The reunion of multiple birth family members after 48 years includes, back, left, Janet Holland and back, right, Judy Deer, both adopted; and, back, center, Christopher Hesch, and, front, from left, Nancy and Bob Hesch. SUBMITTED PHOTO

ZELIENOPLE — Sometimes the best Christmas presents come late.

That was the case for Bob and Nancy Hesch, who placed twin daughters up for adoption in October 1971, a couple of weeks after Shadyside Hospital helped deliver them. Pennsylvania state law at the time prevented prospective adoptive parents from entering a hospital to adopt children, so the event occurred outside the building.

No one in the Hesches’ world, except the couple themselves, knew about that decision for 48 years.

Then on Jan. 11, 2019, the couple got a Christmas card in their mailbox. A note inside the card, which their now-adult birth daughter Judy Deer had written, informed them that the birth certificates of her and her sister, Janet Holland, matched those of the Hesches.

The Hesches shared the news, which only they and their birth daughters had known, with their other son, Christopher. Ultimately, they decided to meet at Berkeley Lutheran Church in Pittsburgh, where Holland serves as a bookkeeper.

“It was like, kids on Christmas,” Nancy said. “It really was … Just the electricity in the air was very palpable … Then it was just a big giant hug of people, hugging and crying.”

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