00:00 [Music]
00:02 [Filipino Newsreel Narration]
00:19 [Music]
00:22 [Filipino Newsreel Narration]
00:45 [Music]
00:48 [Filipino Newsreel Narration]
01:04 [Music]
01:08 [Filipino Newsreel Narration]
01:13 Welcome to the Philippines and thank you for sharing us your story.
01:16 Thank you.
01:18 You learned some Tagalog words fast.
01:21 I was young.
01:22 We brought back the life of Espen in his pictures.
01:27 What is this picture?
01:28 This is when my adoptive parents came to pick me up.
01:33 Espen was just a year old when he was adopted by a Norwegian couple
01:38 from a children's home in Legaspi City, Albay.
01:43 Why I was chosen, I'm not quite sure.
01:46 Their only demand was that they wished to adopt a baby boy.
01:50 [Filipino Newsreel Narration]
01:57 My family was very loving and caring and super happy to have me to Norway.
02:03 My father in oil industry and service and my mother in government.
02:09 And I also came home to a sister.
02:12 This is the winter in Norway.
02:14 Yes, this is in the mountains which has been a big part of my childhood.
02:18 [Filipino Newsreel Narration]
02:23 What was it like?
02:24 Unfortunately, some bullying, some people pointing at you, looking at you and laughing at you.
02:30 How did you bring that up to your parents?
02:33 I was just asking why.
02:35 [Laughs]
02:36 Why do I look different?
02:38 And they told me that I was originally born in the Philippines.
02:43 [Filipino Newsreel Narration]
02:57 I tried to go to the Asian stores to find something that was Filipino
03:01 so that I could try to get some Philippine food or taste this kind of food also in Norway.
03:06 You don't have any bitterness or any resentment that this is the fate that you were given?
03:12 No, not really because at the time I was thinking, oh, why did I have this start of my life?
03:19 And sometimes people were joking or bullying me with like you came from so poor beginnings.
03:26 But after in life, I've had my sweet revenge because I've used it to thrive
03:32 and to succeed with the things that I've set out to accomplish.
03:36 And it also gave me motivation.
03:38 You get a burning desire to prove them wrong.
03:41 At high school, I finished in my class top three.
03:46 I went to practice football and soccer.
03:48 It was actually in a draft for the national team.
03:52 Why did you turn them down?
03:54 I had some injuries at the draft.
03:56 You could have been the Philippines' Ronaldo or Messi.
03:59 I could, maybe.
04:02 I wish that my biological parents could see me thrive in my sports adventure.
04:10 I understand you're the CEO of your own company and you're into a lot of things.
04:16 I have my own company and I'm very interested in startups and entrepreneurship.
04:21 Despite the success, the questions remained.
04:27 I took initiative to start to investigate and try to find some information.
04:32 I was looking through my adoption papers.
04:35 Until he found out that his biological mother's name is Euphemia.
04:42 Papers said that I was my mother's first child.
04:46 Where do you start?
04:48 How do you look for someone among hundreds of millions of people?
04:52 It felt really hopeless.
04:55 He then approached the agencies that filed his adoption papers.
05:00 Way back, July 15, 2008, the Inter-Country Adoption Board wrote to us requesting to locate the family.
05:08 I sometimes imagine how my life would have been if I would have stayed in the Philippines with my mother.
05:15 But at the same time, I think that her choice not only blessed me with the life I've lived in Norway.
05:23 No bad feeling at all?
05:25 I've let down my anger or my disappointment.
05:30 I tried to remove it from my spirit, from my soul.
05:34 And so I've forgiven her for this and I tried to understand and accept the fact that she gave me away for adoption.
05:44 I don't know what to say.
05:48 But that's amazing.
05:50 It must take some kind of a person to be able to do that and to be able to articulate it like you do.
05:59 So, in the midst of the new year, Espen, from Norway, together with his partner, Anna,
06:07 flew to the Philippines to find his mother named Euphemia.
06:12 I think it has also something with my relationship to my girlfriend
06:17 because we have been discussing and talking about having children ourselves.
06:21 I felt that I needed to have a good answer to my own children.
06:25 Where is dad's country and where is he from?
06:28 I always know about this and he told me very early.
06:34 I always wanted to support him.
06:37 He posted on Facebook the call.
06:41 I'm looking for Euphemia Daria, my mother, born in 1965 or 1966.
06:47 I understand her life was hard and God, I trust to find her.
06:51 And a few days after his post went viral, many people said that they know the mother of Espen.
07:01 And he was found here in Legaspi City, Albay.
07:05 Sir, excuse me.
07:10 Sir, do you know Anna Euphemia?
07:12 Until our team found this woman, Euphemia.
07:21 Euphemia's story, she said that she gave birth to one of her children.
07:29 But her name is not Espen, but Gerard.
07:34 I gave birth to him in August 1988. I gave him a birth for four days.
07:41 Then I gave him to someone who will have a good future.
07:46 If I die, there will be someone to take care of him.
07:49 Even if I gave my child, I cried. I said, this is how a mother feels when her child cries.
07:59 I said, my child, I can't do this. I can't take care of my life.
08:05 Understand, if you have a thought, don't be angry with me.
08:10 One day, she heard that there was a newborn in her child.
08:17 Just a foreigner, I didn't say he was from the US.
08:20 Her last words to Gerard were, "It's already ten years."
08:24 When she was still blessed with a child, Melvin,
08:28 she promised that she would not give up despite the hardships of life.
08:34 However, her mother never gave up on her.
08:40 Until now, I have been praying, "Mama Mary, Father Jesus, help me to see my child one last time."
08:47 I am always in the church, in the confessional, so that our family can be whole.
08:51 I hope I can be with her. I hope she will be my playmate when I was young.
08:59 If we can find her.
