburg Half Marathon, representing their respective regional chapters that year! Once Stephen realized that he and his birth mom were going to be in at the same race, he decided to surprise her with an unexpected reunion. So he contacted the Pittsburg chapter, and they were more than happy to arrange a special meeting for the long-lost son and his mom.
On the day of the marathon, Stacey arrived to run alongside her teammates on Workforce Pink, White, and Blue. As she was standing in line, Stacey was handed a mysterious handwritten letter.
“It’s been 13,075 days since you last saw me,” it learn. “I didn’t want to make you wait for one more.”
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Stacey was overwhelmed as soon as she read the note.
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After 35 years, the mother finally had a chance to hold her son for the very first time.
You can watch their touching reunion in the video below.
