An adopted 75-year-old North Carolina man in the United States, Dixon Handshaw, who grew up believing he was an only child, recently discovered a large family he never knew existed.
Over the holiday weekend, he traveled to Rochester, New York, to meet several of his half-siblings before attending their annual Christmas gathering.
“All my life, I dreamed about having siblings somewhere,” Handshaw shared with CNN affiliate WHAM, which documented the emotional first encounter at the airport. “This is my Christmas miracle.”
On Saturday, Handshaw attended a family reunion with more than 50 relatives, including cousins and their children.
It was an overwhelming yet joyous experience for Handshaw, who had no children of his own and was raised as the only child of his adoptive parents.
“I’ve never met anybody who shares my DNA,” he said. But the instant connection he felt with his newfound relatives was heartwarming. “It was wonderful,” he said. “I have never felt such an outpouring of unconditional love as I had from my new family.”
Born in Buffalo, New York, in 1949, Handshaw was adopted at three months old.
He recalls having a happy childhood with adoptive parents who were transparent about his adoption.
However, New York State laws that sealed pre-adoption birth certificates made tracing his biological roots impossible for decades.
“I always wanted to find them, but New York State sealed the pre-adoption birth certificates, and it was impossible to find out,” Handshaw explained.
This changed in 2020 when New York passed a law unsealing original birth certificates for adoptees. In August this year, Handshaw received his birth certificate, revealing his biological father’s name: Robert “Bud” Romig.
“The first thing I did when I got my father’s name was Google him, and up pops his obituary,” Handshaw said. “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.”
While he remains uncertain about why he was placed for adoption, Handshaw discovered that his father was a graduate student in physics at Cornell University, and his mother was the department secretary.
His biological mother had no other children, but his father went on to have a blended family, adopting three sons from his wife’s previous marriage and having five more children—four boys and a girl.
Handshaw’s first outreach was to Gary Romig, one of his father’s adopted sons, believing their shared experience of adoption might make him understanding.
“I chose Gary as the one that I would call because I knew he was adopted and I was adopted, and so I thought he would be empathetic to my situation,” Handshaw said.
Gary recalled receiving the call while having lunch at work. “I got a phone call and I didn’t recognize the number. I hardly ever answer the phone if I don’t recognize the number. But for some reason, I answered it,” Romig told WHAM. “And he says, ‘Hi, my name is Dixon. Are you Gary Romig?’ I said, ‘I am.’ He goes, ‘I’m your brother,’ and I’m like, ‘What?’”
After Handshaw sent a photo of himself, Gary immediately recognized his stepfather’s face. “I sent him a picture, and (Gary) sent the picture out to all his siblings,” Handshaw said. “They said, ‘It’s dad!’” Gary kept them in suspense for hours before confirming, “That’s your new brother.”
Though Handshaw didn’t spend Christmas Day with his new family, he’s planning future time with them.
“We’re going to go camping together this summer,” he said, adding that he and his siblings now have a daily group chat. “We’re on it every day,” Handshaw noted.
Reflecting on this life-changing discovery, Handshaw expressed gratitude for both his adoptive and biological families.
“I had great adoptive parents. They were wonderful. I love them and I miss them, but I always wanted siblings, and now I have them,” he said. “I thought one or two would be great. I got six!”
