Finding My Birth Family - A Story of Adoption Search and Reunion
Finding a Woman Named Jones I was a little disappointed when the non-identifying information arrived. It contained information that I already knew. After looking at it for the 10 millionth time, however, it occurred to me that there was some information I didn't have. My birth mother had 2 siblings: a brother who was a couple of years younger and a sister who was ten years younger. I thought (and hoped) that they must surely have the same mother and the same last name and I could locate her that way.
Much to my surprise, when I went back to the California Birth Index, I discovered that there were three people with the same last name who were the same gender and had the same dates of birth as my birth mother and her siblings. Their last name was Jones but, more importantly, the name of the woman that could possibly be my birth mother was Betty Jean Jones. After this discovery, I attempted to search for more information. Instead, I ran smack into that great big brick wall again.
Obsessive and determined became my reigning characteristics from then on.
Realizing that I wouldn't be able to relax about this, I emailed the searcher and let her know that I had more information and was still interested in her help. She called within a couple of hours and said she could do it and that it would cost $260.00. "Great!" was my first thought. "Ouch!" was the next thought, and "Where do I find the extra $260.00?" was my last thought. Needless to say, I had to wait a few weeks to send the check.
Obsession got the better of me and I ended up paying the searcher earlier than I had planned. Much to my surprise, she called later that night with the information.
She started by saying that I had actually done most of the work for her (which made me wonder why I paid her). She confirmed that my birth mother's name was indeed Betty Jones, now Betty Hernandez, and that I had two half sisters aged 25 and 27. They all lived in Long Beach, California. She gave me her address and phone number and asked how I planned to contact her. We went over my plan, I thanked her and quickly got off the phone.
I couldn't believe it! I finally had something I'd wanted for as long as I could remember. I was thrilled, scared out of my mind about what I'd find, feeling guilty for not telling anyone in my family about what I had done, and curious. I couldn't stop talking for the next couple of hours.
This all happened on a Friday night. The following Monday, October 8th, 2001, I sent the card.
PART ONE: SEARCHPage 1: Getting Started Page 2: Stepping Out on the WebPage 3: Finding a Woman Named JonesPART TWO: REUNIONPage 4: First ContactPage 5: To Meet Him or Not?Page 6: Mistur AndirsunPage 7: Was It Worth It?
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