I expected to feel jealousy.
Instead, I felt a gratitude so profound it hurt.
“She loved you,” I said.
Vanessa nodded.
“Very much.”
“Then I’m glad she was your mother.”
Vanessa covered her mouth.
I squeezed her hand.
“You should never have had to choose between us.”
A few days later, the last pieces of the adoption mystery began coming together.
Investigators had identified an intermediary who had worked with private adoptions during the late 1990s.
Additional records showed discrepancies between the documents retained by Vanessa’s family and those associated with the hospital.
The signature on my purported relinquishment papers did not match authenticated examples of my handwriting.
More importantly, the records indicated that the papers had been executed while I was recovering from serious complications and receiving medication that left me unable to participate meaningfully in legal decisions.
A former administrative employee, now retired, provided information about the unusual handling of the file.
