Christine Kay
Northern News Services

Arviat (Nov 27/02) - After the passage of six decades and a move North, Arviat resident Carroll MacIntyre found his roots -- and three sisters.

He was born in 1939 in Cape Breton, N.S. On Jan. 6, 1940, a nurse took MacIntyre to the home of his adoptive parents. He was just over two months old.

"I was 26 years old before I discovered I was adopted. The word was never even mentioned in our house," he said.

MacIntyre found out by accident. He was working at a wholesale company in Nova Scotia when a co-worker asked him how long he had lived with his family.

"What do you mean?," MacIntyre replied to the co-worker.

"Well, aren't you adopted?" he said.

MacIntyre was devastated, but he kept his discovery quiet until his adoptive parents died. The other siblings in his adopted family were shocked when they found out. They still maintain they never knew about the adoption although one child was 10 and the other was 12 when Carroll arrived.

"I guess they thought I landed on the back of the stork. My dad was pretty devious," he said.

MacIntyre wanted time to pass before he began to search for his birth family. He moved to the North to work for the Co-op. Now he's the economic development officer for the hamlet in Arviat. Four years ago, he decided it was time to find his roots. He called family services in Halifax and found out his birth mother was still alive. He also learned he had three sisters. No one, except his birth mother, knew of his existence.

The woman from family services told MacIntyre he could get a copy of the file but not until his mother died. He waited.

In September of this year he decided to call again. The same women he spoke to the first time gave him new information. He was sad to find out his birth mother had died May 24. At the same time, he knew it meant he could meet his sisters.

"I called the newspaper in Halifax and got a copy of the obituary. I got the names of my sisters. I called the operator and got their phone numbers," explained MacIntyre.

Each time he got a sister on the phone he said, 'This is your brother calling' and then waited for dead air. He did the same thing to all three of them.

After a period of disbelief, they began accepting MacIntyre into their families. He's met two of his three sisters and thinks they are fabulous.

Other family members have started to learn of MacIntyre as well.

"When the uncle heard about it, he said 'the son of a bitch better get a blood test'," explained MacIntyre.

He has since learned the uncle is slowly getting over the shock.

His sister Jessie keeps him up to date on everything going on in the family. They speak every two or three days.

"I run out things to say but she certainly doesn't," he said.

When he looks at pictures from his visits he can see the resemblance between himself and his sisters.

One thing they all wanted to know was how he ended up in the Eastern Arctic. He answers by saying it just happened -- much the same way he found out about being adopted and the same way he connected with his sisters again. Jessie plans to go to Arviat for a visit with MacIntyre one day.

"I expect that some day I'll get a call from the airport and she'll want me to go pick her up," he said.