Gary Klahr of Wilton, Connecticut and Steven Barbin of nearby
Trumbull met decades ago and became close friends—so close that Klahr was
best man at Barbin's wedding and once signed a photograph: "You are truly
my brother." Those words turned out to be much more accurate than Gary
Klahr ever expected. A search of adoption records three years ago revealed that
Barbin, 49, and Klahr, 52, really are brothers.
Klahr never knew that he was adopted because the couple that raised
him never told him. In fact, he was the youngest of thirteen children, nine
of whom were given up for adoption.
This is a fascinating story with several unusual twists. Three
years ago, another sibling contacted state officials seeking information from
his adoption file for medical reasons. That man also discovered he was one of
nine in a family of 13 whose parents had given them up for adoption. The others
included Gary Klahr and Steven Barbin, along with a girl that Klahr briefly
dated in the 1970s. Klahr only learned recently that his former date was actually
his sister. "If there was any forgiving to do, we did it pretty quickly,"
Klahr said. "Thank God we didn't get married."
More information on this fascinating story can be found at: www.telegram.com/news/inside/
Dick Eastman Online
