During the Winter Olympics in February of this year, I posted a story about U.S. skier Toby Dawson who won a bronze medal for men's mogul skiing. Dawson was adopted from South Korea as a toddler, and during the winter games expressed a desire to find his birth family.

He hoped that the fame that he was achieving during the winter games might assist him in locating his birth family. To aid him in finding his birth family, Dawson posted several photos of himself on NBC's website. One of the photos was taken of him as a toddler at the orphanage where he spent some time before he was adopted.

Read an update on the Toby Dawson Story.

After Dawson announced his desire to find his birth family, hundreds of people e-mailed him, claiming to have information about his birth. More than a dozen families have come forward since the Olympics claiming that they might be Dawson's biological family. Each family seems to have a different story. One family says that their son was lost at a market. Another relates that their child was abandoned after its mother had a nervous breakdown. Yet another family claims that Dawson may be the son of an unmarried woman realizing the perils of raising a child as an unmarried mother and relinquished her son to adoption.

Apparently, Dawson is currently overwhelmed with all the confusion of so many families claims that he might be their relative. The search for birth family is often full of turmoil, and it is not for the faint-hearted.

For Toby Dawson, his fame may help in his search. His fame will insure that his story reaches a wider audience. However, his being somewhat of a celebrity may also create additional problems. I wish him the best as he struggles to sort out this challenging situation.