MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - It’s a special celebration for a Colorado man who is spending his first Father’s Day with his biological father in Miami Beach, bringing his 30-year search to a joyous end.
Kevin Gigiano walked into his father’s house to take the next step in a relationship that started less than a year ago.
“It’s strange to have Father’s Day with my real father, right?” he said as he sat next to his father, Albert Elbaz..
Gigiano said he always knew he was adopted, but he didn’t actively start searching for his biological parents until after his adopted parents died.
“It was a real dead end until I eventually did a DNA test and was able to find my mother’s side of the family,” he said.
Gigiano said he first located his biological mother, who passed away in 2005.
“By finding her, I was able to, though a process of elimination, basically find my father’s side of the family, and eventually I found my father,” he said.
But at first, Gigiano didn’t know Elbaz was his father. He thought they were half-brothers.
They were communicating a few times a month until Gigiano finally figured it out.
Elbaz described the moment Gigiano made the revelation.
“So I was sitting with my son Erin, my other son, and so we’re sitting at the table, and when Kevin told me that we’re — that more than likely I’m his dad if I don’t have a twin brother, and I said, ‘OK,’ and that’s when I — it’s a lot of information to digest,” he said.
But Elbaz is taking the discovery in stride.
“What’s interesting is that I know my two other sons — they’re my biological boys, I’m their only living parent, they mean everything in my life — but when I look at Kevin, and certain things about him, he’s more like me,” he said. “He’s uniquely — we’re connected.”
Elbaz, who is also a musician, wrote a song about this exact kind of encounter — seven years ago.
“I wrote a song that exactly describes what would have happened, but then at the end of the song, I said it was impossible,” he said, “and then seven years later, I get this call from Kevin, and so it was like, ‘Holy smokes.'”
The newfound father and son plan to spend Father’s Day together along with Elbaz’s girlfriend and sons and Gigiano’s wife and children.
“My sons are considerably younger and you know, it’s that father-son relationship. Here, it’s like I’m almost looking at myself,” said Elbaz.
Gigiano said he used to feel like an alien in the world, but after learning about his roots, he doesn’t feel so alone.
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