Moment long-lost brothers meet after 60 years – and one attends the other’s wedding
Biological brothers shared a moment they had been waiting nearly six decades for – meeting for the first time. Martin Hauser, who was adopted, found his long-lost little brother’s name while searching for years for his birth parents.
Hauser, adopted as a baby in Guilford County, North Carolina, in 1962, went on to have children of his own but wanted to know his past. He looked at various ancestry websites, Facebook groups and even did a DNA test but got nothing of help. He then discovered a state statute that allows some organizations to provide limited information about family history to adoptees.
Beginning in 2019, Hauser, who lives in Arizona, worked with the Children’s Home Society to find his biological parents. They found Hauser’s death certificate with included his name: Joseph B Shaw Sr.
‘On the bottom, it said next of kin. Joesph B Shaw Jr’, Hauser told WXII 12 on Monday. ‘Within 15 minutes on Facebook, I found him’.
Hauser’s brother was still living in North Carolina – and shocked when he received a message from him. Shaw’s fiancée, Melissa, encouraged him to call Hauser in December 2020. The brothers been talking practically every day.
They finally met in person earlier this month at Piedmont Triad International Airport.
Hauser wore a shirt that with the words, ‘Big Brother Finally!’ He embraced his little brother Shaw, who was taller, and they hugged many times and said they loved each other.
‘I’m ecstatic. I feel at home’, Shaw said. ‘Finally’.
Hauser flew into North Carolina not only to meet Shaw but to attend his wedding. And Hauser and his wife were not the only ones to make the trip – his extended family met their cousins and driving into the state for the special day.
‘It’ll be great to see them all together. Take pictures’, Shaw said. ‘It’s a big family reunion’.
Hauser encouraged other adoptees and people who have lost touch with their families to keep up their hope.
‘I never gave up on finding you’, Hauser told his brother. ‘I’ll never lose him again. Promise!’
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