Has anyone reunited with an estranged parent?

Ok so long story short, my MIL left my husband's biological father when my husband was about a year or 2 old, she kind of just took off with him, always said he was very controlling and not a good person etc. She remarried a few years later, his stepfather adopted him so my husband's last name changed, and they had kids together, then moved to the US. My husband has recently seen that his mom can exaggerate problems and judges people to the extreme, so my husband is curious about his biological father and if he was really as bad as she claims. Also, my husband is in his 40s and knows nothing of half of his family medical issues etc for himself and our kids. He keeps asking me if he should try to find his biological father, tricky because he's in another country, but doable, he knows his name. I of course defer to him to make that decision and tell him I support him either way. He is nervous because if he is a bad guy we don't want him in our lives, especially since we have 4 little kids and it may confuse them, but what if is always in my husband's mind. Anyone have experience with this?