Holly Shearer met the boy she’d given up for adoption just over twenty years after handing over her newborn to his adoptive parents. 20 years might be a lifetime depending on one’s perspective. It could also happen in the blink of an eye. It’s both at times. Holly was 15 years old and 6 months pregnant when she started looking for a family for the baby she was about to have.
She found Angela and Bryan Hulleberg with the help of an adoption agency. Holly was drawn to Angela in particular, and she knew that Angela and Bryan would be able to offer her kid everything she couldn’t. “He deserved a mother and a father, a home with a backyard playset for him to play on, a dog, all of those things I couldn’t provide him,” Holly said.
Angela and Bryan gave Benjamin all of these things and more. But, as grateful as they were for Holly’s gift, they were concerned for her. They knew she loved the kid she’d carried and given up for adoption “with her whole heart and soul.” Benjamin, who was born in November 2021, began looking for his birth mother when he was 18 years old.
Since the adoption was a closed one, he knew only that her name was Holly. Likewise, Holly had started trying to find the son she’d given up for adoption; she knew The Hullebergs by first names only. While Benjamin had been unsuccessful, Holly had been able to identify Benjamin through a Google search and had been observing him on social media for a couple of years.
When Benjamin turned 20, Holly finally reached out, and Benjamin was thrilled. He had wanted to meet her and talk to her and, above all, thank her for her decision to place him up for adoption. Benjamin recognized that her sacrifice ensured him a wonderful life.Benjamin, Angela, and Holly met for dinner one evening after that initial message.
As the three chatted, Benjamin shared that he volunteers in the NICU unit at a hospital. Holly works in the heart center at a local hospital, too. And turns out it is the same one as the son she’d given up for adoption! Benjamin and his birth mom had been working right near one another for a while.
Holly, having noticed in Benjamin’s social media posts that he was a very caring person, may not have been at all surprised that he would do such a worthy activity. However, that it would be so close was very unexpected! Ironically, Holly and Benjamin’s family have lived only 5 miles apart in their Utah homes for most of these years.
Birth mom Holly and Angela have tremendous love and appreciation and respect for one another, and the bonds now made will last forever!