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In Reply to: Birthmoms, questions about Booth Memorial Hospital Chicago, 1970's posted by Kimberly Steele on October 03, 2006 at 01:13:47:
: I am a half-Japanese adoptee searching for my Japanese birthmother. I was born in 1973. I'm doing what I can to search for her, but I do not have high hopes because of the secretiveness of adoptions in the Chicago area in the 1970's.
: If you are a birthmom who stayed in the Booth Maternity program for unwed mothers, please write me at queenie@queeniemusic.com. I'd like to talk with you and hear your story, regardless of your status in finding your child.
: My biggest question is:
: Were you told that your child would be given sufficent information to contact you once he or she grew up?
: Because if that is what you were told, you were totally LIED TO. I was told when I was a kid that I was adopted and would have the opportunity one day to contact my birthfamily. I was lied to. I'm 33 now, and the State of Illinois has sealed the records to me.
: If you are a birthmom ISO your lost child, get on ISRR, but MORE IMPORTANTLY get on your state's reunion registry. This web site is great but there's no way of searching it.
: Some other questions:
: *Were you treated well, with good prenatal care?
: *Do you remember any names of the social workers or nurses that worked there?
: *Did you have to perform jobs, like cooking or cleaning as part of the program?
: *Did you get to look through photo books of potential adoptive parents?
Hi Queenie, I was at booth for the birth of my daughter in 1978. I kept my daughter but my roommate did not intend to keep her baby. The whole time we were there, it was made clear to us if we were giving our baby's up, the best thing for all of us was not to see or have any contact with them. I do not recall anything about being able to contact the adoptive parents or looking at photo books. We did have chores to do in the kitchen and keeping our rooms clean, I think dining room also, but it was no more than my weekly chores when I was at home, I do recall some of the girls feeling like we shouldn't have to do them but I figured they didn't have to do them at home. I remember Dr. Beltran being very nice and comforting, I was quite surprised at the way others felt about her. One of my favorite people while I was there was Brig. Findley. Even though it was clear she believed pregnancy without marriage was unacceptable, she was not mean, rude or condescending, she seemed to feel sorry for the struggles to come and constantly reminded me that prayer help me more than anything she could say. Back to my roommate, she said all through her pregnancy she did not want to keep the baby, even her mother was telling her she would take care of the baby if she would just bring the baby home. So all of her counseling time was aimed at her giving the baby up for adoption. We talked all the time even after we left Booth for a while and she told me in the end the idea she would never know if a kid she saw in public could be hers was what finally made her decide to keep her baby. She said the idea of never being able to know the kid after she finished college and got her life together was something she didn't want to deal with. I won't say that was an easy time in my life by no means, but it was not a nightmare for me as it clearly was for others. I wish I knew what to say to help you, but I don't recall any promises of future contact, frankly I always thought they went out of their way to scare you into keeping your baby.