Stephen Strawn, 35, had been trying to look for his biological mother for as long he could remember.

“I’ve looked for years,” Stephen told ABC. “It’s been dead ends.”

But then the laws in Pennsylvania changed in 2007 and adoptees can now request for their original birth certificates with the names of their biological parents.

Stephen’s wife found out about this law change first and quickly told Stephen about it.

Stephen has always wanted to know and quickly sent a request for his original birth certificate. He received it a month after in the mail and he finally learned the name of his biological mother, Stacey Faix.

He searched online for his birth mom and found her on Facebook.

“I sent her a message and said, ‘Hey, I have a really weird question,'” Stephen said. “I said, ‘Did you put a baby boy up for adoption in 1982?’ She said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘I think you may be my biological mom.'”

And Stacey told him she’s been looking for him all this time, too.

She was only 15 when she had Stephen and because she was so young, she had to give him up for adoption. A year after the adoption, she tried to look for Stephen.

But with sealed records, it was impossible to learn anything about him, let alone find him. She never gave up hope, though, that she would ever find her son.

And it’s a good thing she didn’t because he found her instead.

And when they connected online, they couldn’t stop talking to each other and getting to know each other. Stephen learned three particular things about her.

One, she was based in Pittsburgh. Two, she was a member of Team Red, White, and Blue (RWB), an organization that supports veterans. And three, she was running the Pittsburgh Half Marathon in support of the veterans.

Well, guess which veteran is also a member of Team RWB? That’s right, Stephen does.

Stephen, an Air Force veteran, was also a member of Team Red, White, and Blue Ohio chapter and he was going to use the same marathon to surprise his mom.

With the help of his wife, his biological sisters, and the president of the Pittsburgh Team RWB chapter, he was finally going to meet his birth mom in the flesh.

They decided to surprise Stacey before the race started.

Stephen had to hide behind a portable toilet to avoid being seen. He waited for his wife to give him the all-clear.

When the coast was clear, Stephen’s wife gave him the signal so he can make his appearance. Stephen had already arranged to have his sister hand a card to Stacey before the race.

“It’s been 13,075 days since you last saw me. I didn’t want you to wait one more day,” the card read.

When Stacey looked up after reading the card, Stephen was standing in front of her. She rushed towards him to give him a hug.

“I got really choked up and teared up,” Stephen told The Epoch Times. “As we were holding and hugging, she said, ‘I never got to hold you’ and that kind of just broke my heart. It was a prearranged adoption and it was not recommended for her to hold me.”

Stacey and Stephen couldn’t stop crying.

“We must have hugged about 10 different times,” Strawn said. “[We’ll be] done hugging, look at each other and then hug again. It just felt really surreal that it was finally happening because it happened so fast.”

When they finally let go of each other, they decided to run the marathon together.

“The race was great,” Stephen said. “We finished in 2 hours in 50 mins but it was never about speed.”

And now, they’re in each other’s lives. In fact, his sister just graduated college and he and his wife are flying to Pittsburgh to celebrate with them.

“It’s something you see in the movies,” Stephen said. “Everything was perfect.”

Would you like to witness their emotional reunion? Watch the video below.

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Source: TheSocialVoiceProject