A California woman recently reunited with the daughter she put up for adoption 71 years ago.
In 1941, Brooke Mayo was raped while walking to her car after a party in the Hollywood Hills, according to the San Luis Obispo Tribune. She was 17 years old. Nine months later, she gave birth to a baby girl and decided to put her up for adoption.
Story continues after photo.
“In those days, having a baby as a single person … I just decided (adoption) was better for her,” she told the Associated Press.
In spite of the horror of her assault, Mayo wanted to keep the little girl -- who she'd named Delphine -- in her life.
After her service overseas during WWII, Mayo returned to California in 1945 and looked for her daughter -- but the hospital cut her search short by falsely telling her that the girl had died.
In reality, the baby -- renamed Patricia -- lived just miles from Mayo's home with foster parents. It wasn't until 1993 that Patricia, whose last name has been withheld, finally learned that she'd been adopted.
Twenty years later, Patricia tracked Mayo down. In July this year, the two met for the first time in 71 years.
“I’m still in a daze. I can’t believe this," Mayo told AP. "The people I talk to say it’s like a book or a movie or something, it’s just so amazing.”
“I’m just glad I was able to find her," Patricia told the Tribune. "That’s the bright side of it. It’s been a long deal.. but that’s OK now because I found her.”
Another incredible reunion took place the same month in Alabama. Charles Lutzow believed his daughter to be dead when she was actually put up for adoption. Forty five years later, she tracked him down and reunited with the family she'd never known.
H/T: msnNOW
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