FORT WORTH, Texas — George Hays was born on Aug. 18, 1970 in Tarrant County, but he never got to see his then 16-year-old mother because he was put up for adoption.
That mother was Rhonda Duffin, who said her parents told her she was too young to raise a baby and had her place the red-headed boy for adoption.
The two tried off-and-on for years to find each other, and nothing ever panned out.
But thanks to an ancestry program, that reunion is set to happen Saturday in Tarrant County even in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of Wednesday, Tarrant County had reported more than 76,000 COVID-19 cases, including more than 700 deaths.
A few months ago, Hays' girlfriend for his birthday gave him an AncestryDNA kit. He spit in a container and sent it off for results to see if he could find any biological family members.
The results came back indicating he had a cousin, Haley Duffin, in Tarrant County. Unbeknownst to Hays, Haley Duffin was his sister.
"I called her, and it wasn't a complete surprise because our mother had told her that she had had a baby at an early age and had to give it up for adoption," Hays said.
Haley Duffin contacted her mother's brother, Rick Duffin of Mansfield, who contacted Hays.
Rick Duffin and Hays then contacted each other, with Hays' Mansfield uncle giving Hays a quick family history, including that 67-year-old Rhonda Duffin was very ill and in an Arlington nursing home.
Hays was going to wait to see his mother before talking to her, but his uncle convinced him to call first because there was a chance she would soon be placed in hospice care.
So Hays called his mother and talked to her for the first time last month.
"It was awesome," Hays said in an interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, referring to his first conversation with his mother. "We relived everything. She was very emotional."
Rhonda Duffin said that giving up her baby for adoption broke her heart.
"I had this little red-haired baby and I had to give him up," she said in a telephone interview with the Star-Telegram. "I later tried to find him, but I didn't know his name."
Each year, about 135,000 children are adopted in the United States, according to the Adoption Network. Of those, like George Hays, most are boys.
Rhonda Duffin and her son have talked on the phone several times in the past few weeks.
"It's been real easy to talk to her," Hays said. "She's even said, 'I love you'."
The telephone conversations are leading up to the reunion Saturday, a get-together that almost didn't happen because of COVID-19.
Rick Duffin said officials at Arlington Oakwood Nursing & Rehabilitation had told family members that Rhonda Duffin would not be allowed to leave and that only one person would be able to visit her at a time in the nursing home. The visit would only last an hour.
"I told them she's about to see her son for the first time in 50 years, and all she gets is an hour," Rick Duffin said. "I couldn't believe it."
Rick Duffin had hoped to pick up his sister at about 10 a.m. Saturday, drive her to his Mansfield home and a small group would gather complete with masks and safe distancing.
Nursing officials didn't budge until last week, when they told the Duffin family that Rhonda Duffin would be allowed to leave for a short time, he said.
"I was surprised they changed their minds," Rick Duffin said. "But I'm glad because it means so much to my sister."
Rick Duffin said his family will be taking all the COVID-19 precautions and his sister will be placed in quarantine when she returns Saturday afternoon.
The Duffin family will keep their distance, but his sister will get a chance to meet her son and her grandson, 16-year-old Harvey Hays.
"I'm so glad," said Rhonda Duffin, who suffered a stroke a few years ago and has liver failure. "I have a picture book ready for him to look at."
George Hays, who is a truck driver, was raised in Galveston and makes his home in Hitchcock, about 15 miles north of Galveston.
He's divorced with a 26-year-old son and 16-year-old twins, a boy and girl.
George Hays said he's not bitter about being put up for adoption. Both of his adopted parents died a few years ago.
"I've had a great life, great parents," George Hays said. "I also can't wait to see my mom."
