When Thornton's Carol Burns received a letter in 1992 about 'an incident' that occurred 25 years earlier, she thought her life was over, her husband would leave her and she would be alone.
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Little did she know it was a letter that was about to change her life for the better and one that would reunite her with the baby she adopted out in 1967.
Being unwed and pregnant at aged 21 during the 1960s was taboo.
Carol was nursing, fell pregnant and was sent to Crown Street Hospital to see a social worker. "She got me a position with a well to do television family at their home in Whale Beach. I looked after their two children," Carol said.
"Back then there was no social security, no single parent's pension and no one wanted to know you. I thought I wouldn't be able to raise a child on my own. I found out the father of my child was actually married and was supposed to be separated."
"I had no help, no financial help from anyone and I thought adoption was the best thing to do hoping my baby would get a good home and have a happy and secure life," Carol said.
The pain of parting with her infant after she was delivered cannot be explained, Carol said. "They put a pillow up so I couldn't see her after she was born but a few days later I found a nice nurse who took me to the nursery and I could see her behind a glass window - the first and last time I saw her. It broke my heart and I never got over it."
For Carol life went on. She had named her baby Alison and still had the image of her tiny pink bundle behind the glass window etched on her mind. "I'd look at babies and wonder if that was her. In later years the news broke that Anita Cobby was murdered and she would have been around the same age as Alison. Again I wondered if that was her," Carol said.
But when adoption laws changed in the early 1990s Carol prayed she would find her daughter - and she did.
Annette Pullman from the small town of Tinonee near Taree had been doing her homework.
Through the Benevolent Society Carol was sent a letter. A follow up phone call revealed that Annette was looking for her biological mum.
The mother and daughter were reunited 10 days later on the side of the M1. "We both jumped out of our cars and we had the biggest hug - it was an odd location but that's just how it happened."
Carol will speak about her journey at the Benevolent Society's Post Adoption Resource Centre Adoptions Connection meeting on Tuesday from 6pm at Level 1, 14 Garnett Road, East Maitland. People can register for the event on (02) 9504 6788 or 1300 659 814 or email PARC@benevolent.org.au.
