02:24 AM CDT on Sunday, July 16, 2006

By GARY REAVES / WFAA-TV

WFAA-TV

Georgia Duffy always prayed she would see her son Dan.

"I'll never see your smiling face or dry your little tears."

This is the poem Georgia Duffy wrote for the baby who's not in the family album.

She never forgot the newborn she placed for adoption but every Sunday, she prayed for him.

"My request was God would let me meet my son," she said.

That son is now 31.

Dan Smith was never sure he wanted to look for his birth family.

"What if they don't want to know me? The fear of rejection loomed large in my view," he said.

Smith's friend, Susan Wirth, has been searching unsuccessfully for her birth mother her entire life, using Google Adoption and other web search engines.

"I've known Dan Smith since he was around 19 years old," she says.

With Smith's permission, she searched for his birth mother.

"In three hours we had his entire family tree, his siblings, his mother's divorce," she said.

Again with his permission, she called Duffy and started asking odd questions.

"Was she possibly hospitalized and I listed Dan's birthday. She said, 'Oh yes, I had a baby, I've loved him ever since.'"

Within two hours, Dan was in her living room.

"My heart just started pounding - it was a dream come true," said Duffy.

Experts urge searchers to use caution and get counseling.

"It's a life altering event. It affects your relationship with your adoptive family, your relationship with your significant others, it's important to have support during this time," said one counselor.

Raised an only child, Dan met his brother for the first time.

He's got two sisters too, and best of all, two moms.

"This is how God wanted it to be," said Duffy.