We often talk about the harms of social media – digital bullying, negative news being consistently shared, the vicious cycle of jealousy we receive and the comparisons we make to others, the fact that these online platforms take us away from our “real” lives… I think we can all agree social media has its fair share of cons.
But what we often neglect to talk about is how social media can benefit our lives as well. Karen Harris from Penryn, Cornwall, UK, is one person who believes in the advantages of these digital platforms. After all, the reason she was able to get in touch with her biological father, Trevor Sinden, for the first time was because she found him listed on Facebook’s “Suggested Friends!”
Thanks to the social media website, the two were able to meet up in person, and they instantly felt like they’d known each other forever.
But for five-and-a-half decades, the two were essentially strangers to one another. Karen was raised by another family when she was just an infant as she was born to a teenage couple who made the decision to put her up for adoption. Having a child out of wedlock in the early 1960s was “wasn’t the done thing in those days,” Karen shared.
Throughout most of her adult life, the only thing she knew about her biological father was his name, which wasn’t even released to her by a social worker until she was 18. But like many children who have been adopted, Karen was interested in learning more about her birth dad. She already got in touch with her birth mother a decade later, but surprisingly, she had difficulty finding more about her dad through her online research.
That’s when she one day mistakenly found her father on Facebook. There, she was able to get in touch with him. The father and daughter, who lived 350 miles apart, messaged each other for seven weeks before deciding to meet in person on January 17, 2020. They ended up meeting in Lyme Regis, Dorset, which was halfway from Karen’s residence in Cornwall and Trevor’s home in Kent.
Upon meeting each other, the first thing they could do was give each other one big, long hug. Awe!
For the next few days, the relatives would go on walks together as they talked about life (there was definitely a lot to talk about) and look for fossils together on Jurassic Coast.
Not only did Karen get to meet her father for the first time since birth, but she was also able to meet two of her cousins, who she ended up making great memories with.
Karen loves her adopted family. However, she admits that there’s nothing like meeting your biological relatives.
“Looking at the family that brought you up, you’re really grateful that they brought you up but you don’t have that sense of belonging,” Karen shared. “Now I’ve found completion. I’ve found connection and completion and I’m cherishing it.”
Finding her father was like finding the missing pieces to a difficult puzzle. All pieces are now in place!
“Now there is someone else like me, loving me for me and I cherish every moment. I’m incredibly blessed to find him now,” Karen said.
Trevor, too, is incredibly happy to have his daughter back into his life, along with four grandchildren who he had never known of until now.
I don’t know about you, but my heart is throbbing!
