In a serendipitous encounter, a young man met his birth mother after 20 years and found out they both work at the same place. Now, their reunion story has left many teary-eyed online. Benjamin Hulleberg from Utah, in the US, was surprised to find a birthday greeting from Holly Shearer on Facebook Messenger last year out of a clear blue sky. When he inquired how Shearer knew him, the woman mustered the courage to let on that she had made the “hardest decision” of her life and placed her “beautiful little baby up for adoption”. Aware from a young age that he had been adopted by his parents, Hulleberg was curious about his biological mother—someone he knew only by her first name, Holly. When the two finally met after two decades, they were pleasantly surprised that they both had been working at St Mark’s Hospital in Salt Lake City. “Benjamin as a volunteer in the NICU; Holly as a medical assistant at the Heart Center,” the hospital wrote on Facebook, sharing pictures from 2001 when he was born. “Both believe their paths had to have crossed during that time – they parked in the same garage, ate in the same cafeteria; Holly had a view out her lobby window of the Women’s Pavilion where Benjamin spent his time,” the post read. “Can you believe that?!” the hospital asked. Shearer was a pregnant 15-year-old when she gave birth to her son. “He deserved a mother and a father, a home with a playset in the backyard that he can play on, a dog, all of those things I couldn’t give him,” Shearer told KSL TV. Finally, in November of 2001, the day before Thanksgiving, Shearer met Angela and Brian, the adoptive parents she had chosen through an adoption agency to give her child away. “We knew Holly loved Benjamin from the day she handed him to us,” Angela told the local TV channel. “She loved him with her whole heart and soul.” Last year, in a poignant Facebook post, Hulleberg opened up about his “deep desire” to meet his birth mother, “simply for the opportunity to thank her for the selfless decision”. For years, he tried looking through “written letters to adoption agencies of Utah, done DNA testing, registered with the adoption registry”, however, results yielded “nothing”. Finally, the birthday wish on Facebook Messenger changed his life for the good. Talking to Good Morning America, a programme on the ABC television channel, Shearer said she had managed to find her son when he turned 18 but was scared to reach out to him fearing it might turn his life upside down, oblivious that Hulleberg had been looking for his birth mother. As the two families finally met in an emotional reunion, they realised both of them had been working at the same hospital for the past two years. Now, at least once a week Hulleberg meets Shearer. “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 on the channel show. “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, adding, “My heart is full.”
