The Internet bands together to help a 22-year-old find her birth mother
More than ever, adopted children who want to reconnect with their biological parents are taking matters into their own hands. Such is the case for 22-year-old Katie McGlade who has known her entire life that she was adopted shortly after her birth in September 1992.
McGlade recently decided to use, arguably, the greatest tool at her disposal—the Internet—to kick off the search for the woman who brought her into the world more than two decades ago.
The idea came about after McGlade was met with red tape in the Pennsylvania court system. In the wake of her disappointment, she and her best friend decided they’d turn to Facebook instead, using crowdsourcing and the Internet’s longstanding obsession with a good reunion story to find her mother.
Here’s how McGlade presented her search:
Her plea did not fall on deaf ears and has been shared more than 9,000 times since it hit the web this past Sunday.
Unfortunately, in the five days since McGlade shared her story, she hasn’t tracked down her mother, but there’s a strong possibility that she may have found her biological sister (she knew her mother had a daughter and a son). And after what have probably been long, emotional exchanges, McGlade is arranging for a DNA test that may prove that the woman, who lives in New York state, is her sister.
“She saw the post and she was like, ‘Oh my God, that sounds like my mom’ and so she contacted me,” McGlade told People. “We’re still talking and it seems our stories are matching up. We both like tattoos and piercings and we have the same taste in music and we say the same phrases, it’s weird.”
Though she originally set up a GoFundMe page to fund the pricey DNA tests, lineage website Ancestry.com has offered to test the women for free in hopes that it will speed along McGlade’s search.
And for their part, McGlade’s adoptive family, where she is an only child, has been “really supportive” in her quest to find her mother, a woman who McGlade says she simply wants to get answers from at first.
“Then I would hope to have some kind of relationship with her,” she told People. “Because she’s my mom and she’s the reason I’m here.”
McGlade isn’t alone in her decision to turn to Facebook for answers. Last year, Carrie Leach posted a photo and message on the site asking for help in finding her biological mom. With the support of countless Facebook users, she quickly (like, in 24 hours) reconnected with her birth mother after 22 years.
“It’s amazing how much social media can affect things but it’s amazing how many people actually care,” Leach told USA Today, after her emotional reunion.
We’re hoping McGlade’s search for her mother has an equally happy ending.
(Image via Facebook)
