Hi girls~ I stayed in a Crittenton in Peoria, IL. I went there by choice because I was an 18 year old who loved to party and knew that I had to remove myself from my environment if I wanted a healthy baby. This was back in 1991 and I have only fond memories. I was one of the "lucky" ones though. Because I was 18 and had my own car I didn't have the same rules as the younger girls. I went out and got a part time job, I went to college and got my GED and I had a private room (though the other girls shared) It was kind of like a dorm (like someone else posted). We'd go down in the morning for breakfast but I was never there for lunch or dinner. I was able to make a lot of friends outside the home because of my job and school. Then I made one friend that is still my friend today. I brought her home to Chicago with me one weekend and introduced her to my group of friends and she's married to one of the guys now and they have two of their own beautiful children.

I went into labor in the middle of the night and the house mother, Mrs. Lovell was on. She was driving about 10 down the road when my water had broke and contractions were so bad. I kept yelling "Mrs. Lovell hurry" but I only smile when I think of that. She was this cute little old lady.

Some of the girls' stories were really sad. I went there because my parent's live in a retirement community so I couldn't live with them and by no means could I support myself and a baby. Plus, I'm adopted and have had a wonderful life so I know adoption could be a blessing. I was happy to give that to someone else.

The sad thing is, my daughter's birth father was recently killed in an accident before he could have other children. His family contacted me and asked about the entire ordeal with hints of finding her. She's all they have of him. As sad as I am for them, it wouldn't be morally right to take our daughter from the only home she's ever known.

My experience at Crittenton was good. If we weren't there for dinner the kitchen was always open to go eat. There was a big living room, a library, a pool table. I never even thought about using an alias name. We all used our real names. I heard stories though, that a long time ago the girls wore uniforms and adopting parents would drive up with their license plates covered and cloth over their faces. Back then adoption was treated kind of shamefully. Bradley College was right down the street and I made some friends there who didn't seem to notice I was pregnant. No one judged me or treated me poorly. I'm very fortunate.

Thank you for letting me share my story.

God bless all my fellow adoptees and best of luck in the future should you decide to reunite with your birth families.

Melanie

[chiefsheart]

NICKY

I am so glad you posted this thread!! I am helping my brother-in-law in his search. My brother-in-law was born on October 24, 1972. His mother was 18 and his father was 24 The bmom's father owned a cabinet shop. This is how he made his living. She would have been a senior in high school, but dropped out to have the baby. From the non-id info., we know that she stayed at a home for unwed mothers in NC. IT WAS PROBABLY FCH IN CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA. The birthfather did construction work and served in the military. the bmom had 3 or 4 siblings. She was in the horticulture club and choral society at her high school before she dropped out to go to have the baby. It said in her non-id that she loved to sing and loved to fix hair.


I searched the NC birth index a found one that matched all of his information. It said that he was born in Mecklenburg County (which is what is on his amended birth certificate). We think he was born at Charlotte Memorial Hospital. I was told that FCH was across the street from Charlotte Memorial. Would the birthmoms have had their babies at FCH, or would they have went over to the hospital.

My brother-in-law was adopted in South Carolina and we think this is where his birthmother was from. (Again, according to the birth index, it said the birthmother was from South Carolina)

IF THERE IS ANYONE THAT CAN GIVE ME ANY INFO ON FCH OR STAYED AT FCH IN 1972, I WOULD APPRECIATE IT!!! WE ARE TRYING SO HARD TO FIND HIS BIRTHMOM.


Good Luck to Fellow Searchers!!

Tara

P.S.
IF ANYONE IS UNFAMILIAR WITH THE NC BIRTH INDEX, IT IS A LOONNGGG CODE OF NUMBERS THAT CAN BROKEN DOWN TO GIVE YOU VALUABLE INFO. YOU CAN GO TO THE NORTH CAROLINA ADOPTION FORUM ON THIS WEBSITE AND LOOK AT THE THREAD THAT SAYS "NC BIRTH INDEXES FOUND HERE"!! IT IS VERY HELPFUL.

[crayons]

Nurses walked the girls across the road to the hospital, to give birth.

