Lonely Woman Spends 69 Years Believing Baby Died At Birth, Hears Voice Say ‘I’m Not Dead’

Dec 15, 2021 by apost team

Cheap genetic tests are changing the world. For people who were adopted, it's making it possible to track down relatives.

In 2017, a Richmond, Vermont, woman named Connie Moultroup received a DNA kit as a Christmas gift from her daughter, Bonnie Chase. Moultroup, who was adopted, had no idea who her mother was — until the test, that is. Moultroup, an older woman who was in her late 60s at the time of the test, likely knew the odds were poor that her mother was still alive, but she wanted to find out what she could.

Armed with her own DNA results, daughter Chase got in contact with a group of cousins, as NBC News reports. It was thanks to these relatives that she and her mother heard about Genevieve Purinton. The news that Moultroup’s mother might still be alive was particularly special given her upbringing.

Moultroup’s original adoptive mother died when she was just 5 years old, leaving her with an abusive stepmother, according to NBC News.

"She would fantasize about her mother rescuing her since she was 5-years-old," Chase told the outlet of her mother. "It's truly her life-long dream."

More than 1,500 miles away in Tampa, Florida, Purinton was an old woman living in an assisted living facility. At the time of this story, she was 88 years old and had outlived all eight of her siblings. Over the years, they had all died. She was the only one left.

She had given birth to only one child a long time ago in 1949 in Gary, Indiana, a little girl that died in childbirth — or so she was told.

"I asked to see the baby and they said she died, that’s all I remember," Purinton told NBC News. 

Things were different back then. Purinton was just 18 and unwed when that baby came into this world. When she asked to see the child, she was told it had died at birth.

In an interview with The New York Times, genetic specialist CeCe Moore explained that Moultroup and Purinton’s story isn’t unheard of.

“It is clear that many unscrupulous, cruel individuals fraudulently separated mothers from their children for profit, believing no one would ever discover their crimes,” the genetic genealogist explained.

“Many of those individuals tested out of simple curiosity about their ethnic origins and were met with an unexpected, often life-changing, surprise when they received their results,” Moore added.

Purinton never saw her baby girl. It would be nearly seven decades before she learned that what she was told had been a lie.

Of course, Purinton is Moultroup’s mother. Moultroup was able to find her address and travel to see her and tell her in person that she was alive while they exchanged a tearful hug.

Nearly 70 years after being told her baby girl had died, her baby girl told her personally, "I'm not dead." And now Purinton is no longer alone in this world.

She not only has an adult daughter, but she also has grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She suddenly has a big family again, after her family had dwindled down to nothing over the years.

“It was just a cool Christmas present and it has completely changed our lives," Chase told NBC News.

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Apost.com readers responded to Purinton and Moultroup’s story with a mixture of emotions. Some found the story touching, while others were appalled that someone would separate a mother and her child.

“I remember hearing stories like this...It went on during that time period. Unbelievably cruel…” Pamela Stansbury wrote. 

“This is a really sad story but with a happy ending. 😢😊👏👏 I'm so glad the elderly woman had finally tracked down her long-lost daughter (whom she believed had died),” Lloyd Denver McKay added.

As the popularity of at-home DNA tests rises, more and more people are discovering long-lost family members.

According to a Pew Research Center survey from 2019, around “one-in-seven U.S. adults (15%) say they have ever used a mail-in DNA testing service from a company such as AncestryDNA or 23andMe.” This makes the likelihood of finding a lost relative much higher than ever before. 

Jon Ward, vice president of consumer marketing and acquisition at 23andMe, said he and his company have taken note.

“We have noticed an increasing number of people becoming interested in genetic testing. Consumers are interested in discovering a range of information about themselves, from learning more of their background and where their ancestors came from, to identifying lost relatives or learning more about their health,” Ward told CNBC.

Like Moultroup, Laurie White was reunited with her youngest sister thanks to DNA testing. White, who made an appearance on “Megyn Kelly Today,” took a DNA test in 2018, and after seeing that she had a match, she discovered that the woman she had found was her long-lost sister, Amber Lenehan.

Thanks to advances in science and technology, we’re sure to see many more of these reunions in the future.

Is this the best cry you've had in a while? Do you know someone else who would love to see this heartwarming story? Let us know — and pass this on to friends and family members who might find this story inspiring.