From as young an age as I can remember, I knew my parents adopted me. They made no secret about it throughout my childhood and I grew up not thinking too much about it.

I was placed in an orphanage when I was six months old and adopted when I was ten months old in August 1954. I could not have had better parents. Their love and dedication to my upbringing showed why they were excellent candidates for adoption. Two years later, they adopted a 9-day old baby girl, and we welcomed my sister Wendy into the family.

I once asked my Mom about the adoption procedure. Did you have a choice of babies? How did it work? She related a story to me that I still cherish. The orphanage had a selection of children available, with two rows of cribs in a large room. Most of the babies were lying in their respective beds, but as I was was already ten months old, I was standing in the corner of my crib. Mom and Dad slowly walked by the children, and when they arrived at my crib, I stood there and reached out to Dad with my arms straight up towards him. Dad picked me up, and I immediately wrapped my arms around his neck and wouldn't let go. After a few minutes of this, they knew their choice was made. After completing the paperwork, the lady from the orphanage took a photo of Mom and Dad getting ready to leave, and sure enough, I still had my arms wrapped around Dad's neck. That is still one of my favourite photos.

As an adoptee, I consider myself extremely fortunate for my family life, which included close relationships with my grandparents, aunts and uncles, and many cousins. Growing up, I never entertained thoughts of searching for my biological parents. My parents were the ones who dedicated their lives to raising me, and I felt that searching for my biological roots would be an insult to them.

When I was in my thirties, I asked my mother if they had any documents in their possession relating to my adoption. I kindly asked her that if they did, please destroy them as I had no desire to discover them once they were no longer around.

Sadly, Mom and Dad both passed away in 2013, Dad on Mar 30 and Mom on July 19. While going through their belongings, I was happy to see that Mom must have carried out my request as I found no documents relating to my adoption.

Things changed two years later when my daughter convinced me to take a DNA test to establish some health background. She felt it could be beneficial to my children and grandchildren. I took her advice, and not only did I gain a health background, but I also discovered two half-sisters whose father was also my biological father.

And so the curiosity began.

The initial results of my 23andMe DNA test revolved around health factors. It's quite impressive what a DNA test can reveal. Thankfully there were no warnings about any diseases that I might be susceptible to other than a notice that I have a slightly higher than average chance of developing Celiac Disease. I can at least live with that.

Two weeks later, my relative list arrived. There must have been over 800 people on the list, organized by the strength of the relationship. Most were distant cousins, but to my surprise, a half-sister named Lesley was at the top of the list.

After emailing back and forth, Lesley and I put the evidence together and realized that we shared the same biological father. Lesley is two years younger than me and has a sister who is two years older than me. So the discovery netted two half-sisters!

Her father (it still seems odd to refer to him as "our" father), James Sutherland, was a Vancouver lawyer where their family grew up. He died in 1992, and in Lesley's opinion, he never knew that he had fathered a son.

I mentioned to her that I was born in Vancouver. We immediately began trying to establish some connection between our father and my biological mother, whose identity was entirely unknown at the time.

Jude and I met Lesley and her husband Brian for coffee, and she shared copies of documents from WWII when our father was a pilot in the Air Force. She said there were many similarities between myself and our father.

Although I haven't met Lesley's sister Anne yet, we keep in touch via email. Lesley lives in Kamloops, and Anne lives in Victoria. I also have two new cousins, Linda and Janice, who are my father's brother's daughters.

We began to put together clues about who my biological mother could be but kept hitting dead ends. The only clue I had was that my surname at birth was Hubert. I received a copy of my Baptismal Certificate from the church where I was married in 1975. I was baptized after birth at a church in North Vancouver, and shortly after my adoption, my parents obtained a revised Baptismal Certificate from the church with my new name on it. However, there was a handwritten note on the form showing my birth name. Unfortunately, Lesley didn't recognize the name Hubert from their early days in Vancouver.

By now, my curiosity was peaked, and I decided to apply for copies of my birth records to find my biological mother's identity. Years earlier, I would never have guessed I would be doing this one day.

In 1996 the Province of British Columbia changed their Freedom of Information regulations on adoptions. Before this time, the only way the birth parent or an adoptee could contact each other was for both people to give written permission. In 1996 the rules flipped around, and now the information was freely available unless a person paid a fee and filed a "Disclosure Veto", which in effect sealed off all information on their behalf. I remember receiving a letter from the government in 1996 advising me of the change, as I was listed as an adoptee in their records. I disregarded the message and certainly wasn't going to pay money to keep my records sealed. At 43 years of age at the time, I didn't think anyone would be contacting me, and I wasn't even sure if my biological parents were still alive.

When my birth records arrived in November 2015, I discovered that the records had been sealed under a Disclosure Veto when the laws changed in 1996. I was surprised at this because in 1996, my mother would have been about 64 years old. She and her husband must have wanted their identities to remain hidden for the rest of their days.

At this time, I already knew my biological father's identity, and I was shocked to see my biological mother's husband listed as the father on my birth record. I can only guess he wasn't aware of the facts when I was born.

Note that in the following records, my adoption date is shown as September 1955 instead of August 1954. This is because the adoptive parents must wait one year from the time of the initial adoption before the adoption is filed permanently in the courts.

