When Nancy Womac was 16 years old, she learned that she was pregnant, but instead of being scared, she felt happy.
She wanted the baby. She loved the baby that was growing inside her.
Nancy’s childhood wasn’t easy. Her grandparents raised Nancy until she was ten years old. Unfortunately, her grandparents were old, and they got sick.
Nancy, together with her sister, was sent to an orphanage. That was just the start of her tough life. One day, her sister was gone.
They told her that her sister decided to strengthen her faith by going to Bethesda Home for Girls.
A mother’s love for her unborn child
After a few years, Nancy fell in love and found out that she was pregnant.
The director asked her to pack her bag because she will go to Bethesda as well.
“I loved her from the first time I knew I was pregnant,” Nancy recalled the little baby inside herss. “Never stopped loving her.”
Her life was hard and she promised herself that she will make her baby’ life better.
The Bethesda Home
Bethesda Home for Girls was in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The controversial preacher Lester Roloff was the founder of the said sanctuary that caters to troubled kids.
They advertised it as a holy place of worship, a sanctuary that will love and care for troubled children.
The home was closed because of court filings that found out Bethesda was an illegal detention center. Girls who were inside were abused and lived in fear.
“You just learn after a while, after being abused and slapped I guess survival mode kicks in. Just let me get through this day,” she said to NBC News.
Nancy held on, even though life was tough inside Bethesda. She waited for the day that she would see her child. She was excited and hopeful.
They took her to East Ridge, Tennessee, where she was to deliver her baby.
Stolen
Nancy was to deliver her baby in an unknown location.
“I remember going into labor, and they just give me a shot and put me out,” teary-eyed, Nancy recalled her experience. “I don’t remember having her. I don’t remember them wheeling me into the delivery room. I don’t remember nothing. She was then gone by the time I woke up.”
Nancy’s baby was stolen from her.
She was crying, confused, scared, and in pain. She asked them about her daughter, and they coldly told her that she wasn’t supposed to know any detail about the child.
Just like that, Nancy’s baby, the love of her life, was gone. An event that will haunt her for more than 40 years.
“She was my first born,” Nancy said. “It’s something that you never really get over.”
Reunited after 40 long years
After a few years, Bethesda’s secrets were finally uncovered. The facility closed, but there were many cases where babies were stolen and sold. Many women are still looking for their children.
Miles away, Nancy’s little girl was adopted.
She grew up as Melanie Spencer and spent her first few years in South Africa and Indonesia. Her adoptive parents were missionaries, and she did have a good life, but someone was thinking about her every single day.
“I remember thinking, ‘Well, she should be taking her first step now,’ or, ‘She should have lost her first tooth,’ or, ‘Her first day of school should have started,'” Nancy said. “And every year on her birthday, I know it didn’t make any sense, but I always baked her a cake. She would be 12 today. She would be 13 today. She would be 14 today.”
Nancy’s heart never healed. How could it?
Can you imagine not knowing where your baby is? What happened to her? Where is she now? Does she eat three times a day?
All these questions haunted Nancy for more than forty years!
When Melanie had her children, she decided to look for her birth mother.
I really started thinking about what will I tell them about where they’re from,” Melanie said. “I decided to do Ancestry. The most interesting part was that it came up with a DNA match. It had been almost 40 years, and I thought, ‘Why not?'”
The DNA results led Melanie to her aunt, Cheryl Blackwell. They exchanged messages and finally, she was able to send a message to Nancy, her birth mother.
The mother and daughter met.
Nancy introduced Melanie’s siblings and they shared hours of getting to know each other.
The mother who had longed for her little girl can now tell her how much she loved her.
Nancy’s experience was heartbreaking, she won’t forget it, and it’s understandable, but now, she is focused on getting to know her daughter and spending time with her.
Watch the full story below and don’t forget to get some tissue.
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