[chiefsheart]

CRAYONS

Thanks for your response. If you were there in January, were you there in October? Maybe you remember a girl that fave birth on 10/24/1972. She was only 18.

I don't know how much you talked with the other girls there, or if you were even there in October of 72. Anyway, any information would be helpful!!!

Could you tell me more about how you all were admitted into FCH?

Thanks,

Tara

[chiefsheart]

CRAYONS:

I also wanted to pass on that I remember seeing another posting of a woman that stayed at FCH in Charlotte in 1973. Just thought you may want to get in touch with her since you have tried to get in touch with some of the girls that were there with you.

Here's her info:

Her username is alice cusaac.
If you go to the BORN OR ADOPTED IN 1972 forum, you will see her posting there. She has not posted anything since 12/2002. However, I sent her an e-mail through the forum and asked her about my brother-in-law's birthmother. Maybe alice cusaac is still keeping up with these forums.

Tara

p.s.

The story of how your parents treated you about the pregnancy is similar to what my brother-in-law's non-id information said about his birthmom's parents.

[crayons]

I'm not sure of the date that I arrived at the home, I'll have to check on that. I was 16, right off, the oldest girls that I can think of 17,18 I think some 20's and a 35 year old, the youngest was 12, one18 year old, I believe was also an artist, if I think of anything to help I'll let you know. As far as how we were admitted to the hospital, it was prearranged, I believe by the adoption agencies and the home, so we were just taken over when ever we went into labor. best wishes

[crayons]

Thanks, I'll have to look up her post. You would think, the high number of young girls that went through this home, we would be bumping into to each other here at a high rate, boy, that would sure help, with everyones information, maybe people searching would have better luck.
Sorry to hear your brother-in-law's firstmom was also treated badly, unfortunately that was true in most cases, while thinking of this, it also could be why some firstmoms don't search, they were taught (conditioned) to always believe that they and their babies were dirty(shamfull) and no good, I also thought any searching I did was illegal and didn't know the truth until I got on this site in 01, because this was what I was told, just think of how many still believe this, I guess you could say, firstmoms have had to reprogram what they were taught (most without any help), I felt like I didn't have a right to search anyway and still don't. If I could say one thing to a person that is adopted, it would be to try to understand, that behind most adoptions, there are grownups. like parents, grandparents, adoption agencies, ect that took control of what happened to her baby and treated the baby like it was there's to do as they please. Good luck to you & everyone

[Lee Krasneck]

I resided in a Florence Crittenton home in Chicago, Illinois from January thru April 1957. Since I was only 16 at the time, my memory is rather sketchy. We were allowed to use our first name or nickname only and were to have no mention of our last name or where we lived. Some of the girls who became good friends revealed this information to one another. We were allowed telephone calls and visits, depending on who was on our visitor's list, but no boyfriends were allowed to visit. We had a nurse on-site but were taken to the doctor's visits in a cab with the nurse in attendance. Each girl had assigned chores depending on how far along she was in her pregnancy and none were very strenuous. We slept in dormitory-style rooms and everything was kept very clean. If you have any further questions about the facilities, please feel free to ask.

[andromeda]

I posted earlier as a KC Crittenton resident of 1963. However, I have lived in Charlotte for 20 years and - for some reason, insanity, I guess - I decided to volunteer at the Charlotte Crit after I moved here. I imagine it was some sort of attempt to get a handle on adoption then (mid 1980's) and possibly a method of easing into searching for my son.

I remember the Home was located across from the hospital, I believe on Blythe Blvd. It was an older building and I'm certain they have long since moved to newer quarters. I went for an initial interview and, of course, never mentioned I'd actually been in a Crit myself. I was just a suburban wife of an executive looking to do volunteer work.

I was exceedingly curious about the girls there. I wanted to see if I could 'find myself' among the girls, I suppose. I was supposed to do activities with the girls, I believe on a weekly basis. I went bowling with the girls at a local bowling alley. They were much less concerned with what people thought of their circumstance (pregnancy) and the girls I spoke with were mostly from smaller towns some distance from Charlotte. They were a nice group, but I only went this one time.

