Show type I wanted to know who'dpro-duce- d me and what qualities I’d inherited from them" But by the time Ben contacted the agency that had handled his adoption die trail back to his birth parents had long gone cold Even though they lived in separate states Ben and Kari grew up linked— by genetics or coincidence or an unseen hand From an early age both were budding artists and animal lovers At parents bofora thoir different summer iplit Thoy had each ran a camps put up Ban for “nature hut" collectadoption more than six yoara ing snakes birds and oariior Right insects At home Ban 5 grow up happily in a Ben kept a monitor excitement rising B&n felt the hair on his neck standing up Trn Jewish” he said “Omigod!” Erin screamed startling the other diners “You guys even look alike This can't be happening” But it was "Meeting Kari makes me believe in destiny" her newfound brother says To be absolutely sure Ben sought out a DNA testing firm called GeneTrce Two weeks m brother and sister “But we knew right away” Ben says Kari called their mother with die hews and 11a Last August Ben and Kari went to dinner with a mutual friend named Erin During the meal conversation turned to Kari's long search for her lost brother She explained how hard it was to obtain information because adoption records in Florida were sealed Ben said he knew what she meant since he’d been adopted in Florida him- self and had had little luck tracking down his birth family “My brother was older than you” Kari said “He’d be 34 now” 34” Ben said “My brother is Jewish” Kari said “I’m canyouT" Then she did just that If jioiiYi hi jtopptod ddM amkMqp far poor birth pwonto braparontOyCylBibidacMdyoiiVaglwnqpfafadBpdoa B mum fca imaaflila l Lala imua latiaW if rtmta i 00 mN lam—liaa om 4d turn putii not Ain4 m both lonond JCiridboomradbofam alfcaa loia In cl Hmc UBH B mmA cm BBC SCC i mmti CHW HilMI1OI1RIIVVIIKpiWVN9iDMIB0NriMPIIINr I toil Hiwfifi I lot of shodf opnfoni on tow tatamot cs c sww sc SCClWi lorpo fao to gnyonot toy taking tho fatiowfng toniplo ttopts i pjuum sm wuam ama n aoos pace ? pBQMf UIOIVV OHO VMi caught the first flight west from her home in New York City “At the airport our mom held her " hands out They woe shaking” says Kari "Then finally she touched Ben’s face" “She told me she had begged the nurses to let her hold me but they 'wouldn’t allow it” Ben says “She said ’Now I can filially hold my baby’ “I’m not really an emotional guy” Ben adds “but after that I kind of lost it Even strangers in the airport who saw what was happening started crying” Now that they’ve found eatfi other Ben apd Kari are making up for lost time They have seen - dayit seen& they discover Oni Oc 9W nothing but improve since they dis-- 1 covered each other Last fall Ben got a new job and Kari began work on a degree in biology But most of all Ben and Kari feel that life has become rich- er since that August evening “I always felt there was a vacant spot inside me” Ben says “And Kari fills that It’s like she is my identical twin — separated by six years” “I searched ami believed and never stopped waiting for him” Kari says happily “I'm living proof that there’s a force behind everything I found my II brother” an- - AHACIAlfcllMIOlilBlabouttiiaporionyoii'ra I L LJj lor Im wo nv oBopoon ooounwL nmnp wov Aa turn uAmB loowng a record of your aaardi on Wamaana you an bt contacted If aomaona alio la searching far you & WO IMpOM whom towy worn bom and tow nonwoftow agency towtlwfr JLJ iLa wo gsopnii BLik 9W9 orei prano onm ovov Bonn vnijt toilngtowy can mmembor about tow adoption pmcota dwadoptionoc- - hoo opon adoption taCDfdta PMhy your fandf nwmbaf can ba at aimpfa at contacting dwagancy that bandad to mAa b ouufwpn ao owor pcoeob now iwviGBBno un now o op s lieve guided them together Tm a pretty skeptical person" Ben says “But meeting Kari makes me be- lieve in destiny” Whether you call it destiny or dumb luck Kari and Ben’s lives have done each other almost every day since last August and they talk for hours tracing the trajecto- ties of each other’s life Every llFAMllTHELAWintha dntawhy moMywMout ypicby fwuflfc JfyMrtt tootannfctad to fcm Mi fom flfat to potyou itaftodb wcb lat- er the company delivered the news that they were certainly loving family in lizard named “AspaNorth Carolina Kari raised a ragus" pet duck she called “Broccoli Then she also got a monitor lizard When it came time to chart their lives' course bath Ben and Kari applied to the same small animation program at the California Institute of the Arts And both instead chose to attend art schools in the Northeast Finally both moved to San Francisco And last year with the remarkable symmetry their lives have exhibited Ben and" Kari found themselves living only 2 miles apart when they both hit hard times Ben was laid off from his dot-cojob Kari lost her stepfather “We had worked hard on our relationship and he had become my best friend" Kari says “I came back after the funeral and felt a huge void in my life I thought ‘You can’t just find a new family member other similarity-power- ful proof in their case of the triumph of nature over nurture Bath dyed their hair rainbow hues in high school Both now drive 1970s muscle cars Ben owns motorcycles Kari has an Italian scooterAnd both are equally amazed by die forces they be-- — tftyftw adoption rffytVandvfhfftfluitlfrftfOfito aronawtiabto to odoptboo until towybocomoadutta- - SL fclidmHIwMi that International Soundex Reunion Registry Tho BRR is tho world's largos! fret database far raMuss tying to locate each other VWtwwiiKiirrnet on thoWob For Hnks to more adoption p raaou&ot including a guido to Halting a warch viiit ' wwwparadoCBfn 60 tho Web atkp-by4ta- IHNNKtoAMOnl s"" |