In 1978, Patrick Giblin's biological mother and father released him for adoption. Patrick was promptly adopted by a loving couple. However, when he was 11 years old, his adoptive mother succumbed to her battle with lupus. Years later, when Patrick had his own son, he became determined to know who his biological parents were. He returned to the adoption agency he was left at and as it turned out, his birth mother had gone back there, too. When Patrick was around 18 years old, she left her contact information just in case he was looking. Within 20 minutes, Patrick was on the phone with Stephanie Ripple, the mother he had never met. But this isn't even the real story!
Stephanie was able to track down Patrick's birth father, Todd. His birth parents would meet his adoptive dad, and Patrick's new family was made. Then something else happened: Stephanie and Todd had both recently become single. It seemed that there was still the very same spark between them. They had gotten pregnant as teenagers, and with both families being very religious, they forced them to give the baby up. They never really spoke after having to relinquish custody of Patrick. But three decades later, the pair rekindled their love, began dating, and got married.
Patrick is ecstatic to have his entire family back together: his birth parents, adoptive father, and son now have their own very special family unit.
"Sometimes, life comes full circle and gives you back more in return than you ever missed the first time around," Patrick told TODAY. We couldn't agree more.
Please SHARE if you think this beautiful story is stranger than fiction!
