A 75-year-old North Carolina man who was adopted as an infant recently met over 50 biological family members he did not know existed in a heartwarming Christmas miracle.
Dixon Handshaw, who was adopted at three months old from Buffalo, New York, in 1949, told 13WHAM that while his upbringing as an only child was good, he always longed to find out if he had any brothers or sisters.
“All my life, I dreamed about having siblings somewhere,” he said at the Rochester, New York, airport last Friday, as local news cameras captured his first meeting with his newfound siblings:
“This is my Christmas miracle,” Handshaw said.
On Tuesday, he described to CNN how he found out he had four half-brothers, one half-sister, and many more relatives.
“I always wanted to find them, but New York State sealed the pre-adoption birth certificates, and it was impossible to find out,” Handshaw said.
A 2019 state law changed that, allowing him to finally obtain his original birth certificate in August of this year.
He finally learned the name of his biological father — Robert “Bud” Romig — who had already died. But, he had three adopted children and five biological children.
“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.”
Handshaw said that Romig was a Cornell University graduate student in the physics department, and his biological mother was the department’s secretary.
While his mom did not have any more children, he found out that his dad ended up adopting the three children of a woman he eventually settled down with, and the pair went on to have five more of their own.
Thinking he would be well-received by one of his dad’s adopted children, Handshaw contacted one of his stepbrothers, Gary Romig.
“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 recalled.
“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,” Gary told 13WHAM. “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?’”
When Gary received a photo of Handshaw, he immediately knew he was his stepfather’s biological son.
“I sent him a picture, and [Gary] sent the picture out to all his siblings,” Handshaw explained. “They said, ‘It’s dad!’”
Gary then told his five siblings, “That’s your new brother.”
As he came into Rochester just before Christmas, Handshaw was able to meet more than 50 relatives.
“I’ve never met anybody who shares my DNA,” he said. “It was wonderful. I have never felt such an outpouring of unconditional love as I had from my new family.”
The reunited family is now planning a camping trip for summer 2025, and they enjoy communicating with each other in a big group chat.
“We’re on it every day,” Handshaw said.
“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,” the 75-year-old told CNN. “I thought one or two would be great. I got six!”