Beth Cole was 19 years old, a sophomore at Taylor University in Indiana, when she got pregnant. She had to make one of the biggest decisions of her life: to give the baby up for adoption or raise the child as a single teen mom. She recalls how she felt at that exact moment, telling 10 Tampa Bay:
“For me, choosing life was always going to be the option. It just really seemed, for me, adoption was just a win-win scenario. It’s a joy that I would have been able to give to another family.”
When her daughter, Rebecca, was born on October 3, 1993, Beth passed her on to her adoptive family after properly saying goodbye.
She could not wholly stay in touch with Rebecca, but Rebecca’s adoptive family always sent Beth yearly school photos of the little girl. An emotional Beth shared,
“I never regretted my decision to place. I always knew I did the right thing, but sometimes the right thing is a really hard thing to do.”
Fast forward to 2020 when Rebecca, now with a husband and family, began to feel this persistent urge to find her birth mother.
Time and technology were on her side. She began searching online for someone who could help find her mother through birth records.
“I went online and was looking through a bunch of sites, and once we had the birth certificate, they started looking for Beth. I think it was the same day that I was able to give him the full legal name that he texted me pictures and said, ‘We found her. She lives in Florida.’ It was just overwhelming at first,” she told 10 Tampa Bay.
This was a surprise Beth wasn’t expecting. When Rebecca first reached out, Beth was stunned. She wasn’t expecting this day to come. The two began to exchange text messages until they decided to continue their conversations through video chats. Beth was thrilled to finally ‘meet’ Rebecca again and see her granddaughter, Addy, for the first time. The ecstatic mom shares,
“We connected over text and video chat. I was like, ‘Just to let you know, I’m gonna have to see you. Like, this is going to happen, COVID or not. We’re doing this.'”
Wasting no time, Beth flew to Michigan in July to see Rebecca face to face. It was a weekend nothing short of magical, with lots of hugging and laughing.
The mother and daughter pair both agree that it just felt so natural.
According to Beth,
“It was easy like we’ve always known each other.”
Rebecca added,
“It was just crazy how natural it was and how it felt like we’ve just known each other our entire lives.”
When Beth and her family returned to Florida, she and Rebecca continued making plans. They scheduled another family reunion for Rebecca to meet her grandparents. It was priceless for Beth to see her daughter living a beautiful life and finally being able to become a part of it.
“Now, what my family looks like today is the bonus of a beautiful 27-year-old daughter. It’s a huge leap from then to now.”
The entire experience inspired Beth to start her website where assistance would be offered to those searching for long-lost family members. Everything fell into place beautifully, with families reunited and connections strengthened.
Watch their beautiful story below!
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