[lizardco]

Hello ALL!

I am a 36 year old adoptee who recently has been in contact with her first mother. We are planning on meeting face to face in 10 days when she ventures out from NJ to Chicago to come and meet me. I grew up 5 miles from where she lives on the NJ shore. Pretty wild??? Anyway, it has been an exhilarating journey... You see, over 5 years ago I had my first child. My son followed along 11 months after his big sister. My hands were full but watching these 2 babies grow made me take a closer look at myself and into the fact that I was adopted. I now had a reason to want to learn more about myself. I knew I was adopted via Catholic Charities in NJ and so I contacted the MAS group of CC in Burlington, NJ and was linked up with a wonderful counselor. She really helped guide me through the initial process of getting my non-ID info...at first I thought that would be enough but then when I saw that I was born with a name and there were 2 other people responsible for porting me into this world, I became quite intrigued and wanted to learn MORE about me, possibly learn more about why I was WHO I was and ultimately find out the genetic influence. It took me almost a year after receiving my non-ID to actually buck up the search money (WORTH EVERY PENNY!) and have the guts to go through with this. I knew that there was no turning back...once the search was in gear I had to be prepared for whatever the consequences were. While searching, I had a myomectomy whereas a fibroid cyst had become gargantuant and had to me removed from my uterus as my bladder was squashed...my pathology report from the surgery indicated I had LMS cancer located within the smooth muscle tissue that had grown on the mass that was excised. You can only imagine the stress that was now on me. Then my counselor at CC called and stated she had been sending letteers with no response. She finally had contact with my birthmom after sending out 4 letters...the final letter was sent to her place of employment. In the meantime, the doctors told me that LMS was not genetic so that was promising. 3 weeks before the 2nd procedure, my birthmom, a.k.a Mary Ann, called me because she had received my letters via the CC counselor and was advised upon my medical condition. It was a beautiful day for sure. The letters I sent also had my business card and so when Mary Ann saw my cell phone number, rather than writing, she called me right away and totally caught me off guard! I made it through my 2nd operation where a hysterectomy was performed to isolate and prevent future recurrances and ultimately, any cancer from spreading. The pathology reports were negative and I am cancer free for the moment! Mary Ann and I have been in constant contact and I am looking forward to our meeting next week!

My advice to other seekers...Seek and you shall find but be brave and relentless. It is what it is and for some it may be great and for others it may be bittersweet but no matter how the cake is sliced, you will have gained knowledge and learned a little more about yourself. Know that you have a purpose and be proud of yourself!!! Do not give up hope! All the BEST...sending GOOD vibes your way!!!

XO,

Elizabeth
dob: 11/26/68
reunited with Mary Ann on 4/18/05