CENTRAL POINT, Ore. — A brother and sister separated for 29 years met face-to-face for the first time Tuesday.
Annemarie Singer was 15-year-old when she learned her mother’s secret.
“I found a letter she wrote to the adoption agency, so it was written in a way like ‘hey, give this to him when you tell him,” Singer said.
Annemarie says her family grew up poor. Her mother was single and working two jobs to provide for her and her two brothers, so she couldn’t afford another child.
“It said something like ‘I didn’t want to put more responsibility on my daughter cause she was already watching the other younger sibling,” she said.
Back then, Annemarie says she couldn’t understand why her mother would give up her fourth child and youngest son.
“And so for many years, I felt like that wasn’t fair to me… like I should have had a choice in that,” she said.
After her two brothers passed away, Annemarie decided to do some searching of her own.
“My whole life I went through… he is missing out of my family,” she said.
Two years ago, Annemarie posted on a Facebook group aimed at reconnecting loved ones with adopted family members.
All she had was a photo his adopted mother gave her family along with his first name.
But she wasn’t about to give up hope.
“A whole year later or I guess 8 months later, someone said ‘oh your case is closed,” she said.
Then… a miracle.
“I was just like in shock,” said Christian Silvas, Annemarie Singer’s adopted brother.
Christian Silvas had been living with his family in Southern California.
The 29-year-old says it wasn’t Annemarie’s message that was the only surprise, he didn’t know he was adopted.
“Until everything was said and done and then I asked my parents and they’re like yea, you were,” said Silvas.
After weeks of reconnecting through social media, the two decided to finally meet at Annemarie’s home in Central Point.
Annemarie’s mom and Christian’s birth mother wanted to be there too.
“Last time I saw him… he was one month old,” said Dee Miller, Annemarie and Christian’s mother.
Miller says she had been keeping in touch with Christian’s adopted mom all these years.
“I did want a better life for him and through the pictures and stuff that she sent me, I could see I made the right decision,” she said.
Decades later, the two say they’re just trying to make up for lost time.
“I’m just anxious to fast forward to family and good times and get past the awkwardness,” said Annemarie.
But if there’s one thing they both agree on, they say there’s no better time to start then today.
“You’re here, we get to do family stuff. Whatever we do, it’s all good,” said Annemarie.
Christian will be staying with Annemarie for the rest of the week. They plan to go through old family photos and swap stories.
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.