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UTAH COUNTY — Shaun Farley was a week old when he was adopted in 1982.
“I’ve got wonderful parents. I could ask absolutely for nothing more from them,” he said.
But there were questions only someone else could answer.
“Who do I look like? Why did you put me up (for adoption)?” Farley said.
He said he’s often thought about searching for his birth parents, and this past Father’s Day he made a public plea on Facebook.
Farley posted a picture of himself holding a green poster board that reads: “HELP ME FIND MY BIRTH PARENTS!!! My name is Shaun Farley. I was born in the winter of 1982 at Logan Regional Hospital in Utah. My birth name was Justin. I was placed through LDS Social Services.”
Farley said within 24 hours, 872 people shared his post. In less than a week, the number has reached nearly 4,000.
He said the support has been overwhelming but he has not yet received any information about his birth parents.
Because his adoption was sealed, Farley knows little about the woman who gave him up. Adoption papers say she was 19 years old.
“She was going to college and working at a fast-food restaurant and studying business,” Farley said.
His biological father was 19, as well, and studying law.
Farley also has a letter his birth mother wrote to the adoptive parents. “In the letter it states, ‘I’ll never come looking for you but if you want to come looking for me, I’ll be there,’” Farley said.
While he doesn’t know the woman’s name or how to find her, her letter did explain her decision to give him up.
“She wanted me to have a mom and dad in the same house, and she wanted to give me every opportunity she could. And at the time, she couldn’t do it,” Farley said.
Now married with a son, Farley said his birth mother's sacrifice was a gift — especially for his parents who tried for 10 years to have a child.
“Probably the biggest thing is my dad has always wanted to meet her, shake her hand and say, ‘Thanks,’’’ he said.