They have since been reunited.
A North Carolina mom wasn’t expecting to find her biological son through a Google search, so when his picture popped up, she almost couldn’t believe it.
Amanda Borland had been searching for now-19-year-old Jibril Hardy since his 18th birthday. Her previous searches had failed because she was unknowingly misspelling his name.
“I was in shock," Borland told InsideEdition.com. "I showed my husband my phone and I just started crying."
At 17 years old, Borland personally handed over baby Jibril to his adoptive parents, Gene and Kerry Hardy, which was unusual for the adoption agency, but Borland expressed that the gesture was important to her.
The family agreed to have an open adoption.
Each year Borland sent birthday cards to Jibril's Texas home and received updated pictures of him.
“We kept a keepsake box for him. Every card she sent was saved and even the outfit he was given to us in was kept," his mother Gene told InsideEdition.com.
A few years ago, however, the family lost contact due to a move and Borland stopped receiving updates, but she never forgot about Jibril.
“This year I tried spelling it Jibril instead of ‘Jabril’ and put Texas. I also put baseball because the last picture I received from the family, he was in baseball uniform, and he came up,” Borland said.
Borland saw that his picture was linked to a Twitter account and she didn’t have Twitter, but her youngest daughter offered to reach out.
"I was just talking about finding them the week before they contacted me," Jibril told InsideEdition.com. “I found out I was adopted at 17. The only thing I knew about them were my parent's first names. I didn't know where they were."
Jibril said he was shocked to receive the message on March 4, but the family exchanged contact information and FaceTimed right away.
Jibril, who already has a 15-year-old sister, Jalia, found out that he had four more siblings.
“I didn't think it would happen through social media,” Jibril added
Less than two weeks later on March 14, after tons of catching up, the teen headed to North Carolina to meet his biological family.
“I was nervous. The moment was overwhelming. My little brother had the biggest reaction. I can't even explain the feeling when me and my parents hugged for the first time,” Jibril said.
Some of the emotional reunion was captured on video.
“It’s been amazing. We picked him up from the airport. It’s not decision I ever wanted to do but I am glad we have a second chance,” Borland said, fighting back tears. “His adoptive parents have been amazing. I can’t stop smiling. We are one big family.”
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