Today, adoption search stories are becoming more and more common. Children who were adopted years ago, when adoptions were primarily closed, are now becoming adults and searching for their birth families. One of these stories is Jen’s.
This video shares her story, from her adoption as a baby to her meeting with her birth mother. Jen Wicki did not find out she was adopted until she was seven years old. Jen stated that when she learned about her adoption, she was “devastated” and felt betrayed and confused. She had many questions about who she was and where she came from.
An article about her reunion included this fact: “It’s estimated that just over 60 percent of teenagers who know they are adopted want to find a way to meet their birth parents, but even more simply want answers. Nearly three-quarters of those teens have cited a desire to understand why they were put up for adoption, while over 90 percent – nearly all adopted teens in the study by Adoption.com – are curious which of their birth parents they more physically resemble”.
In her early twenties, Jen began searching for her biological family using registries, DNA and ancestry sites. It was a slow and tedious process, with many deadends, but eventually was led to a great-grandmother. From there, Jen was able to identify her birth mother – and her 7 biological siblings. She composed and sent a letter to her. The first letter was never accepted, nor was a second letter. Shortly thereafter, Jen received a message on Facebook from her biological sister. She told Jen that her mother would not accept the letters because she was afraid to open them; she thought Jen would hate her.
A visit was arranged, and Jen and her family traveled to Georgia to meet her biological mother and biological extended family. Jen stated, “It was so surreal. I still feel like it didn’t happen.”
