Mother Told Her Baby Died at Birth. 69 Years Later, Tears Flow When They Finally Meet
It could serve as the plot for a thriller: A woman struggles through all of the agonies of labor only to be told that she can’t see her newborn.
When she asks why she receives a heart-stopping answer. “Your baby is dead,” the medical professionals tell her — but they’re wrong.
This is exactly what happened to Tampa, Florida, resident Genevieve Purinton when she gave birth at the tender age of 18.
According to KSAZ, 88-year-old Purinton had lived much of her life believing that she was alone. All of her nuclear and extended family had passed away.
She’d given birth to a daughter when she was an unmarried teen. But she’d always thought that little life had ended moments after her birth.
“I said I wanted to see the baby,” she recalled. “They told me she died.”
There was just one problem: The baby was very much alive. However, the reasons for the medical professionals’ deceit is less clear.
NBC News reported that all Purinton could remember was the news of her daughter’s death. In truth, though, that little baby got adopted by a couple in California.
She grew up as Connie Moultroup in the southern half of the Golden State. But even if the doctors and nurses had hoped to hide Moultroup from the stigma of illegitimacy, her status as an adoptee didn’t shield her from strife.
Her adoptive mother died when she was very young and her father remarried. Moultroup’s new stepmother didn’t get along with her.
“She would fantasize about her mother rescuing her since she was 5-years-old,” Moultroup’s own daughter, Bonnie Chase, told Newsweek. “It’s truly her lifelong dream.”
Moultroup was able to realize that dream thanks to a gift from Chase. Moultroup’s daughter got her a DNA testing kit.
“I discovered I had a first cousin whose mother was named Genevieve Purinton,” Moultroup said. “When we talked on the phone, she said, ‘That’s my aunt’s name and she’s still alive.’”
Purinton was living in a Tampa, Florida, retirement center. After several phone conversations, they decided to meet face to face.
“She couldn’t deny me if she wanted to,” Moultroup exclaimed. “We look exactly alike.
“It has been amazing to finally meet my mother. There was nothing but tears of joy.”
Tears of joy indeed as mother and daughter embraced for the first time in 69 years. Purinton is no longer alone, and we wish this newly reunited family all the best as they begin this holiday season together.
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