The current debate about mother and baby homes has brought up a lot of old feelings for me. I was born in 1964 in St Patrick's mother and baby home Navan road. I was adopted when I was a few months old. I have found that being adopted is something that never leaves you . I was told I was adopted when I was young. My mum always thought about my real mum at times like my birthday or Christmas.
In 1982 when I was 18 there was a story in the paper about the home closing down so I went to ask about my birth mother.
The nun was nice but said when mothers gave their children up for adoption they had told them to get on with their lives and promised that they would not hear from their children again.
She did give me some information, my mother's mother was dead and her father lived in the country. She was 28 when I was born.
I insisted I wanted more information and she gave me a contact in the Eastern health board to ask. In the end I decided not to pursue it at that time.
When I was getting married in 1986 I went to get my baptismal
cert in the church on the navan road but was told I would have been baptized in St Patricks. So I was back there again, the nun that spoke to me was friendly, saying she would have been there in 1964. I felt a bit like the prodigal daughter though there was no fated calf.
Life never lets you forget that you are adopted, doctors ask family history,when you take out life insurance they want to know your parents medical history, setting up online accounts look for your mothers name and of course when you are pregnant every question seams to be about your mother.
I think when you pregnant you realize the connection you have with your mother, when you think about it it is nine months of close contact. I only read last week a story about how children in the womb pick up on their mothers feelings.
In 1997 a story on the Pat Kenny show inspired me to write to the eastern health board, after more then a year I was assigned a social worker in 1998.
After some counseling she was able to tell me that my mother had died in 1981.
Happily I am in touch with my birth family, who I was able to contact through EHB I have five sisters.
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| Scrap of paper with information I received when I first inquired at St Patricks. |
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| The back of above |
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| Information I received from eastern health board |
