Long lost family members get reunited every day. But this story has to be the most bizarre and bittersweet of them all.
In 1949, Genevieve Purinton was 18 years old. She was a young woman who became pregnant unexpectedly.
She endeavored to have her baby, despite the difficulties that this would mean.
After nine months, she went into labor, went to the hospital and, after many difficult hours, had her baby.
But the next day, she awoke to bad news.
The doctors told her that something terrible had happened. Genevieve’s baby had died shortly after being born.
“I said I wanted to see the baby. They told me, ‘She died.’” – Genevieve Purinton
Genevieve was heartbroken. The impact of becoming unexpectedly pregnant coupled with the baby’s loss shortly after birth was severe.
Genevieve was able to have a full life, but she decided to never try to have children again.
But for all those years, it turned out that she did have a child out there.
In December 2017, 69-year-old Connie Moultroup received a DNA testing kit for Christmas.
Many people use these to discover their ancestral roots and find distant family members.
Connie, however, was now on the verge of answering the biggest question of her entire life: Who was her mother?
As Connie had been adopted, she had no idea of who her real family members were. But the DNA kit informed her of a living relative, a cousin.
Connie quickly arranged to meet up with this cousin. But that meeting would be more shocking than she could ever imagine.
Connie and the cousin got to talking about how Connie was related. Which of the cousin’s aunts or uncles had given her up at birth?
“I said, ‘well here’s my mother’s given name.’ And she said, ‘Oh, well, that’s my aunt… Oh, by the way, she’s still alive.’ I’m like, oh my God!”
Not only had she found a distant family member. After all these years, she had discovered who her mother was.
As Connie was past retirement age herself, she had long since assumed that her biological mother had died.
Now that she had a name and location, she decided to meet her straight away.
Connie made the long drive down from Vermont to Florida.
She eventually arrived at the retirement home where her mother was now living.
And then she saw Genevieve, now 88 years old.
The two ran to each other. They hugged and started crying. Their long search was finally over.
“It’s good to meet you,” Connie said to her mother.
“Same to you,” Genevieve replied.
But then Genevieve broke down. She was happy to see her daughter at last, but she couldn’t believe that they’d been kept apart senselessly.
“You’re really not dead?” Genevieve cried.
“I’m not dead,” Connie replied.
Since this warm meeting, the two have been catching up. They have missed out on so much. Genevieve has discovered that as well as a daughter, she also has a son in law, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
As wonderful as this meeting is, this story is still so tragic.
Two people were lied to or misled in some way. They’ve lost so many years and experiences together that most take for granted.
How did this happen?
We may never know why the doctors of the hospital said that Genevieve’s daughter had died.
But the impact that it had on these two lives can never go away.
“It’s been a lifetime of wanting this. I remember being five years old and wishing that I could find my mother.” – Connie Moultroup.
Let’s hope that Connie and Genevieve have many more years with each other now that they have finally been reunited.
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