Man Given Up for Adoption Officiates Birth Parents’ Wedding 36 Years Later

A man given up for adoption 36 years ago recently officiated the wedding of his birth parents–who reunited after he contacted them four years ago.

The New York Times reports that Martin Schmidt first contacted his birth mother, Michele Newman, back in 2014. When the pair began forming an “emotional bond,” Newman decided to contact Schmidt’s birth father Dave Lindgren–whom hadn’t spoken to since her pregnancy.

“There was never any real bitterness between us,” Newman recalls. “Dave was a good man with a good heart, and we were both doing things we shouldn’t have.”

The divorcees began texting and talking over the phone, and Newman eventually moved back to Wisconsin to be with her former high school sweetheart. “For those of you who haven’t met me, I’m Martin Schmidt. I’m their son,” Schmidt told guests at his parents’ wedding last month. “And related or not, this is the group of people we call family.”