Inspiring Story About Adoption Covered in Film, Growing Up Jacobs

Kevin Jacobs is no stranger to the world of TV and film, after having traveled from Pittsburgh to Hollywood, and other cities a multitude of times to work on various film productions, Jacobs is now writing and producing his own feature style documentary back at home in the Pittsburgh area. Jacobs realizes that he has his own story worth telling with a mission of inspiring others. Growing up in Southwestern Pennsylvania with a happy upbringing and one which he describes as “a great life, with amazing parents,” Kevin Jacobs stated, “I knew from a fairly young age that I was adopted, and always knowing what that meant, I didn’t initially want to go down the rabbit hole of finding my birth family. My mom and dad are my mom and dad.” Continuing, “I was adopted as a baby, I was with my parents before my first birthday. I grew up as an only child. I had my own room, a closet of toys, and always something to do. I played sports, did theater, took dance, and was in the Boy Scouts when I was young. My parents never hid my adoption from me, and it was never taboo to ask or talk about it. As soon as I was able to understand and process the meaning of the word adoption, adoption was a part of my story. It seemed that every time I met someone, and they found out that I was adopted, it was a fun argument… “No, you're not! You look just like your parents!” I’d end up calling my parents or an old friend and having them confirm, "Yes, I was adopted.”
Kevin Jacobs recalls signing up for 23 and me, and then Ancestry.com to search his family's lineage, with no initial plans to research his birth family. “Life was and is good, and I was so young (five, six, seven…) when I started hearing and understanding adoption, and it was never a matter of a negative perceived consequence to me; then and now I see so much good in it. Over the years I've seen and heard stories of young parents, addictions, loss, etc. as to why children are taken, given up, or put up for adoption. I am one of the lucky ones who got adopted young, and I was in a safe, loving, and active family home that couldn't have been a bigger blessing, and how my parents opened up the discussion is how I think is the best way that a family that adopts a child can handle the situation. They talked about it in such a positive way which I will depict more in the forthcoming film and TV series. It wasn’t taboo. It wasn’t a negative, it was just a part of my story.”
When on Ancestry.com Jacobs discussed looking up some information regarding his DNA and started speaking with 6th or 8th cousins in his family tree for family information to learn about how his birth family got back to Ireland, Scotland, and other places. Stating, “I kept running into one major hiccup. My DNA-connected relatives all
would end up saying, “I can tell you how I get back to those places, but without knowing your SURNAME, I don’t know where you fit into our tree.”
What has evolved from that point is a reconnection with his birth family; finding out that he has four brothers; and from there, meeting and connecting with many members of his birth family to include his birth mom. “This story is more than my story; I told my family that I love them, and I asked them to trust me with this project. 'This is our story.’ It isn’t telling the story of good and bad, or a hero and a villain. That is not the case here. It’s telling a story of life to include real challenges, a story of success, failure, leaving home, birth, death, work, relationships, struggles; these are all things that everyone goes through. I want our story to open the door for more positive conversation about adoption. I told all of my family that I love them and asked them to trust me with this project. I think our story has the power to help many others in a very positive way.”
Jacobs discussed “wanting to make it okay to talk about life’s challenges,” and to show that goodness can come out of what may be perceived as dark places.
Concluding, “Just because one path is more challenging than another, that doesn’t mean that the person is any less or any better than the other person who had it easy or struggled. I want to make it known that it is okay for a single mother to admit she’s facing an uphill battle, and that adoption is an option. There are tons of families out there that are unable to have a child of their own for whatever reason, and adopting a child is a great answer. They may never know where or how their child grows up, but hearing my story can give them a warm thought about their choice; a choice to allow a loving family to raise a child as their own and give them experiences they may have never imagined otherwise.”
Pertaining specifically to Kevin Jacobs’ story, he conveys wanting his brothers and birth mom to realize that “they have come so far and beat so many odds that were stacked against them,” and “so much good has come about as a result” - for so many reasons. Jacobs conveyed that this is far from being ‘his story,’ alone, it is his family’s story, and “When this is all done,” states Jacobs, “even for people who can’t directly relate in terms of adoption, I still want those who hear our story to see themselves in myself, my brothers and birth mom, my parents and in John, a Big Brother to my brothers, from Big Brothers/Big Sisters, who is now also a great friend of mine. We all have a story unique to each of us as individuals. Surname is the name of my family’s story, bringing forth the humanity in each of us. I feel that those who learn about our story will relate to it in different ways, simply from the stance of a shared human connection on so many levels. We are all
human beings with various struggles and obstacles to overcome to be able to thrive
in life.”
Concluding, “Meeting my birth family has been a great journey,” states Jacobs. “I’ve gone on to meet aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins. I grew up, as mentioned, as an only child. I went to school with no siblings or cousins in my school district. Well, after meeting my birth family, I realized that this wasn’t exactly true. I had a cousin in my class. I had cousins in multiple grades around me. Trait wise… We are all hard working, we are all “call it like it is,” type people. We spent our time playing sports and enjoying the outdoors. We all have a skill and our own abilities that incorporate a strong work ethic.”
His forthcoming movie productions include Growing up Jacob's and Surname. Jacob’s projects are fiscally sponsored by From the Heart Productions. Those interested in contributing may contact info@fromtheheartproductions.com to directly contribute to help bring this project to fruition. From the Heart Productions is a 501c3 organization dedicated to assisting filmmakers. The first production is a 60-minute feature style documentary film focused on Kevin Jacob’s life and travels leading up to meeting his four brothers, birth mom and many other family members. IMDb: Kevin M. Jacobs - IMDb.