Genevieve Purinton was only 18 years old when her life took an unexpected turn. The young girl learned that she is pregnant. Not to mention she was too young to figure out what should she do. Then she turns to her boyfriend for help and even he takes a step back. Having no one around she decides to look after her baby on her own. And after nine months she gives birth to her baby daughter. And the real tragedy begins from there. After 70 years of her daughter's birth, she learns a truth about that daughter which drops her jaw.
Genevieve was too young to bear this news. The girl was pregnant with a child. This is usually good news but not for Genevieve who was still in school. The girl could not understand how to deal with it when she learned that she had a life breathing inside her. It seemed like a nightmare and that was just the beginning of it.
However, the only hope for her was the father of her unborn child. She was very much attached to him and thought of him as a good person. She was sure he would stay by her side. Even though the journey was going to be difficult in the beginning, she knew they would handle it together.
She was 18 and so legally eligible to marry him. Genevieve broke the news to him in the hope of getting support from him. However, the boy had other news to tell her. The girl felt ground swiping off her feet when she heard what her boyfriend told her.
He told her that he is married. The information broke her completely. She had never imagined in her entire life that she would have to go through such a painful time. That too at such a delicate age.
As her stomach grew bigger, she realized that she could not keep going to school with her baby bump showing so clearly. She decided to withdraw. From there on she stayed at her home till her delivery. Her pregnancy days did not pass without stress and troubles.
Her boyfriend though stepped back when she opened up to him about her plan of raising the child together, he did make an offer to her. He expressed his desire to raise the child with his wife. Genevieve would not have to look after the kid once the baby comes into the world.
Well, the idea did not go well with Genevieve. She had developed a feeling of affection for her child and was devastated by her boyfriend's betrayal. She was also scared as the young girl had no idea how was she going to tackle it. That too without her family support. Her family started treating her as an outsider.
The journey was not easy at all. This nine months of her life seemed to be the most difficult time of her life. But little did she know it was just the beginning of a nightmare with an unrealistic end. The girl managed to pass her nine months and gave birth to her baby on May 12th, 1949.
Genevieve got admitted into St. Mary’s Mercy Hospital in Gary, Indiana. Finally, the day had arrived that was going to mark a big change in her life. She was nervous and excited both. But what concerned her the most at that time was what she was going to name her child.
She wondered for some moment and came up with the name Margaret Ann. There is a very good reason why she chose this name. One of her teachers in high school was named Margaret Ann. The woman had made a great impression on her for her indomitable nature. The woman who was afflicted with polio never let her life hampered by this. She decided to name her kid after her teacher it happens to be a girl.
Before going for delivery the hospital staff made her sign a paper. As the woman was quite young they feared complications in delivery. The paper, according to Genevieve was a directive in case she dies or fails to care for the child. She signed it without raising any objection. After that, she was taken to the labor room.
It was a normal delivery. Genevieve had given birth to a girl. It seemed that the ordeal was over for Genevieve but no, there was more to her bad luck. Shortly after the delivery, she learned that her baby had died a few moments after her birth. It was a big blow for her. She kept her in her womb for nine months fighting people's bitter remarks only to hold her baby.
So once again the woman was all by herself. She had thought that with the birth of her baby every problem would end. But the destiny had something else stored in the future for her. Margret Ann was no more.
Genevieve was not the only one who had lost her child, there were many others too. Along with the loss, these all women had one more thing in common. They all had become victims of a conspiracy. Many of the women from 1945-1973 had to give up their child if they do not look suitable.
Margaret Ann came into this world on May 12, 1949. The “directive papers” that Genevieve was tricked into signing was actually taking her consent to get Margaret Ann for adoption. The infant was sent to an orphanage the very day her mother moved out of the hospital.
Fortunately, the little girl did not have to stay there for long. A couple belonging to southern California adopted Baby Margaret and later renamed her. She began to be known as Connie. The girl unaware of her past started a new life in Santa Barbara. She was living a happy life. It went on like this for five years.
The girl lost her adoptive mother when she turned five. Her mother was diagnosed with cancer. Thereafter, her adoptive father got married to a woman who used to hit her. This was not the end, her dad was going through chronic heart disease.
By the time she entered her teenage, she had lost both of her parents. Now the girl was all alone with her abusive mother. Needless to say, she felt very lonely in these years. Tired of it she began looking for her birth mother. She would wish on every birthday to find her birth mom.
It was an arduous task. All she knew was her birth mother's name. Initially, she tried but it all turned out to be a far fetched dream. She became a nurse and soon got married. She led a beautiful life with her children and grandchildren. Even though she had grown in age and was having a blissful life, she still missed her birth mother. She so wanted to meet her.
The Christmas of 2017 turned out to be special for her. Connie 's daughter gave her a DNA test. By then the woman had turned 69. The kit she handed to Connie was through Ancestry.com. Connie had been waiting for this moment for a very long time and when the time of getting results neared she grew impatient.
Connie explained, "It took me a while to use it, but when I finally got the results I went from having only three known relatives (a daughter and two grandchildren), to 1,600 relatives. I was floored."
The result finally came after a few weeks of wait. The result confirmed her first living cousin. Her cousin came forward to introduce herself. Connie asked her only one question, “Do you know a Genevieve?”
Connie could not believe when she heard an answer. Perhaps her decades-long search had finally come to an end. The newly-found cousin said, “Oh, that’s my aunt, and oh, by the way, she is still alive.” This was an unbelievable moment. She finally had found her mother.
Connie’s cousin too was very excited. She promised Connie that she would write to her birth mother Genevieve and give her Connie's contact details. The following Sunday, Connie got a phone call. The woman on the other end said, “I think I’m your mother.”
Connie recalled, “you could have heard pins drop.” Even though they were talking for the first time, they felt an instant connection with each other. They conversed with each other for hours. They had stayed apart for 70 years and now was the time to catch up on all that they had missed.
She asked her as to why she left her immediately after her birth. Genevieve told her all about the tricks that she had become a victim of. And also explained, "because she was an unwed mother, she was told that I had died. She continued with her life not knowing I was still alive."
Soon after that phone call, Connie boarded a plane to Florida where her birth mother was living right now, from Richmond, Virginia her home. Genevieve who was 88 years old was waiting for her daughter to come.
The woman was residing in an assisted living center. As she had grown quite old she used to take help of a walker to walk. Connie went straight to the living center from the airport to meet her mother.
Connie did not take long to recognize her mom. She recognized her mother only seconds after entering the center. She reminisces, “It was like looking in a mirror.” Both stepped towards each other and embraced. According to them, it was “a total cryfest.”
The first thing that Genevieve uttered was "You're really not dead." To which Connie said, "I'm not dead.” Both of the women were crying. It was an emotional moment.