Yesterday's Show: Have You Risen Above Difficult Circumstances?
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Baby Jane Doe & Miraculous Mary were both separately abandoned and left to die as infants, each only discovering who they were through headlines in the newspapers -- and the parallels don’t stop there. These two remarkable women meet for the first time on "Anderson" and share their inspirational stories.
Community Question
Have you risen above difficult circumstances?
Join the conversation.
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Comments
My ex-husband abandoned my children and me. We learned that he planned to not only abandon us, but to destroy us emotionally and financially. His brother with whom he had no relationship for 50 years. His brother never liked me because his divorced parents adored me and not his wife and his grandmother made me her medical directive, at everyone's surprise, because she could not trust her family. My ex- husband and I were having marital problems and my ex went to his brother, an attorney, to help dismantle our lives. For 15 months my ex treated the children and me with utter contempt. He found new friends and told them lies that he had to leave me because I was violent and the kids had been abusive. That was so far from the truth. He was the abusive one to us for several years before he left. He earns a large salary and is a pillar of the community so he was able to manipulate people into believing him. He dates women openly, spent money while we starved. Despite the horrors he bestowed upon us, I got divorce and the kids and I will do fine. To this day, we refuse any contact with him. He is a monster.
Is this full episode 'Abandoned at Birth" 11/24 available to view oon-line? Where? How?
What happened to the girl's (from San Francisco who ws found as an infant's) adopted mother? Her father died of brain cancer.Surely there were others in their adoptive family who knew her from time of her adoption who would be there for her. Something just doesn't sound right!
FYI the St Paul's Hospital in Vancouver, BC, Canada, has an Angel's Cradle - on the premises. This secluded cradle is there specifically for the purpose of Mom's who are having a difficult time with their pregnancies/life/health, etc. circumstances to leave their newborn child in a safe location. Within a few seconds of a child being placed in the cradle, an alarm goes off in the Emergency and the child is brought in for immediate care. They started this so that no child would ever be abandoned. You have probably heard about this but thought I would pass along the information - just in case. Didn't know where else to post this news. Thanks for the opportunity.
Just saying to Anderson about rising above difficult circumstances: We have some things in common: Our fathers died when we were 10/11, we both have siblings who committed suicide, both our mothers are/were hoarders/collectors! Not in common: I like veggies and a variety of food! I'm enjoying your show. Thanks.(didn't know where else to post it)
this was a very good show please continue doing well
no more reality messes with any horrible housewives of BF anywhere or the Jersey s*** which makes Americans look like idiots. Really Anderson this type of entertainment is not news and I think is above you
I agree with Alison's statement "It doesn't define me" I know how she feels. I too was left abandoned on the banks of the Ohio River in 1955. I knew I had been adopted but didn't learn of the abandonment until 1996 after my adoptive parents passed away and I tried to "search". No answers tho......
But after seeing your program hopefully 23andme can give me some answers. Here's hoping!!
Thank-you
WHAT AN AMAZING SHOW ...54 YEARS AGO I WAS LEFT IN A HOSPITAL BY MY BIOLOGICAL MOTHER ..UNWANTED UNNEEDED AND UNLOVED ..I WAS FORTUNATE I GUESS IN THAT A FAMILY MEMBER OF HERS CAME AND GOT ME AND RAISED ME AS THERE OWN ...UNTILL I WAS 13 IT WAS A FAMILY SECRET ..I ALWAYS FELT LIKE THE DIRTY LITTLE SECRET ....I NEER FELY L;IKE I FIT IN AND UNTILL I SAW YOUR SHOW I STILL DIDNT ....THE STRENGTH OF THESE 2 YOUNG LADIES TO OVER COME SUCH ODDS ...THE WAY THEY HAVE NOT ALLOWED THE CIR***STANCES OF THEIR BIRT NOT TO DEFINE THEM, HAD ME CRYING 4 HOURS AFTER THE SHOW WAS OVER ...I HAVE HAD A 54 YEAR LONG PITY PARTY ..POOR ME NO ONE LOES ME ...I HAVE HAD A FEW SUICIDE ATTEMPTS ..SPENT MUCH OF MY EARLY 20 IN A MENTAL HOSPITAL ...I COULD GO ON AND ON ...DID THE TYPICAL PREGNANT AT 16 SO I WOULD HAVE SOMEONE WHO LOVED ME ..ALL THE WRONG REASONS ....
THESE 2 YOUNG GIRLS CHANGED MY LIFE ...THEY DID 4 ME WHAT PAID PROFFESSIONALS ...MEDICATIONS ...SHOCK THEARPY ...COULD NOT DO ...THEY MADE ME BELIVE I WAS WORTHY OF SOMEONE LOVING ME ...THEY MADE ME LOOK AT THOSE WHO HAVE SAID THEY LOVED ME IN A WHOLE NEW LIGHT ....