09:02 I don't like the decision, but it is necessary because of the hardships of life.
09:12 But there is a detail that the name of the child she gave birth to does not match.
09:18 Gerard is my firstborn.
09:21 The name my parents in Norway gave me was Espen.
09:25 But when looking at the papers, I found that my name was...
09:29 My name was Gerard.
09:36 And last week, Espen went to Albay to see his possible mother in person.
09:44 At that time, Euphemia was in the church.
09:52 What she did not know was that she had been praying to God for three decades.
09:58 On this day, she was heard.
10:01 "Come here!"
10:03 "Excuse me, Mom?"
10:12 [Crying]
10:40 "Hello, my God."
10:42 "You are so beautiful."
10:45 "I am so very sorry because I did not know."
10:53 "It's okay."
10:55 "I was having a hard time in life."
10:58 "Don't worry. Don't think about it. We are here now."
11:01 Euphemia also introduced Espen to his son, Melvin.
11:06 "My brother."
11:10 "I'm your younger brother."
11:14 "Yes, and I'm your big brother."
11:16 "I'm small."
11:19 He is a strong man of God. He is my true son.
11:24 "I thank you, Lord."
11:29 "For this day, I have prayed."
11:35 "I have prayed so many times for you to guide me."
11:39 "When it was so dark, and you shed light upon me."
11:46 "And keep blessing my mother and my brother."
11:50 "And I will do everything which stands in my power to help them as best as I can."
11:56 "Because my life has been good."
12:00 "And I want also to bring abundance and knowledge and clarity."
12:08 "I thought we would never see each other again."
12:11 "But we still see each other because of you, Lord."
12:16 "Thank you so much."
12:18 "This is my mother's wish."
12:21 "That we will see each other again."
12:27 "Bro, you know, I used to be a drunkard, but now I'm going to change."
12:34 "Thank you, Lord."
12:36 Espen introduced his partner, Anna, to his mother and brother.
12:43 "She takes care of me."
12:45 "Thank you very, very much. You've taken care of my son."
12:54 "Melvin, what can you say about what happened?"
12:57 "My mother and I are happy that she saw the old me."
13:01 "I didn't think I would have a sibling."
13:04 "I thought I was the only one."
13:06 "Mother Euphemia, how are you? How is it that you have Espen by your side?"
13:11 "I'm very happy."
13:12 "My prayer has been answered."
13:15 "Did you see his face when you said that?"
13:18 "Excuse me, ma'am."
13:21 "He hugged me."
13:24 "He saw his face in your picture."
13:28 "It's the same."
13:29 "Which one is the same, ma'am?"
13:32 "Eyes, face, and everything."
13:35 "Ma'am, we have a blood relative, right?"
13:39 "Mothers know who their real child is."
13:41 "Did you feel that yourself?"
13:44 "Yes."
13:45 "Ma'am, you have a blood relative?"
13:47 "Yes, I feel like he's my son."
13:49 "He might be chasing you."
13:51 "What can you say about that?"
13:52 "If I have money, I will show my son."
13:59 "What can you say about the witnesses?"
14:02 "Whatever they say, I will do it for the Lord."
14:04 Even though they have no doubt that they are mothers, they still did a DNA test.
14:12 "Just to have a documented proof that it's correct."
14:17 Let's call Mr. Jaime Lazatin for the DNA results.
14:22 And to guide us, because we need to have a chance like this,
14:27 an expert will guide us, the psychologist, Dr. Vicente Panganiban.
14:34 Mr. Lazatin, please hold the DNA results.
14:36 "Yes, ma'am."
14:37 Even though they are positive that they are the mother and son,
14:42 they still need a DNA test.
14:44 "So we can set to rest any doubts."
14:47 "The results that you can see on the screen,
14:49 the result of the DNA test that we did between S-Pen and Euphemia,
14:58 the probability of maternity is...
15:11 99.99%
15:15 "So, I have no more doubts."
15:39 "No questions."
15:41 "No questions."
15:43 "No more questions."
15:45 "Mom, this is your son."
15:50 "Wow, jackpot."
15:53 "Jackpot."
15:54 Dr. Panganiban, in these situations, what advice do you have?
15:59 "First, meet them. Establish their relationship with each other.
16:06 Because they have been separated for a long time,
16:09 of course, there are many questions,
16:11 many things to be pursued in the situation before it starts."
16:15 "Yes, I feel so lucky, so happy to find my mother and my brother.
16:22 And now, we'll be in special relationships after this time.
16:30 I hope we can share many good moments together in the future."
16:36 "I'm not sure it's possible to make up for all the years we didn't spend together.
16:48 What I'm focusing on now is the time which is coming and the years we can have in the future."
16:54 ESPEN has also contacted the National Authority for Child Care or NACC
17:00 for his plan to apply for dual citizenship.
17:04 "For change, I want to use my Filipino name, Gerard Marquez-Tarrea.
17:08 This is the name that I plan to use for all my documents."
17:12 "Adult adoptees who want to search for their birth family
17:18 or see their child-caring facility where they came from,
17:24 are assisted by NACC.
17:26 We also help them to arrange their birth certificate."
17:30 "Any plans now, ESPEN, now that you've met your mom and your brother?"
17:34 "We've had many plans already.
17:37 And maybe also, there will be a time for them to visit Norway."
17:42 ESPEN's plan was different.
17:46 ESPEN believed in his mom.
17:48 He found a new family in a faraway country.
17:52 But he didn't let his heart be filled with sadness.
17:56 "Excuse me, mom?"
17:58 So he felt that he wasn't just given a chance.
18:03 His chance has finally been fulfilled.
18:07 99.999%!
18:11 [Music]
18:17 Thank you so much, Kapuso!
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18:31 [Music]
18:34 [Audience cheering]
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