Birth Parents Joined in Marriage by Birth Son

Adoption reunion stories often have sweet endings, but this story comes with a cherry on top. Colorado resident, Martin Schmidt, officiated the marriage of his birth parents over the summer. His reunion with them rekindled an old flame between the couple. On August 4, 2018, Schmidt pronounced them husband and wife.

Back in 1982, when Michele Newman was only 15 years old, she learned that she was pregnant by her ex-boyfriend, Dave Lindgren. At that time Lindgren had moved on to a new relationship, so the pair decided to place their child for adoption.

When their son, Schmidt, turned 18, he considered looking for his birth parents, but it wasn’t until he became a father in 2014 that he decided to make the search happen. He contacted the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. Newman and Lindgren received separate phone calls requesting permission to release the adoption file to Schmidt. Soon after, Newman sent a text to Lindgren, thanking him for agreeing to have contact with their son. That text led to several others and then a phone call. It was the first time they had spoken to each other since 1981. Dormant emotions began to stir.

Lindgren was living in Wisconsin. He had been married and divorced three times, and he now had three more children and four stepchildren. Newman had been married twice and was going through her second divorce. She never had any other children. Lindgren traveled to Hawaii to visit Newman, and he knew right away there was a connection. The couple got engaged in 2015 and were married three years later.

“Miracles do happen. Somebody up there or out there figured out the timing for all this to come together,” said Lindgren.

In the end Newman says, “From really sad decisions, tough decisions, a lot of good has come.”

Your first step in your search and reunion journey is to register in Adoption.com’s Reunion Registry.

Meet Miah

Miah is a beautiful, 15-year-old soul in need of a forever family. She is the kind of person who has never met a stranger. Miah is caring and giving. She is an eclectic girl who can hold her own when she needs to, but she is also outgoing and fun. She knows what she wants out of life. Her experience with the ROTC drives her passion to join the U.S. Army. She wants to become a social worker after her military service is complete so she can help others like her. Miah is thankful for her caseworker and others in her life who have shown compassion for her.

Miah is available for adoption through Forever Family. You can contact them here.

Forever Family is a nonprofit based in Florida. Their purpose is to place children and teens with loving families. The organization raises awareness and dispels myths about older children in foster care. Forever Family walks families through every step of the adoption process. They have facilitated hundreds of adoptions, new foster family sign-ups, and volunteers. Forever Family works with major broadcast television networks in Florida and North Carolina to “engage and motivate” the public to get involved. Over $30 million worth of media time has been donated to the cause.

Forever Family was founded by Gia Tutalo-Mote. Her time spent as a volunteer at an emergency shelter inspired her. The experience stayed with her. Her passion for kids in foster care has led to exponential growth for the organization.

A Tearjerking Reunion of Mother and Daughter

It was a heartwarming reunion in a village in Lulelamulla, Dodangoda. With the help of experts, Ria Sloan found her birth mother, Sumithra, and the rest of her family. She had always feared she had not been wanted, but the day proved quite the opposite indeed.

Ria Sloan, 27, grew up in Scotland always having known that she was adopted from Sri Lanka at 3 weeks old. She had a photo of her biological mother, her birth certificate, and adoption paperwork that said her mother wanted no contact. As a child, she was pretty content with her family and didn’t think much about her adoption, but as an adult, she allowed her mind to wander about the land she came from and the family that hadn’t wanted her. She feared the worst case scenario with her family, but she desperately wanted to find the truth.

Many adoptions had taken place from Sri Lanka during the time that Sloan was placed, and it was difficult to know if all the documents were legal or if the information listed was accurate. Sloan said, “It’s only recently I’ve felt like I’m a bit stuck in between these two countries, and what seems like two very different identities. It’s like feeling you don’t properly belong anywhere. It doesn’t necessary really upset me, but it’s there. I always wonder what my life would be like in Sri Lanka.”

So she packed a bag and left for Sri Lanka with her girlfriend, Cat. They enlisted the help of some local experts to find her birth family. When they arrived at her birth mothers home, she was met with sincere hugs and excitement. She met four aunts and uncles, eight cousins, a half-sister, a niece, and a grandfather. It was so much more than she could have asked for. The family had all known of her and wondered what had happened to her over the years.

She learned her birth mother had been abandoned by her boyfriend and had no way to take care of a baby. She felt she had no choice other than adoption. She cried for several months afterward. Knowing the truth, Sloan feels differently about everything. She says, “Although Scotland and Sri Lanka are thousands of miles apart, I don’t feel stuck in between. I feel very firmly rooted in both places.”

Your first step in your search and reunion journey is to register in Adoption.com’s Reunion Registry.

How Can eHarmony Help with Waiting Children?

Wouldn’t it be amazing if there was a dating-style service for families in the adoption world? Well look no further than Family-Match. According to their website, The Selfless Love Foundation and Adoption-Share are pleased to bring groundbreaking technology to Florida families free of charge. Family-Match, a data-driven technology with a compatibility assessment designed by the former lead researchers with eHarmony, seeks to decrease the time it takes for an adoption placement and match children to families where they will flourish. Participating families with approved home studies will get an unprecedented opportunity to be identified by child welfare workers across Florida who will begin using Family-Match to connect children with compatible families in Summer of 2018.

Thea Ramirez, a former social worker, started revolutionizing the way families come together years ago in the private adoption sector with Adoption-Share. The data-driven compatibility has been proven to reduce the wait time for prospective adoptive parents from an average of 18 months to as few as six months. Her next move brought these valuable tools to the public realm with Family-Match in Kentucky and Tennessee.

Ashley Brown, founder of Selfless Love Foundation, knew how much joy could be brought back home in the Sunshine State. Florida currently has about 800 children in foster care. The nonprofit, Selfless Love Foundation brought Family-Match to Florida agencies for free.

“There are 20 circuits and 17 lead agencies we’re working with. Training for agency staff should be completed by the end of August. We now have more than 400 families ready (to take a child), says Dr. Elizabeth Wynter, executive director of Family-Match.

Florida families started creating profiles in April. Children in foster care started being added in May. Families First Network was the first adoption agency to get a match, and so far there have been 11 matches and three child placements. This is exciting news for the rest of the state. The success of Family-Match is not only spreading hope, it’s bringing children home.