Last Chance

October 20, 2010 permalink

A dying mother is looking for one last chance to meet with her daughter born in 1949 and taken away at birth.

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Dying Mother Has Hopes of Finding Her Real Daughter In The Sault

Craig Huckerby for SooNews.ca, Wednesday, October 20, 2010, 1:25PM

Life was very different in the 1940's. Deborah McGauley knows this first hand.

Back in 1949, Deborah was 18, pregnant and single living in Elliot Lake.

Society then, turned a blind eye to single mothers. They were forgotten and an embarrassment to the community. "It was a mistake, I was young, we all make mistakes"

On December 2, 1949 Deborah gave birth to a baby girl. "I gave birth on the floor of a wash room in the hospital" Deborah told SooNews.ca by phone in Peterborough. "I passed out while giving birth to her"

For the next 12 hours, Deborah would lay on the bathroom floor, her baby taken by the nurses. When I was found by a nurse, I was very sick"

Before being shipped off to a Sudbury hospital for an infection from instruments used during birth, Deborah was able to see her little baby girl for the first and last time. "She was wearing a pink dress - she was beautiful. I named her Laura-Lee"

For the next 6 months, Deborah recovered in a Sudbury hospital - always wondering what happened to her baby. Laura-Lee was taken by the Children's Aid Society and eventually found a home with adopted parents she since learned.

As days grew into months, then years and decades, Deborah always thought of her Laura-Lee, what happened to her? was she alive? Does she live in Canada?, she had many questions but no answers. It was best to leave things alone and go on with her life.

Now living in Peterborough, near-by to her 93 year old Mother, Deborah received a phone call out of the blue about three months ago."Did you have a baby girl? by the name of Laura-Lee?" the voice asked. On the other end it was her baby, Laura-Lee now going by the name of Christina.

"I was shocked, overwhelmed - I couldn't believe it was her - I didn't know what to think" Deborah said.

Christina (Laura-Lee) somehow found her birth mother, a search that started when Christina's adopted parents passed away.

After a chat on the phone, Deborah then received a letter and photos from Christina. "She's is so beautiful" Deborah said, "she is married and has two children"

The story however takes a sad twist.

Deborah, not knowing what to do after so many years, asked her aging 93 year old Mother for advice. At that point, Deborah's Mother took the matter into her own hands. "My Mother contacted Christina and told her that her birth mother did not want anything to do with her" Deborah said.

Since then, Deborah has not heard from Christina. And now, Deborah fears time is slipping quickly away.

"I was diagnosed with stage four cancer about 6 months ago, the doctors say I don't have much time left"

Deborah has decided to go against her Mother and seek out Christina. "All I know is she is in Sault Ste. Marie, I don't know how to contact her, I don't know her last name, I don't have her phone number, all I know is she is called Christina, spelled with a C or a K"

"I want to make things right, I want to tell her I'm sorry" Deborah said.

A friend of Deborah's in Peterborough told her to contact SooNews.ca to help find Christina.

Deborah says she has come to terms with her condition, "I have a hope of all hopes that I find my Laura-Lee again before I pass, I just want to make everything right"

Deborah hopes in her heart that Christina (Laura-Lee) sees this story and contacts her birth mother once more before time runs out.

Source: Soo News