When Barbara Osterman was 18 years old, she unexpectedly became pregnant. Unable to care for a child financially at the time, she decided to give her baby boy up for adoption.
"It wasn't that I didn't want him," she told Milwaukee's TMJ4. "When I gave him up for adoption, I wanted him to go to a good home and to be loved and taken care of because I was so young and unsettled in my life."
She still often wondered about her son and the man he grew up to be. Although Barbara later married, she never had any other children, according to a local news report.
As it turns out, Glen Denlinger also wondered about his birth mother, just like the teenage girl who longed to find hers.
The married father of two, who was adopted by loving parents, searched tirelessly to find Barbara. But, strict state laws prevented him from doing so. Eventually, these laws eased up and Glen was able to find his mother through the Department of Children and Families. It was then up to Barbara to agree to reconnect with her child, which she did.
After 42 years, the moment they both had been waiting for finally came: They were able to meet face-to-face at the Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee.
Watch the heartwarming reunion below and please SHARE if it made you smile!
