The new family reconnection series "Find My Family" brings more happy tears to the ABC schedule. The show helps people reconnect with long-lost loved ones with the help of hosts Tim Green and Lisa Joyner and a team of investigators.
ABC is no stranger to bringing tears of joy to its viewers, but they have really reached a new level of touching moments with this show. From the very beginning viewers will feel connected to the people who are searching for those they've never met or lost a long time ago. The stories pull at your heart strings, and it is nearly impossible to fight back the tears.
The holiday season was a perfect time to premiere this show, and I think ABC has secured a winner.
Premiere recap
The first family showcased on the new series was the Steinpas family. Sandy and Scott met in high school and have been married 27 years. They have raised three children but have always thought about their fourth child, the child they didn't raise.
The couple got pregnant when Sandy was only 16 years old, and they felt they were not capable of taking care of their daughter. They were told she was going to a good family, but they would never be able to find her. Sandy fell in to tears telling the story of the day they gave their daughter up for adoption. Sandy has been praying to find her since she and Scott were married, but she waited until her daughter was at least 18 years old, as to not disrupt the life she had built with another family.
I'm sure it took weeks, if not months, or work to locate this woman, but the show made it all seem so easy. After lots of searching and record checking, the "Find My Family" team located the Steinpas daughter, who was originally named Tanya, living only eight miles from Sandy and Scott. Her name was now Jennifer, and she was raising a five-year-old son.
Jennifer was more than willing to talk about her adoption and the little that she did know about her birth parents. She said she had thought about looking for her birth parents before, but she didn't want to hurt the parents that raised her. Jennifer was ecstatic to learn she had sisters and a brother, and she was shocked to learn they lived so close. She also appeared touched by the letter that Sandy had written to her.
The next step for both sides was to meet. The meeting took place at the show's Family Tree, and it was extremely emotional. It was such a beautiful moment to see these parents reconnect with a daughter they had to give up decades before. Everyone, including myself, was crying when they Sandy and Jennifer finally hugged. Sandy and Scott's other children finally joined the group and presented Jennifer with letters they had written to their new sisters. Sandy and Scott had also written letters to Jennifer, and Scott read his while at the tree.
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