Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Add Upworthy to your Google News feed.
Google News Button

After years of hoping to become a dad, Dr. James C. Wittig found his family in the most unexpected way.

Dr. James C. Wittig always dreamed of being a father, but as a dedicated physician, he had never married or had children. Then, in 2015, a Facebook post changed his life forever. The post was about a teenage boy, Ronnie, who had tragically lost both his parents and needed a home. Moved by the young boy’s story, Wittig reached out—and in doing so, unknowingly stepped into a remarkable twist of fate.


At the time, Wittig was already an accomplished orthopedic oncologist and the Chairman of the Department of Orthopedics at Morristown Medical Center. He was no stranger to helping people, but he never imagined just how deeply connected he already was to the child he was about to raise.

A long-lost connection

Before meeting Ronnie, Wittig had spent years using a particular photograph in his medical lectures. The image showed two women who had both battled osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. One of the women in the photo had undergone limb-sparing surgery, a procedure Wittig was passionate about advocating for in his field. He had treated that woman as a fellow, later becoming her doctor when his mentor retired.

The second woman in the image had a different path—her leg had been amputated due to her cancer. While Wittig never met or treated her, their lives would become forever intertwined.

When he first saw the Facebook post about Ronnie, Wittig didn't yet know who his mother was. He only knew that the boy had lost both parents and needed a home. Touched by the story, he reached out to his former patient—the very same woman from his lecture photo whose leg had been saved. She had shared the post, desperately hoping to find someone willing to take in her late friend’s son.

A decision that changed everything

Wittig wasted no time. In February 2015, he drove from his home near Morristown, New Jersey, to northern Virginia to meet Ronnie. After spending time together, the boy wanted to meet Wittig’s family. Only hours after their second visit, Ronnie made his decision—he wanted to live with Wittig.

Within two weeks, the legal guardianship was transferred, and Ronnie moved in. It wasn’t until months later that Wittig made a stunning discovery. The mother of the boy he had just taken in was the second woman from his medical lectures—the patient he had never met but whose story he had unknowingly carried with him for years.

“I see this whole thing as a synchronicity,” Wittig said, believing that fate had played a role in bringing them together.

More than just a piece of paper

Now an adult, Ronnie has attended Seton Hall Prep and completed welding school, building a future for himself with Wittig by his side. While the doctor has not yet legally adopted him, he believes the process will be finalized in the coming years. But to him, the paperwork isn’t what defines their bond.

Being a father has been “so fulfilling,” Wittig shared. “Ronnie has taught me kindness, compassion, empathy, love, joy, and happiness.”

"It’s one of the biggest miracles in my life and I am so proud to call you my son!"

— Dr. James C. Wittig

Wittig hopes that their story will inspire other single men and women who want to become parents. He believes that love, not traditional family structures, is what makes a home.

For Ronnie, the loss of his parents was an unimaginable tragedy. But through a twist of fate, he found a new family in a man who was unknowingly connected to his mother all along.

More For You

sad, sadness, emotional
a man holds his head while sitting on a sofa

Millennials discuss the impact of their parents lack of emotional support

Every generation has different parenting styles that have impacted their children's mental health and emotional intelligence. And when Reddit user u/Soup_stew_supremacy posed the question to r/Millennials: "Do any of you struggle to get emotional support from your parents?"–the response was robust.

"I'm not sure if it's because they weren't supported in some way, or just a generational thing, but myself, my husband and some of our friends and family members often lack emotional support from their parents," she shared. "My parents are in no way bad people, but they get really uncomfortable with feelings of any kind, and they pretty much just want to talk with you about surface-level stuff. If you tell them something that's been hard for you, they will say 'Oh, that sucks. So anyway...' I couldn't imagine trying to look to them for emotional or mental support, it would just be embarrassing and uncomfortable for us both."

Keep ReadingShow less
Mom, mom and son, working mom
woman in gray sweater carrying baby in blue and white shirt
Photo by Gabe Pierce on Unsplash

Toddler's sweet messages for working mom on doorbell cam melts hearts

Doorbell cameras have captured so many iconic moments. From a UPS driver grateful for snacks left out at a home she was delivering at, to a new mom receiving heartfelt parenting advice from her mom during a visit, to an Amazon driver doing a solid for a woman looking to conceal her purchases from her husband--they do so much more than serve as a security tool.

And for first-time and working mom Hannah Bell, her doorbell camera has helped her create beautiful memories with her toddler, Landon, each morning she is away from home at the office. Bell shared with Newsweek, "I started consistently leaving for work before my son woke up in the morning, so we didn't get to see each other most mornings."

Keep ReadingShow less
Chris Hemsworth's response to his daughter's big question deserves applause

Chris explains what happened.

Image from ellentube/YouTube video.

Chris Hemsworth's response to his daughter's big question deserves applause

Chris Hemsworth might be best known for swinging a hammer as the Norse god of thunder in “Thor: Ragnarok,” but when it comes to being a dad, he’s just as legendary. The 35-year-old actor and father-of-three had a standout parenting moment that proves he’s more than just a superhero on screen.

It started with a curious question from his daughter

In a 2015 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Hemsworth shared a story that starts with his daughter, 4-year-old India, having a very specific question about anatomy—and ends with a beautiful message about identity and acceptance.

Keep ReadingShow less
Gay teen asks friend's mom permission to attend girls-only sleepover. She handled it beautifully.
Reddit

Gay teen asks friend's mom permission to attend girls-only sleepover. She handled it beautifully.

For many young people, sleepovers have long been cherished occasions to bond with close friends - sharing late-night chats, snacking on treats, and revealing deep dark secrets. It's within these intimate gatherings that unbreakable connections and lifelong friendships are often forged. When Mason Brian Barclay's new best friend, Houston Shelton, invited him to a sleepover at her house, he was eager to take part in this rite of passage. However, Houston's parents had instituted a strict no-opposite-sex rule, meaning only girls were allowed.

Undaunted by the gender-based restriction, Barclay decided to directly appeal to Houston's mother, making a thoughtful case for why she should allow him to participate. "Hey, Mrs. Shelton! This is Mason Brian Barclay, I am one of Houston's new best friends. If she had people over on Friday, would I, a very homosexual male, be able to take part in the sleepover?" he asked her in a text message. "I think the common meaning behind only allowing the same sex to share sleepovers is due to the typical interest in the opposite sex when in this case, I do not like the opposite sex."

Keep ReadingShow less