Daughter Reunites With Biological Mother After 36 Years, Realizes They Were Ex Co-Workers
A mother who gave up her unplanned child for adoption when she was just 19 years old made a startling discovery after it was revealed that she and the child had actually worked together before.
Wendy Novak was pretty much not ready for motherhood that resulted from a date rape. Despite getting pregnant against her will, it never occurred to her, though, to have the baby aborted. Rather, she decided to proceed with the pregnancy and gave her up for adoption at the Lutheran Social Services in North Dakota.
"It's against me… there's so many parents out there who can't have children. I had a wonderful mom and dad. I wanted her to have that," Novak told Inside Edition.
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Thankfully, true to Novak's wishes, the child that she gave up for adoption landed under the ward of a couple who would not only give her a better life but also the love that real parents can offer. Furthermore, the couple who adopted the child, Stan and Mary Krogh, did not hide the truth from the child and told her that she is adopted. Despite knowing at a young age that the parents she has are not her biological mother and father, Heather Swenson said that it made her feel even a bit special.
Swenson revealed that her adoptive parents had always expressed their support should she want to find out who her real parents are. When she was in her 20s, Swenson took some steps to find her real mother. After obtaining the forms, though, she dilly-dallied in filling them out.
Unknown to Swenson, Novak, now 55 years old, also procured forms that would serve as the first step to finding the daughter she gave up decades ago. However, thanks to fears and what ifs, she just left the forms sitting on her dresser for weeks.
Novak's sister-in-law finally talked her into looking for her first child. With the help of Lutheran Social Services, the documents were finally handed to Swenson. From there, the mother and daughter agreed on the date of their first meeting: January 21 this year, Swenson's birthday.
As they met on the said date, tears overflowed. However, Novak and Swenson realized that they have already known each other as both worked in a department store in Minnesota years back, where the former was assigned at the office while the latter was assigned at the cosmetics department, as per Yahoo.
For Swenson, now 36, the decision of Novak to have her adopted was commendable, especially with the desire for her to have loving parents.
"She made a choice to give me a mom and a dad. A lot of people would want to terminate a pregnancy that occurred because of something like that. What an amazing woman she is to make a decision like that," Swenson said.
The reunited mother and daughter live 15 miles apart but communicate online regularly. They spent their first ever Mother's Day together last week.l