I THANK YOU ALL FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY OLD HEART ..
BTW I HAVE SEEN EVERY EPISODE SO FAR AND YOUR SHOW IS RIGHT ON THE MONEY ...YOUR MOMS CHAT WAS BEAUTIFUL ...THE COJOINED GALS HAD ME SOBBING ...KEEP UP THE AMAZING WORK
Hello Anderson:
I am a fan of yours because you always report with integrity - THANK YOU for that!
I watched last Wednesday's show about the 2 women who were abandoned at birth. I was SHOCKED to learn that you lost your brother by suicide. Please accept my DEEPEST sympathies Anderson. Suicide is ALL TOO REAL in my life! I am 43 years old and am now an only child. Tragically, I've lost BOTH of my brother's by suicide. My precious brother Mike took his life back in the fall of 1981, he was only 19 years old. Then, the winter of 2007, my precious brother Matt took his life, he was 42 years old. WOW, HOW THIS HAS ROCKED MY WORLD! I live in beautiful northern Minnesota with my loving husband Dave and our awesome dog Duke!
Wishing you a BEAUTIFUL day filled with MUCH PEACE.
Sincerely,
Mary
mfedor@tds.net
My little cousin was one of my best friends, a beautiful little angel. She died at age three from rare complications following chicken pox and and the measels. It was the first experience that both her sister and I had with the death of someone we loved (I was five and her sister was 4). Both of us pursued the medical field as adults. My cousin works as a medical technologist, and I work in a cancer research lab. Though we lost our precious little one, it motivated us to become people who will help others. A fitting tribute to help soothe the pain of a tragic loss.
On October 30, 1998 my first husband was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. My daughter Zahra was 13 and her brother was 8. While the story of my husband's battle and subsequent death from cancer is a story itself, the bigger story is about fighting to help my daughter overcome both Bi-polar and Oppositional Defiance Disorder which involved years and years of therapy (in-patient as well as out-patient), the highest highs and the lowest lows and now finally success! I would love to be able to help other Moms who often do not understand and their children end up drug addicts or criminals because of this deadly mental health issue. Sadly I have only had the opportunity once it was too late and their children were already so damaged by their behaviour because of it.. Anyway, I couldn't save my husband, but I know I saved my daughter and that it was one hellacious thirteen year struggle we overcame.
Hi, Anderson (and staff)! I'm not sure if I should even be commenting because most of the comments here deal with adoption, but I have my own story of triumph (or attempting to triumph) over adversity.
My life was always very normal - did well in school, did excellent in college, and got a great job that I enjoyed. I had the whole world open to me, and life never looked better.
Then, within a year, I was diagnosed with multiple (and incurable) chronic illnesses - ankylosing spondylitis, trigeminal neuralgia, ulcerative colitis, and Sjogren's Syndrome. Despite trying desperately to hold onto everything that I worked so hard for, my body suc***bed, and I lost my job, my independence, and my identity. All this at 26 years old. I became miserable, bitter, and locked myself away from the world.
Then one day, I don't know how, it hit me: My conditions are permanent, progressive, and incurable. I'm going to have them no matter what. So I can be miserable and sick, or I can be positive and sick. I chose the latter.
I still fight my illnesses every day, and while I wouldn't go as far as to say that they're a blessing, I'm able to see the good and the positive in life that so many healthy people take for granted. The smallest things bring me pleasure, and my friends and doctors marvel at how I remain so positive and optimistic given my cir***stances.
I'm not sure if I'll ever triumph over my physical conditions, but I certainly have triumphed mentally, and that's enough for me.
What was the name of the web site and the company that did the ancestry testing for $99.00? I am interested in having that done, but cannot find it on line and cannot remember the name of the company. Please advise me. Thank you very much
Congratulations on your new show! Some funny and some sad. It's part of life, isn't it.
I would hope to see a show with grandmother's who's bond was broken with their (young and older grandchildren) after several years of being so close, due to the (so many different cir***stances) and (unjustified reasons) that do not justify denying grandparents access to to their precious much loved grandchildren. I don't know how to twitter and choose not to have any facebook account. I don't know any other way to send this to you. I do hope wholeheartedly that you receive this suggestion for one of your shows. Thank you in advance
The Mothers may not have been the ones who did the abandoning. The Mothers may have been very very young or too terrified to 'bring home' their own newborn daughters. The Mothers obviously felt too threatened to tell anyone of their condition or to explore the possibility of assistance on the road to becoming a Mother. The Mothers were abandoned long before their child was 'hidden' and I cannot bring myself to call it abandonment. My heart goes out to those Silent Unknown Mothers where ever they may be now. I hope they have finally found some sense of safety.