Even though the government considerably redacted my birth records, there was vital information to be gained.

First of all, why would George Hubert put his name on the birth record? I can only assume he didn't know the father's true identity when I was born.

I was the fourth child in the household, and my biological mother was twenty-one years of age. She was of German descent, according to the birth record. I have since discovered her maiden name was Zimmerman.

After following up with the Provincial Government, I learned I could access the unredacted form after both parents listed on the document had been deceased for two years. I will probably do this but I preferred not to wait until she was deceased for two years to determine my biological mother's identity.

I went back to my 23andMe results and noticed many distant relatives with the surnames Hubert and Zimmerman. After doing some genetic research, I discovered the Zimmerman's had originated in the Germany/Russia area, which matched my birth record information.

Maybe it was time for another DNA test from a different company.

I decided to do a second DNA test, this time in 2017 through Ancestry, to see if additional relatives might appear. When my results arrived, I noticed a lot of the same names that were on my 23andMe list, along with many extra people. I checked back regularly in case any new relatives were added to the list.

On June 13 2018 I logged on to my Ancestry account's DNA page, and to my surprise, there was a bolded entry at the top of the list with a notice saying, "THIS PERSON IS EITHER YOUR PARENT OR YOUR CHILD" The name on the file was "IRENE H, MANAGED BY MELANIE HUBERT".

It seems that Irene and a couple of her daughters (my half-sisters) had taken the Ancestry DNA test. Melanie and her sister were listed as my half-siblings.

The DNA centimorgan amounts of the mother and daughters verified that Irene was my mother, and the two daughters were my half-sisters.

I sent an email to Melanie through Ancestry and explained the situation to her. She not-so-politely replied that she "guarantees I am not related to their family". I chuckled at her claim, knowing full well the DNA evidence is overwhelming, not to mention my Baptismal Certificate with the Hubert name reference.

I replied to her, saying it is not my intention to cause any problems in their family. I had no desire to even meet anyone in the family, including my mother. My goal was to simply convey a message to her saying the son she gave up for adoption in 1954 had a wonderful life. I thought a mother would like to know this fact before her days are over.

I have respectfully stayed away from contacting any of the Hubert family. However, it still leaves me with the mystery of how Irene Hubert got together with James Sutherland nine months before I was born. How did they even know each other?

Time for more detective work.

I started to search the names James Sutherland, Irene Hubert, Irene Zimmerman, and George Hubert from the early 1950's in the Vancouver Sun and The Province newspapers.

I discovered quite a few articles concerning George Hubert and in particular a court case charging him with poaching and attempted murder. It seems George and his uncle were drinking heavily one day while doing some illegal fishing in their boats. When fisheries officers approached, a scuffle ensued and ended with someone taking a few shots at the fisheries' vessel as it tried to get away.

There were quite a few articles but still nothing that connected my biological parents James Sutherland and Irene (Zimmerman) Hubert.

The following article in the Vancouver Sun from September 19, 1951 finally solved the mystery of the connection between my biological father, James Sutherland and my birth mother, Irene Hubert.

JAMES SUTHERLAND REPRESENTED GEORGE HUBERT IN HIS LEGAL PROCEEDINGS!

He must have done an excellent job as Hubert was fined for poaching but was found not guilty of the attempted murder charge. The judge said it was too dark and there were too many boats to establish beyond a doubt who took the shots at the fisheries boat.

But the legal case didn't interest me other than to establish the link to the Sutherland/Hubert connection. However it doesn't explain how Jim and Irene's relationship continued to approximately January 1 1953, nine months before I was born.

George and Irene went on to have a total of six more children after me. As far as me being the only child put up for adoption, and not until I was six months old, I can only assume Irene's secret was somehow revealed and caused serious problems between her and George.

I'm at least happy to be able to put the identity search for my biological parents to rest. I still think Irene would like to know her missing son had a good life, but that's a decision that only her daughter Melanie can make.

When I started this quest to determine my biological parents' identities, I never thought it would lead me through such an exciting story. It does, however, answer a lot of questions.

• I can understand why George and Irene placed a Disclosure Veto on my birth records. I'm sure George didn't discover the facts until some time after I was born, or he wouldn't have placed his name on my birth record.
• For the rest of their family, either this has been a very well-kept secret between George & Irene for over sixty-seven years, or the family knows about it and would like to keep this skeleton buried in their closet.
• If it is a secret between George and Irene, it will not be revealed to the family until they make the decision to investigate. George has passed away and Irene has sadly developed Alzheimers, so her secret will likely go with her to her grave.

Two years after Irene passes, I will be able to obtain an unredacted copy of my birth records. I'll make that decision when the time comes.

In the meantime, I've compiled an extensive family tree for the Zimmerman side of my family. I've emailed quite a few people related to the family and gained a substantial amount of family information. Some of them even know Irene from their younger years.

It has been an adventure, but I'm glad it's over. It's been a pleasure to discover sisters Lesley & Anne, and cousins Linda & Janice. I appreciate the friendship they've shown and the help they've provided in my search.

Irene sadly passed away on June 16, 2022. On Monday, June 17, 2024 I will request unredacted copies of my birth records. I'm not expecting any surprises however it will be nice to finally put everything in place.