Image credits: stacey & stephen/youtube
Teen Mom Reunites With Son She Placed for Adoption 35 Years Earlier
Key Takeaways
- Stacey Faix became pregnant at 15 and made the difficult decision to place her baby for adoption.
- Her son, Stephen Strawn, spent years searching for his biological mother.
- A 2017 law allowing adoptees to access original birth records helped him finally identify her.
- After 35 years, he surprised her at the Pittsburgh Half Marathon and the emotional reunion was captured on video.
When Stacey Faix was just 15 years old, she found herself facing a decision no teenager is truly prepared to make. She had given birth to a baby boy, but at the time she felt she was not ready to raise a child. After a painful process, she placed her son for adoption.
It was one of the hardest things she had ever done. Stacey later shared that after giving birth, she was not even encouraged to hold her baby before he was taken away. The experience stayed with her for decades.
That baby grew up to become Stephen Strawn.
Stephen was raised by his adoptive family in Ohio and later served in the U.S. military. As he got older, he became curious about his biological roots and started searching for the woman who gave birth to him.
The search was not easy.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/oNsafCOr5Bg?si=1fb1wfsckyvSPCxG
For years he hit one dead end after another. At one point, his birth records were even lost in a flood, which made it nearly impossible to trace his origins.
Everything changed in 2017 when Pennsylvania passed a law allowing adoptees to request their original birth certificates. That document finally gave Stephen the missing piece he needed.
When he saw the name on the certificate, he began searching online and eventually found someone named Stacey Faix on Facebook.
He decided to send a message.
His first words were simple but life changing.
“Hey, I have a really weird question. Did you put a baby boy up for adoption in 1982?”
She replied yes.
Stephen wrote back, “I think you may be my biological mom.”
Image credits: stacey & stephen/youtube
The two began talking, but Stephen had something bigger planned. Instead of simply meeting quietly, he decided to surprise his mother in a way neither of them would ever forget.
He discovered that Stacey was preparing to run the Pittsburgh Half Marathon with Team Red, White and Blue, a veterans support organization that he was also part of.
With the help of the group and some family members, he organized a surprise reunion at the race.
On the day of the marathon, Stacey was handed a letter. As she read it, she saw a line that made her pause.
It said it had been 13,075 days since she last saw her son.
Confused and emotional, she looked around.
That was when she saw Stephen standing behind her.
The moment she realized who he was, she ran toward him and wrapped him in a hug she had waited 35 years for. People nearby started crying as they watched the emotional reunion unfold.
Image credits: stacey & stephen/youtube
For Stacey, the moment meant finally getting to hold the son she never had the chance to hold as a baby.
After the surprise, the two did something symbolic together. They ran the marathon side by side.
Later they spent the day talking, meeting family members, and catching up on decades of missed time. There were a lot of tears, laughter, and what Stephen later called plenty of “ugly crying.”
Their reunion did not erase the years they spent apart. But it did give them something they had both hoped for.
A new beginning.
It’s stories like these that bring people together and remind us of what truly matters. Small moments of care, empathy, and love can leave a lasting impact – not just on those involved, but on everyone who hears them.Find more meaningful, feel-good stories on Simply Wholesome and stay connected with moments that uplift and inspire.
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