Boy Finds His Birth Mother Through Facebook... Alexander Dorf, a sixteen year old boy from Tenefly, New Jersey had never seen his mother. He was standing on his front porch as he read the message of a lifetime - one he’d been waiting and hoping for all his life.
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The message was from a Floridian by the name of Terri Barber, and it said, “Hi, I was just wondering if your parents’ names are Jamie & Jeff?”
Alex recognized all three names instantly. Yes, those were the adopted parents he knew and loved, and that third name? That was the name he’d been searching for on the internet for years to no avail. It was the name of his birth mother.
Jamie & Jeff Dorf, Alex’ adopted parents were not surprised. Alex’ birth mother had reached out to them too, to ensure it was okay for her to contact her long-lost son. They had okayed the communication in advance.
This whole thing had been made possible by a website that hadn’t existed less than a decade ago—Facebook.com. Alex’ birth mother had managed to find him on Facebook (and not vice-versa), something that’s becoming increasingly popular for birth parents in recent years. In fact, many birth parents are beginning to contact their long-lost children at as early an age as 13. It’s simply becoming the new trend.
It used to be difficult for people to re-establish contact after so many years, and with so little information (some go off of little more than a first name, state, and possibly an occupation). Today, however, it’s often the kids who make first contact with a birth parent.
With their increasingly abundant knowledge of the internet at every earlier ages, kids are becoming their own private investigators, tracking birth parents down from around the globe and initiating contact with them. They often form lasting online relationships with their parents that may last a lifetime.
In some cases, kids are even able to play video games on the Wii and XBox with their birth parents and siblings over the internet, cultivating a new breed of long-distance relationship. Technology is changing the game, and in these cases, bringing people together is just the beginning.
Not everyone wishes to meet their birth parents, but for Alex, that sixteen year old boy from Tenefly, New Jersey, it was a dream come true.