“Christmas Miracle”: only child reunites with biological family 75 years after being adopted

American Dixon Handshaw met more than 50 relatives this Christmas. Until now, he thought he was an only child — but he actually has two siblings.

“I received a phone call and I didn’t recognize the number. I almost never answer the phone if I don’t know the number. But, for some reason, I answered,” he says. Gary Romighas .

On the other side, someone said, ‘Hello, my name is Dixon. Am I talking to Gary Romig?” Yes, Roming replied. ‘I am your brother‘ said the voice on the phone. “I was like ‘what?’“, says Gary.

That’s how their lives changed forever.

Dixon Handshaw then sent a photograph to Gary, who forwarded it to all his brothers. It’s Dixon himself who tells it. “The brothers said: ‘It’s the father!’“.

It wasn’t. Gary kept the brothers in suspense for two and a half hours until he finally said, ‘He’s your new brother‘”, says the 75-year-old American.

Born in Buffalo, New York, in 1949, Dixon was adopted at 3 months and had a happy childhood, he says, adding that his parents were always honest about his adoption. Now he lives in North Carolina.

“I always wanted to meet them, but New York State sealed the certificates pre-adoption birth date, and it was impossible to find out“. Until now.

In 2020, original birth certificates were opened to adopted New Yorkers after approval of a

Dixon received his original birth certificate in August of this year. It was then that he learned the name of his biological father: Robert “Bud” Romig.

Don’t know why he was given up for adoptionbut knows that his father was a student, who graduated from the physics department at Cornell University. Her mother was the department secretary, she says.

“The first thing I did when I found out my dad’s name was Google it, and his obituary came up,” Dixon said. “Not only was I shocked to see that I was exactly like himas I knew immediately that I had all these brothers and a sister.” In total, he has 6 siblings.

This Christmas, he then decided to meet his biological family. Surprise: there are more than 50 people, among cousins, uncles, nephews and brothers.

Now, they became friends. “Let’s go camping together this summer“, says Handshaw, adding that he and his brothers already have a group of chat. “We go there every day.”

“I have never felt so much unconditional love how I felt about my new family,” says Dixon. “I always wanted to have brothers and now I have them. This is my Christmas miracle“.