Viswa Vanapalli
In what was an incredible story of hope, three half-siblings found their way to each other after not even knowing the others existed. ABC’s ‘20/20: Since the Day I Was Born’ shines a light on a story with an unfortunate beginning but a heartwarming conclusion. Janet Barnicoat, Dean Hundorf, and Julie Hutchison were all abandoned as infants during the 1980s in California. But they all met each other decades later and eventually tracked down their birth mother as well. So, if you’re wondering what happened to the half-siblings, we’ve got you covered.
Who Are Janet Barnicoat, Dean Hundorf, and Julie Hutchison?
While in her early thirties, Janet Barnicoat, raised by her adopted family, always knew that she was abandoned as an infant in an alley. In 1981, a woman named Joann Hauser found the infant in a paper bag and turned her over to the authorities. In 2013, Janet turned to social media to track down Joann, her savior. While she did eventually find Joann, little did she know that the “Good Samaritan” — as Joann was labeled — was also Janet’s birth mother.
Growing up, Janet remembered being enraged by what had happened to her. She said, “I got really mad and angry [at my birth mother], and I held onto that for quite a long time. How do you leave your child in a paper bag in an alleyway? It felt like, you know, she tossed me away. You put me next to a dumpster. It was tearing me up inside.” Once Janet was older, she realized she was not alone. There were two more half-siblings out there that Janet met during the 2010s.
Through public DNA databases, Janet learned that she had a younger half-brother named Dean Hundorf. They met in 2014, with Dean being abandoned just like Janet was, and the two found out they had the same mother. Dean, upon meeting Janet, said, “It’s still unreal to me. I don’t know what feelings I’m feeling. I never thought this day would come.” Soon, Janet and Dean were in for another surprise when they learned of another half-sibling, Julie Hutchison, who was also found abandoned.
Upon learning she had siblings, Julie said, “I just want to know, you know, like how was their life growing up adopted? Did they have the same thoughts, you know, as I did growing up, like, ‘Who was my mom? Who was my dad?'” The trio then met their mother, Joann Hauser, who talked about why she had to let go of them. At the time, Joann was out of a job and struggled to make ends meet.
Where Are Janet Barnicoat, Dean Hundorf, and Julie Hutchison Now?
After an emotional meeting in the making for more than three decades, Janet was sympathetic towards Joann’s predicament and stated that she forgave her. Janet added, “We asked her if she loved us, and she said, oh God, I thought about you every day. I loved you every day.” An ex-Navy woman, Janet is a mother of five who works as a barber. She lives in Hesperia, California, and got married in 2020.
Dean also talked about how he thought about his origin and identity all his life and said, “I always, you know, was wondering, where I came from, who my parents were. I maybe tried to push it aside just to forget about it. But you know, it was always there.” Today, Dean works as a sanitation engineer and lives in Wisconsin. As for Julie, a report from 2016 mentioned that she worked as an artist in Baltimore, Maryland.
Read More: Where is Joann Hauser Now?
