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

Sep 12, 2020

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.

She 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.

69 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.

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.