ISO daughter born 9/10/1973, Kansas City, Missouri

My info says that Dr. W.R. King was the attending physician for my birth mother also. She was at St. Anthony's in 1968. I am searching and have been. I am hoping she had as good of an experience as she could have under the circumstances.

Hi Julieanninkcmo, I wish you luck in your search. I was at St. Anthony's in 1973, just five years after your birth mother was there. I'm sure my experience wasn't too different then hers' was. I'll post some of my memories of my time there. I was very comfortable at St. Anthony's, we were well taken care of. We had wonderful, healthy meals, our cook was fabulous, no one went hungry. Our cook must have known what it was like to be pregnant, she always left us special treats and snacks for those late night cravings. We had our pre-natal visits (mine were with Dr. King), and our health was closely monitored. I finished my tenth grade year in high school there, a teacher from the Loretto HS would come and give us classes and tests. We also had classes about labor and delivery. There were some girls there who were not planning on going with adoption, they were able to take infant care classes if they wished. St. Anthony's had a nice chapel and we were able to attend Sunday services if we wished. I am not a particularly religious person, but I remember that all of the priests who held the services were very nice, not judgemental at all. Each week they made us girls feel that we were serving a greater purpose....does that make sense? There was a room on the top floor filled with racks and racks of maternity clothes, we were able to take whatever we needed. There was also a library filled with donated books for us. Our bedrooms were comfortably furnished and there were two girls to a room. I do remember that our rooms were not air-conditioned, the only room that was air-conditioned was the tv/living room. It was a large room with a tv, games, couches, comfy chairs, books, etc. That is where we spent lots of time watching TV, visiting, playing games, crocheting and knitting, and relaxing. We went on "field trips", to places like the Blue Ridge mall, movies, etc, always chaparoned by our nurse or a nun. Everyone had some type of chore to do each day, we rotated laundry duty, helping out in the kitchen, cleaning the bathrooms, things like that. Nothing too exhausting, we spent most of our time relaxing. We were allowed visitors, but they had to be on a list approved by the girl. Some of the women there were hiding from abusive partners or family, so the security was tight. The doors to St. Anthony's were always locked because as others have mentioned, it was not in a very safe neighborhood. We all felt safe and protected tho. When a girl went into labor, our nurse would take her vital signs, and monitor the contractions. When the time came, the nurse would call a taxi. The girl and a friend (a fellow resident) that she chose would be taken to St. Marys, which was just a few miles away. The hospital had already been notified in advance that she was coming, so everything was arranged. The friend would stay until the girl got settled and another taxi would take the friend back to St. Anthony's. The staff at St. Mary's was very caring and wonderful, I was a scared 15 year old, but they made the experience less stressful then it could have been. Anyway, I just thought I would relate some of my personal experiences. I hope it puts your mind at ease about your birth mother. If her experience was anything like mine, then know that she was well taken care of and looked after. If I had to go back and time and experience everything again, I would not change being at St. Anthony's. Best wishes........

Hi Navigator,Thank you for posting about your experience. I recently found out that my adoption in 1977 was arranged through Catholic Charities also. I was told that my birth mom was from the KC area but my birth and adoption took place in Clinton, MO (something about the laws). Since you had a similar experience, do you think that it is possible that my 16 yr. old mother was at St. Anthony's for at least part of her pregnancy? I'm not getting anywhere in my search but I thought I'd ask. Thanks.