COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — In 1970, a 16-year-old, pregnant with a little girl, delivered her baby at Grant Hospital. In a meeting 54 years in the making, that woman and her daughter reunited at the hospital where she once said goodbye.
Now 70, mother Carla Lemaster said that policies at the time did not allow her to see her newborn or, years later, allow her to search for her.
“I was 16 and I became pregnant,” Lemaster said. “I was from a strict home. My parents loved me, but I was from a strict home, and I knew that I wouldn’t have the support that I would need.”
She said that period of her life was dark. Lemaster describes delivering her baby alone and in a matter of moments, having that little girl being taken away.
“I had her and they swiftly took her away,” Lemaster said. “I didn’t get to touch her, count her toes or anything.”
Lemaster said she spent decades wondering where her little girl landed.
For daughter Pamela Easley, there has always been a curiosity about where she came from. She said she searched for Carla after gaining access to her adoption records. It took courage, but Easley finally sent her biological mother a letter. She said the letter was received and that was the method of communication for a while.
“We did a lot, maybe a year before we had the first phone call, it was a while, a lot of letter writing, a lot of sharing of photos all through the mail,” Easley said.
On Wednesday, the pair were reunited in person. The two walked the halls of Grant Hospital, a much different feeling than the visit 54 years ago.
“I sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to her on March the 20th,” Lemaster said. “She didn’t know me. I knew she felt it in her heart.”
The reunited mother and daughter are excited about what’s to come, like meeting extended family on both sides, including Easley’s sons and LeMaster’s sisters as well as exploring central Ohio.