Adopted man finds birth mother just in time for Mother's Day
HUMBLE, Texas (KTRK) -- Chris Whiteside received an Ancestry.com subscription from the only mother he's ever personally known.
"She wanted me to know where I came from," he said.
He was adopted a few months after he was born in San Diego, in 1979. "I knew as a child I was adopted," he said. "As a child, I thought she didn't want me, but as an adult, I realized she was young and couldn't raise me."
Ancestry.com provided a list of relatives, who provided information on his birth father, who had already died. His mother remained a mystery.
His adoptive parents later gave him his baby book, with sweet details of his first words and what he was wearing when he was given to them. There was also a description of his birth mother, which read, "she tried very hard to parent him, but it was hard because she had no support from family or friends. She began to realize adoption was the best plan because she wasn't able to have her own needs met."
The search was on hold until he went on social media, posting a picture of her that was given to his adoptive mother. He had only a first name, Patty.
Last week, he received a lead that led to a full name and a phone number in Arizona.
"I messaged her and asked if I could call," he said. "She said she was nervous because she thought I would be mad at her for giving me up."
When they spoke Saturday, Whiteside said, "I told her I loved her. She said she always thought of me on my birthday and hoped I had a great life growing up."
He did, because of the family who adopted him. "I was my (adoptive) mother's only child, because she was unable to have children," he said.
Patty and her son will meet soon at her home in Arizona. "I'm going to go by myself first, because I think it's something I need to do on my own," he said. He plans to bring his wife and daughter on another visit.
He loves his adoptive parents, "but the biological bond is different," he explained. "I called my adoptive mom first on Mother's Day," he said, "and I told her I loved her."
