Mom reunites through Facebook with son she gave up for adoption – CNN.com
TORONTO, Canada (AP) — When Lori Haas joined Facebook, she didn’t know much about the popular social networking site except that most of her friends were on it. Little did she know how life-changing the online tool would be.
After spending a year searching for the son she gave up for adoption 20 years ago in phone books, adoption registries and on the Internet to no avail, a friend suggested searching for him on Facebook.
Lori Hass said she recognized the son she gave up for adoption on a Facebook profile photograph.
“When my friend told me about the search tool and I typed in my son’s name, Travis Sheppard, I couldn’t believe it when I saw a photo of him,” she said.
The photo was a thumbnail shot of Sheppard wearing a hat and sunglasses and he was with a friend. Haas felt sure he was her son, but since it was difficult to clearly make out the picture, she was hesitant to send him a message. Then a week later, Sheppard changed his profile photo to a lone shot of himself.
“He was still wearing a hat, but I knew, I just knew that was him. My heart was racing when I saw the photo,” said the 37-year-old nurse from Vancouver. “We have the same long face and nose! And it was listed that he was in Vancouver. I couldn’t believe it. I thought, ‘Oh my god, he’s been living here too?!”‘
The 20-year-old Sheppard had moved to Vancouver only four months earlier in the hopes of locating his birth mother. He knew she had given him up for adoption in the suburb of Richmond when she was 17.
Mom reunites through Facebook with son she gave up for adoption – CNN.com
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