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(AP) |
27년전 태어난 직후 패스트푸드 식당 화장실에 버려진 여성이 소셜미디어를 통해 생모와 재회하는데 성공했다고 27일(현지시간) ABC 방송 등 미국 언론이 보도했다.
당시 '버거킹 아기'로 알려진 캐서린 데프릴은 지난 2일 생모를 찾는다는 메시지를 페이스북에 올렸다.
그는 "나는 어머니가 한 행동을 따지려는 것이 아니며 궁금했던 것을 알고 싶다"는 요지의 글을 올렸다.
데프릴은 이 글과 함께 자신의 발견 당시 상황을 적은 내용과 사진도 올렸다. 그러자 페이스북에서 수 만명이 데프릴의 글을 공유했다.
이 덕분에 데프릴은 지난 24일(현지시간) 생모와 재회하는데 성공했다.
신분 공개를 꺼린 생모는 아기를 출산할 당시 16살 학생이었으며, 국외에서 성폭행을 당해 부모에게도 임신 사실을 알리지 못했다고 밝혔다.
특히 아기가 누군가에게 빨리 발견될 수 있도록 사람이 많은 버거킹 화장실에 두고 갔다고 설명했다.
모녀의 상봉 장소에는 데프릴의 양모와 생모의 남편도 함께 했다.
27년전 브렌다와 칼 홀리스 부부에게 입양된 데프릴은 3명의 자녀를 둔 엄마이자 응급구조 전문가가 됐다. 생모 역시 데프릴이 살고 있는 펜실베이니아주에서 계속 살아온 것으로 드러났다. (연합)
<관련 영문 기사>
'Burger King Baby' finds birth mom, feels 'pure joy'
A woman who, as a newborn, was abandoned in the bathroom of a Pennsylvania fast-food restaurant said Tuesday she has found her birth mother just three weeks after launching a search that garnered worldwide attention.
Katheryn Deprill, 27, said she felt "pure joy'' when she met her biological mother for the first time Monday at an attorney's office. And, after she learned the sad details of her conception and abandonment, she said she understood why her mom did what she did.
"She is better than anything I could've ever imagined. She is so sweet and amazing. I'm so happy,'' said Deprill, who has become known as the Burger King Baby.
Deprill began her quest on March 2 by posting on her Facebook page a photo in which she held up a sign that said, "Looking for my birth mother... She abandoned me in the Burger King bathroom only hours old, Allentown PA. Please help me find her by sharing my post.''
The photo was shared more than 30,000 times by Facebook users around the world, and Deprill's story landed in numerous media outlets. That caught the attention of the woman who abandoned her, and she came forward to attorney John Waldron, who arranged for them to meet.
Deprill said she bears a very strong resemblance to the woman, whose name she wouldn't disclose.
"It looked like I was looking in a mirror,'' she said.
Deprill, an emergency medical technician and married mother of three who lives outside Allentown in South Whitehall Township, said she embraced her mother.
"I got the hug that I had wanted for the last 27 years, and that broke the ice,'' she said. "I asked if I could have it, and she said, 'absolutely,' and just held her arms open, and the rest is history.''
The pair met for about four hours and exchanged contact information. Deprill said they plan to meet again.
"We are definitely going to have a relationship,'' she said.
Deprill declined to address the circumstances of her abandonment, referring those questions to Waldron.
The attorney said the woman said that, as a 16-year-old, she was raped while traveling abroad and became pregnant. The woman said she hid the pregnancy from her parents and, after giving birth in her bedroom, felt she could not take her newborn to the hospital because she would have to answer questions.
Waldron had his staff prepare for the reunification with flowers, chocolates and boxes of tissues. Deprill, who had launched the search with the blessing and encouragement of her adoptive parents, was accompanied by her adoptive mother and her youngest son, 7-month-old Jackson.
"It was one of the most emotional, joyful, dramatic, exciting things I've ever seen,'' Waldron said, adding there's no doubt in his mind that his client is Deprill's mother.
"If you sat there for five minutes and heard them and watched them and observed them and looked at them, you would know,'' he said.
The woman had decided about six months ago to launch her own search for the daughter she gave up.
Deprill said her birth mother expressed regret during their tear-filled meeting. She said she forgave her "110 percent, absolutely.'' (AP)
