A California woman who believed her father didn’t want her was unprepared for what she discovered when she searched for him.
Cami Riepe was adopted at 10 weeks old and raised in a loving family, where her adoption was never a secret.
“My mom told me … there was nothing shameful about my story, and I will always be so grateful for them being so open with me,” the 27-year-old told Newsweek.
Still, questions about her birth father would come and go throughout her childhood, but it wasn’t until she became a mother herself that those quiet curiosities turned into an undeniable pursuit for answers.
“I remember holding our newborn daughter looking up at my husband with tears asking, ‘Do you think my biological father ever thinks about me?’” Riepe said. “I thought I had truly put everything about my adoption to bed, but all of these feelings and emotions really didn’t bubble up until after I became a mom myself.”
That realization sparked a two-year search for her biological father. During the early days, Riepe was terrified. “I truly only prepared myself for rejection but had gotten to the point that, good or bad, I needed closure,” she said.
Eventually, Riepe found a man named Tommy Stowe who has a reputation for helping people reconnect with long-lost family members.
Within two days, he found a man who could be her father. Riepe had seen a picture of him that her mother had given her two years ago, but it was outdated, and she had no idea what he looked like now.
“The second Tommy sent me his current photo, I immediately knew it had to be him,” Riepe told Newsweek. “I saw my same blue eyes and absolutely broke down. I just knew it was him.”
She reached out through Facebook and, while waiting for a response, had also reconnected with her birth mom; she would learn the story she had been told growing up wasn’t the full truth.
Riepe learned that her biological parents were stationed in the same place while serving i the military but, by the time her mother was pregnant, they were living on opposite sides of the country.
Her father told her that he drove more than 50 hours to be there when she was born, only to find out that her adoption was already in motion without his knowledge. He even offered to take her in himself.
“Going through my life thinking he didn’t want me and that he didn’t show up was a pain I wouldn’t wish on anyone,” Riepe said. “I was very hurt and grieved that part of my story very deeply, especially through my pregnancy and postpartum after I had my daughter.”
The day after her Facebook message, Riepe and her biological father spoke on the phone for the first time. Six days later, she boarded a plane to meet her father face to face.
Documenting her journey in a reel on Instagram (@mae.day.crochet), the pair are reunited after 28 years.
“We literally just held each other and bawled,” Riepe told Newsweek. “It was the most unreal experience I’ve ever had. The moment we embraced, I knew he truly wanted me.”
For anyone else seeking to find their biological parents, Riepe advised to take care and protect yourself.
“I think we can so often focus on all the negative what-ifs, but there are so many beautiful possibilities, too,” she said. “Finding my [biological] dad and having this new relationship with him has been my dream come true in every way.”
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