The AP recently ran a story on Minka Disbrow, a 100 year-old birth mother who was reunited with her daughter. According to the article, Disbrow gave birth to her daughter, who she named Betty Jane, after being raped as a teenager.
After placing her daughter for adoption, Disbrow regularly sent letters to the adoption agency requesting updates on Betty Jane. The article said that the agency responded for several years but stopped after a change in management.
Disbrow eventually re-married and had two more children but said in the article that she always thought about the daughter she placed for adoption.
According to the article, as Disbrow grew older she believed she would never meet her first child. However, in 2006 she received a phone call from Mark Lee, who asked if she would like to speak with Betty Jane. It turns out that Betty Jane was adopted by a pastor family and re-named Ruth Lee. Ruth was told about her adoption from an early age. Mark, one of her sons, is an astronaut who, according to the article, has circled the world 517 times.
Ruth Lee said she never searched for her biological parents until she was in her 70’s and had heart issues. At that point her sons began helping her search for medical records.
Ruth and Minka have gotten together numerous times since re-uniting in 2006.
“It was just like we had never parted,” Disbrow said in the article. “Like you were with the family all your life.”