Mother and Daughter Reunited after 50 Years Apart

By Esther

June 27, 2017

Cathy searched for many years for her daughter Karen but was never able to find her. It took 50 years after mother and baby were separated for them to reunite through a MyHeritage DNA match.

Watch the emotional TV segment below:

When Cathy got pregnant at the age 16 in Pittsburgh in 1966, she was sent to a Catholic home for unwed mothers, where she was forced to hand over her daughter for adoption. She was allowed to see her baby just briefly after the delivery before the child was whisked away to the nursery.

Cathy as a teenager in the 1960s.

There wasn’t a day that went by that Cathy didn’t think about the daughter she’d had to give up, wondering where she was and if she was happy.

Karen grew up in a loving and warm adoptive family, but she always yearned to meet her mother who had given her up for adoption. She recalls being assigned to create a family tree in third grade and not knowing where to start because she had no information about her biological family. Throughout Karen’s search for her roots, her adoptive parents were incredibly supportive of her journey and helped her along the way.

The search went on for years, to no avail. Then one day, Karen’s husband learned that he could upload her raw DNA data for free to MyHeritage. In only a few days, Karen received a close DNA match, and it all came together. After a 50-year wait, Cathy was finally able to reconnect with her daughter.

As a first visit, Cathy flew from Baltimore to Greensboro, North Carolina to meet Karen and her family. They have lots of catching up to do.

Karen (left) and Cathy (right) meeting at the PTI Airport in North Carolina.

They are enjoying spending time together and getting to know one another. The two have plenty in common, besides their similar taste in haircuts and tattoos, and their love of garden flags and animals.