Natural mother Pearl Gillis and adoptee KC McLean were reunited in 2000 after serendipitously finding each other through a parent find/child find registry. While not every reunion is as successful as theirs, it is an inspiring story worth reading about. Here they tell a little bit about their own journeys in their own words...

My story is not much different from other mothers.

I was raised in a strict family and was expected to do as I was told and to never question.

At the age of 15 I became pregnant. I kept this secret from my parents for quite some time because of fear. I wanted to raise my child but was not allowed to. I tried everything possible to keep her. I had no support from family or from the father.

Read more of Pearl's story...

There wasn’t a time in my life that I didn’t know I was adopted. Growing up, my parents always referred to both of their children as their “miracle babies.” My brother was born to them against all odds, and I was adopted as a 3 month old infant, fulfilling their dream of having two children. My mom also told me that I was special because I was “twice chosen”: God chose for me to be born, and He chose for me to part of that family.

I had a great childhood and always wore my adoption as a badge of honour. One of my earlier memories was running into the house all flushed, with a boy from my street at my heels, and loudly saying, “Mom, tell Rory that I was too adopted! He won’t believe me!!” My mom calmly looked over the top of her glasses and said, “She’s adopted.” “See, Rory, I told you!”

Any sense of rejection or abandonment that I could have felt didn’t have a chance to thrive because of a strong and loving family that used positive language and that celebrated me as a unique individual.

Read more of KC's story...