Jessica Morrey is best known as the sports anchor in Temple, Texas. But she’s also an adult adoptee looking for answers, and she’s asking for help locating her birth mother.
Morrey doesn’t know what to expect from the search, but she says, “Positive or negative, she still did the most unselfish thing that anyone can do by giving a child up for adoption. So, no matter what the situation is, I’ll always be grateful and thankful for her.”
Unlike many, she has plenty of information, but is unsure of how much is correct. She was placed in a closed adoption at birth with adoptive parents Tim and Susan Morrey. Her birth took place on Monday, April, 1990 at 1:38 am at Grant Hospital in Chicago. Her paperwork lists her birth mother as Virginia Martinez, born 4/9/1967, a divorced Catholic 23-year-old. The woman was Mexican and Italian. She was described as being 4’11” tall and weighing 115 pounds. She had fair skin, dark hair, and green eyes. According to the documents, Martinez was a high school graduate who attended music school and trained in classical guitar and cello. She and a brother played in a quartet. The woman also worked at a bakery at the corner of Fullerton Parkway and Lakeview Avenue. She had five older brothers and a three-year-old son.
Jessica located a woman with a matching name and date of birth, but it was not her. A private investigator is working the case, but she hasn’t been found yet. Unfortunately a death notice has been found for a man who could be her half-brother.
The attorney who handled the adoption, Lawrence Raphael, is no longer living. His practice was famous for advertisements encouraging mother to choose adoption. In 1997 the Supreme Court disbarred Raphael for misconduct in his adoption practice. As a result, the accuracy of his documents is being questioned.
After Jessica’s adoptive mother passed away in 2004, she became very close with her father, Tim. He undoubtedly fostered her love of sports. Tim has been supportive of her endeavors. He says, “I really hope this search of hers ends up being emotionally great for her.”
She has sent in her DNA sample to 23andme.
If you have any information, you can email it to jmorrey@kcentv.com
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