Jamie Smith has long hoped to meet her birth mother, hoping to gain answers to her questions about who she was, where she came from – and why she was abandoned in the backseat of a car 26 years ago.
On March 24, 1991 in Fostoria, Norma and Kenneth Drake parked their unlocked car in their open garage at about 2:45 pm. The police believe the baby was placed there a few minutes later. Kenneth left in the car at about 6 pm when he discovered the infant in the backseat. The child was taken to the hospital, where they approximated the birth between March 21 and March 24. Jamie was placed with a foster family for four months prior to her adoption.
Jamie was raised by supportive adoptive parents, but she always tried to imagine what circumstances could have led to the life altering day she was found abandoned in the back of a car. Each year the desire for the truth grew. She still has what little was left with her that day. She kept the blanket and shirt she was wrapped in, along with the bit of shoestring used as a makeshift umbilical tie.
Jamie made a Facebook search post several months ago about her desire to meet her birth mother. That post was shared over 10, 000 times. One day her birth mother was scrolling through her news feed and froze when she saw the post. While Jamie was with her family on vacation in Michigan, the woman reached out to her. The pair took a DNA test through “23 and Me” to confirm the woman’s identity.
Jamie finally knows her real date of birth, March 22. And she knows now that her biological mother was a scared teenager with no support system who felt unable to care for the child. She discovered she has two half-sisters and two nephews.
Finally she has the closure she has always longed for. She has plans to meet with her birth family again soon.
