Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Add Upworthy to your Google News feed.
Google News Button

Choosing adoption is never easy. It’s a decision filled with love, sacrifice, and hope for a better future. When Schauna Austin gave birth to her son at 20 years old, she made the difficult choice to place him for adoption. But thanks to the openness of his adoptive parents, she remained an important part of his life, proving that family isn't just about biology—it’s about love.

A mother’s love, even from afar

After giving birth, Austin named her son Riley and treasured every moment she had with him before saying goodbye. She held him close for 72 hours straight, making sure to soak up every precious second.


"I didn't sleep for three days."

— Schauna Austin

After those fleeting days, Riley was adopted by another family, who named him Steven. In most closed adoptions, birth parents and adoptive parents remain strangers to one another, their identities kept confidential. But Steven’s adoptive family had a different idea.

A family with room for love

 YouTube | CBS Evening News

Steven’s adoptive mother, Jennifer Schoebinger, saw no reason to keep Austin out of their son’s life. She and her husband, Chris Schoebinger, believed that love only grows when shared.

"You can't have too many people loving you, right?"

— Jennifer Schoebinger

From the very beginning, the Schoebingers made sure Austin remained connected. They sent her stacks of photos and created bound books every year documenting Steven’s life—the big moments and the little ones. They wanted Austin to know her son’s story so that if and when the time came, they could pick up right where they left off.

A lifelong bond

When Steven turned 7 years old, his parents felt the time was right for him to meet his birth mother. From that moment on, he and Austin formed a special bond.

Austin became more than just a biological connection—she became someone he made memories with. She even taught him how to fish, a tradition they continue to this day.

"I was blessed beyond words."

— Schauna Austin

Steven, now 26 years old, looks back on his unique upbringing with gratitude.

"I kind of got the best of both worlds, for sure," he said.

Now married and a father himself, Steven paid tribute to the woman who gave him life in a deeply meaningful way: He named his own child Riley, the name Austin had originally given him at birth.

Chris Schoebinger reflected on what this journey had taught their family.

"Sometimes we create barriers where barriers don't need to be."

— Chris Schoebinger

Another remarkable reunion

Stories like Austin’s show the power of love and openness in adoption, and she’s not alone. Deanna Shrodes, an ordained minister who was adopted as a baby, searched for her biological father for decades.

At 27 years old, she reconnected with her birth mother, Sally King, and they built a close relationship. But when King passed away in 2019, she left one secret unspoken—Shrodes' father’s identity.

Determined to find him, Shrodes took matters into her own hands. She knew only two things: He was Greek, and he was from Richmond, Virginia. She joined multiple DNA registries and even created a Facebook group dedicated to tracking him down.

Finally, in May of this year, a DNA match led her to a cousin she never knew. That cousin gave her the answer she had been searching for: Her father was Gus Nicholas, a 92-year-old man living in a nursing home.

When Shrodes finally met him, they shared an instant connection. Now, she visits him regularly, making up for lost time and ensuring he feels loved in his final years.

The power of love in adoption

Adoption stories are often filled with loss, but they can also be filled with love. Schauna Austin’s journey proves that family isn’t defined by legal papers—it's defined by the love we choose to share. Thanks to the Schoebingers’ open hearts, Austin never had to wonder if her son was loved. She knew.

And Steven? He got to grow up surrounded by that love, from both the family who raised him and the mother who gave him life.

His story, like Shrodes’, reminds us that sometimes, the best families aren’t just the ones we’re born into—they're the ones who make room for love in all its forms.

More For You

A cup full of chocolate kisses.

Chocolates are sweet, but this promposal might be sweeter.

Teen's braille promposal to blind girlfriend resurfaces, and it's still melting hearts

Prom season is often a time for creativity and big gestures, but one teen’s unique idea has raised the bar entirely. A promposal (prom + proposal) involving braille, chocolate, and a whole lot of thoughtfulness is making waves on social media years after it first happened. The story of Jake Schwartz and Paige Drury isn’t just a tale of young love—it’s a beautiful example of how a little extra effort can make someone feel truly valued.

In the video, Schwartz asks Drury to read a message he created using Hershey’s Kisses. As her fingers glide over the candies, she begins to spell it out, "Wait, that's a 'P'...'R'...'O'..." before realizing what it says and gasping with joy. She then happily accepts the invitation to prom, a moment that was met with applause from friends who were present.

Keep ReadingShow less
Mom surprises blind son with a secret braille message he can feel
Generative photo by Canva

Mom surprises blind son with a secret braille message he can feel

When Karissa Livia sat down for her latest manicure, she wasn’t just thinking about a bold new design—she was planning a heartfelt surprise for her 15-year-old son, Shay. Shay, who is visually impaired, had previously enjoyed hearing his mom describe her nail colors. But this time, Karissa wanted to take it a step further.

The result? A manicure featuring a message in braille, spelled out with tiny rhinestones that Shay could feel. And the message? “Love U, Shay.”

Keep ReadingShow less

Sisters thought they were saying goodbye—then their dad made a surprising announcement

Saying goodbye to family is never easy, especially when it involves a father watching his daughters leave home to chase their dreams. One emotional TikTok video perfectly captured this bittersweet moment, showing a dad who couldn’t bear to simply wave goodbye—so he found a beautiful way to be part of the journey instead.

Brittney Swanzer (@brittneyswanzer) shared a touching video of the moment she and her sister prepared to leave Ohio for California. As they stood ready to say their goodbyes, their father stepped outside, already overcome with emotion. But what happened next took everyone by surprise.

Keep ReadingShow less
A man holds his head while sitting on a sofa.

Representative Image: Millennials have one common thought about how they were raised.

Millennials are finally saying what they wish their parents had said to them

Every generation seems to approach parenting with a unique set of tools—and blind spots. For many Millennials, that gap appears in one specific area: emotional support. When Reddit user u/Soup_stew_supremacy asked r/Millennials, “Do any of you struggle to get emotional support from your parents?”—the answers flooded in fast, and they struck a nerve.

In her post, she shared:

Keep ReadingShow less

His old boss wouldn’t stop texting him. So he charged them for every reply.

Leaving a job doesn’t always mean leaving it behind. One Redditor, u/antiworkthrowaway234, knew that all too well. After managing critical IT infrastructure for a company, they figured their exit wouldn’t stop the calls from coworkers needing help.

So they got ahead of it. “I was the only one who knew about tons of our IT infrastructure, and I anticipated that I was going to get tons of texts and phone calls from former coworkers,” they shared.

Keep ReadingShow less