For all its occasional aspects, sometimes social media can wow us with its abilities to affect massive life changes — of which we are reminded as Facebook reunites a family separated by an adoption, two plus decades and what used to be a lengthy hassle to find someone.

In this case where Facebook reunited a family, a determined aunt sought to locate the biological niece her brother’s girlfriend had given up for adoption nearly 30 years ago.  However, the estranged aunt and niece didn’t have to go far on the social network to find one another — they were already friends.

It was four years ago when Abbey Donohoe and Paula O’Brien met at a party, and the pair became Facebook friends. Time passed, and last week, O’Brien decided to put out a plea on Facebook to see if she could begin the process of finding the young woman who was a baby when she was adopted by her family.

Writing on Facebook, O’Brien said:

    "On Sept. 19, 1982, my very first niece was born and given up for adoption. I know it wasn’t an easy decision for my brother to make, but it was the right one for that baby girl. Hope you can take a moment to read this & be thankful for the selfless sacrifice of adoption. I know many families whose hearts are full because of it.

Later, Paula would tell a news station after Facebook reunited the family:

    "It was really hard for my entire family to deal with. We experienced that loss and we never forgot about that baby. We never gave up her. We observed her birthday every year. It never left our minds.

Meanwhile, Paula’s pal Abbey indeed had been adopted herself, so the post resonated — but Donohoe had never sought her birth family, feeling that her adopted one had been full of love. But something caught her eye about her friend’s post, and she replied:

    " “You sure it wasn’t 1983? Because that’s my birthday & I was adopted … crazy!”

Paula shot back:

    "OMG — it might have been! I was a kid. I just sent you a message. They said the baby looked like me!

Crazy indeed — it turned out that O’Brien had mistyped the year, and Abbey Donohoe was not just a friend, but her brother’s biological daughter.

After the family reunion, O’Brien commented that Facebook reuniting her family was ”truly a miracle,” and said they “just feel like our prayers have been answered.”

Posted By Kim LaCapria

Source: socialnewsdaily.com