real life

Genevieve thought her daughter died in childbirth. 69 years later, she finally hugged her.

 

In a tale fit for a Hollywood script, a woman who was falsely told her baby had died at birth, has finally been reunited with her daughter – 69 years from the day she was born.

Touted as a ‘Christmas miracle’, 88-year-old Genevieve Purinton was able to hug her daughter, Connie Moultroup, for the very first time last week.

As Fox 13 initially reported, their reunion stemmed from a discovery made from a DNA kit from Ancestry.com. The kit was a Christmas present Connie had received last year from her own daughter, Bonnie.

The mother-and-daughter’s first embrace took place in a Florida nursing home in which Genevieve is a resident, and as anyone could imagine, it was a tearful, yet overwhelmingly joyous occasion.

When Connie finally got around to using the DNA kit it led her to a cousin she had never met before.

Speaking to Yahoo Lifestyle, Connie described how the astonishing connection was made.

“I discovered I had a first cousin whose mother was named Genevieve Purinton — when we talked on the phone she said, ‘That’s my aunt’s name and she’s still alive,’” Connie explained.

69 years ago, Genevieve was told Connie died in childbirth.

At just 18 years old, Genevieve did not receive a death certificate to confirm her daughter’s passing.

“I was a young, unwed mum, and they said my baby died during birth,” Genevieve told Yahoo Lifestyle.

ADVERTISEMENT

Connie was adopted by a family in California, but her childhood was riddled with difficulty.

When Connie was just four years old, her mother died, and her adopted father quickly remarried a woman Connie didn’t get along with.

After her father died, too, Connie was raised solely by her stepmother from her teenage years onwards.

Over the years, she imagined meeting her real mum.

It wasn’t until last Christmas, when Connie’s daughter, Bonnie Chase, bought her a DNA kit, that her dreams would soon become a reality.

On September 8, Connie received a phone call that would change her life, for the better.

It was Genevieve.

“She said, ‘Where were you born? What year? I think I might be your mother.”

After a lengthy conversation, and bi-weekly phone calls following, the two women planned to reunite at her assisted living home.

Then, Connie says, everything seemed to click into place.

“I met my mother and my cousin in person, and we cried. It was just a crying fest,” Connie told CNN.

“Not everybody has this kind of outcome when looking for their parents, but I recommend you give it a try, you don’t know what will happen.”