It was just too much deja vu for me and I didn't want to relive my own experience through these girls. I had lived with adoption's effects for 20 years and I didn't want to witness their innocence and inability to see how this would affect them later.

Not Crit but of related interest. At the time the PTL organization (Jim & Tammy Faye) was building a special house on their grounds to house pregnant girls and they were arranging adoptions. I wanted so much to pose as a couple seeking to adopt (with my husband) and just check out the PTL facility. I never did, but I'm certain I would have found it equally as difficult as my 1980's Crittenton work.

I'm certain this was all what led up to searching for my son in 1987.

Lynn

I was a resident of the FC Home in Mobile in 1970. What year were you there?

[shadeinfla]

HI

This is a most interesting thread. Any of you in the St Petersburg FCH January 1958- April 1958... Searching for information from that time at that particular home, which was right by the former Mounds Parks Hospital now called BayFront...

Shade

[westfaer]

hi. my mother stayed at the florence crittendon home in jacksonville fl, in 1975 also.she was only 14 yrs old when she went there.she sayed her stay there wasnt bad. there was a lot of other girls there her age and she made some friends. we've been searching for her son for a long time and we hope to find him soon. good luck in your search

[Janet Heath]

My mother was at FCH in Denver, Colorado in 1961. If anyone knows anything about how things might have been, please post.


Janet

[gusfch]

I stayed in the St. Petersburg, FL FCH the end of 1970 and early 1971. It was a huge old wooden victorian style house, three stories tall. There was a dormitory style room on the third floor for the newcomers. Most girls came about their 6th month when you had trouble hiding your pregnancy, however, we were still limber enough to handle the two flights of stairs. When I was there we used our first names but few shared last names. We all respected each other's privacy and confidance. Somewhere in our 8th month and depending on availability, we moved down to the second floor into one of three wings. The fourth wing was postpartem. Most of the girls returned after birth for 3-10 days to rest and heal. Looking back I think it was also a check on depression so anyone who needed it got counseling. There was an administrator and nurse/dietician there during the day, home visit teachers came in and we had classes to keep up with the school year, we each had some limited daily chore we were resposible for. There were two lovely retired maternity nurses who stayed at night and got us to the hospital when needed. Weight and blood sugar was monitored weekly by the nurse, we had a monthly physician check-up, vitamins and iron daily. The nurse/dietician kept us in check pretty well, goal was 20-25 lbs total weight gain. For me it was a great experience. Everyone was caring and supportive. There was even a HUGE old tabby named Crit that was the house mascot.

[shadeinfla]

Hi gusfch,

Thank you so much for this post. I have been searching for someone for years now who stayed at this FCH. I am the wife of an adoptee , he does not have the time to do much searching/posting himself so I do on and off. I have one question for you , do you remember the average age of the woman/young ladies who stayed at the FCH when you were there, were there many who were say over 21 or were most of them younger? Anyway I am glad to read your experience was not awful; and in fact you felt they cared about you. Thanks again!

Best
Shade

Originally Posted by gusfch

I stayed in the St. Petersburg, FL FCH the end of 1970 and early 1971. It was a huge old wooden victorian style house, three stories tall. There was a dormitory style room on the third floor for the newcomers. Most girls came about their 6th month when you had trouble hiding your pregnancy, however, we were still limber enough to handle the two flights of stairs. When I was there we used our first names but few shared last names. We all respected each other's privacy and confidance. Somewhere in our 8th month and depending on availability, we moved down to the second floor into one of three wings. The fourth wing was postpartem. Most of the girls returned after birth for 3-10 days to rest and heal. Looking back I think it was also a check on depression so anyone who needed it got counseling. There was an administrator and nurse/dietician there during the day, home visit teachers came in and we had classes to keep up with the school year, we each had some limited daily chore we were resposible for. There were two lovely retired maternity nurses who stayed at night and got us to the hospital when needed. Weight and blood sugar was monitored weekly by the nurse, we had a monthly physician check-up, vitamins and iron daily. The nurse/dietician kept us in check pretty well, goal was 20-25 lbs total weight gain. For me it was a great experience. Everyone was caring and supportive. There was even a HUGE old tabby named Crit that was the house mascot.