The story of 49 year old Simon, finding the strength to search for his origins and family

Simon, 49 years old, contacted ISS Germany familie international frankfurt in December 2023 as he was looking for his biological father. 

His biological father, born in Egypt, came as a student to Germany where he met Simon’s mom. After a relationship of a couple of months, they separated. Nevertheless, Simon’s father visited him during his first year but left Germany after his studies when Simon was still a toddler. He then sent Simon postcards for his birthdays and during his early schoolyears.  

Simon’s mother did not speak about his father; it took Simon more than 40 years to find the strength to start the search for his biological father. So he approached ISS Germany familie international frankfurt who accompanied him by providing psychosocial support and counselling and making contacts with the ISS partner in Egypt for cross border social casework.

In the archives of Germany’s Youth Welfare Office, Simon got the full name of his father, as well as his date of birth. Thanks to his own personal searches, he found articles about him working and teaching in Egypt. But then the information on him stopped many years ago. In the file, there were also three photos of him and his dad that he cherished a lot. 

Finally, the ISS partner in Egypt found out that his father died in 1990. At that time, he was married for 20 years with children. This  information was provided by a niece of the father, who was found and who reacted positively to the request for contact.

First contacts have been made between the niece, her siblings and Simon and they are open for further contact and share information about Simon’s father.  

Accompanying people in their search for origins is time intensive, challenging and demands a lot of personalised care and support. Drawing on its 20 years of hands-on experience, famile international frankfurt underlines that understanding a person’s motivation to search for their origins, managing expectations of the possible (negative) outcome, and understanding national laws are essential, are key for success.

*pseudonyms used to protect client’s identity

For more information on Searching for Origins, follow the link below.