37-year-old Erin had a great childhood with great parents, but she knew all of her life that she was adopted and has always yearned to know “where she came from.” The birth of her son was the first time Erin felt a connection with a blood relative. Becoming a mother also helped Erin realize the sacrifice that her biological mom made when she placed her in adoption. Tonight on This is Live Live, Erin reconnects with her birth mom.
Her father worries that Erin may be hurt by this process, but Erin was determined to try to find her birth mom. The process is difficult because Erin had a closed adoption. “I just want to know who she is and why she gave me up for adoption,” Erin says.
A private investigator tracked down Erin’s mother Patty Doyle. “I wasn’t selfish,” Patty says. “When I gave her up, I was thinking of her.” She says she was a “wild child,” when she got pregnant. She met Erin’s dad at a disco, and he didn’t want anything to do with the baby.
Patty struggled with whether or not she was going to put Erin up for adoption, but ultimately decided it was what was best for the baby girl because she wasn’t ready to be a mother. Complications from the pregnancy and delivery made it impossible for Patty to have any more children. She says she has wanted to search for her, but didn’t want to interrupt her life.
Before Erin goes into meet Patty, she’s given DNA results that prove Patty is indeed her biological mother.
After an emotional first embrace, Patty asks Erin why she wanted to meet her. Erin replies that she wanted to thank her. Patty says she was thinking of Erin because she wanted her to have a good life with parents who loved her. Erin assures her that her adoptive parents gave her an amazing life. “I’ve never been mad at you,” Erin says. “I’ve never been angry.”
Patty doesn’t know if Erin’s father is still alive, and if he is, if he would want to meet Erin.
Patty says that she couldn’t have taken care of Erin because she couldn’t even take care of herself. She didn’t want to end up in a situation like her sister, who had eight children that she all lost custody of.
Amelia Cunningham is a Starcasm writer and editor
