Former Rosalie Manor Resident and Son Reunite

From 1908 through 1996, Rosalie Manor Community & Family Services was a home for single pregnant women. Throughout those 88 years, Rosalie served thousands of young women, the majority of whom gave their children up for adoption. One of Rosalie's former residents was recently reunited with her son. This is their amazing story.

In January 1977, Margaret Herrington entered Rosalie Manor, then on the grounds of Elmbrook Memorial Hospital. On June 6, 1977, her son, Ryan Thomas (now Adam) was born. Margaret remembers Rosalie well. "One of the Misericordia Sisters, Sr. Hugette, was one of the most special people I have ever met. In 2000, when I was searching for my son, I contacted her, and she still remembered me after all of these years. We have been in contact since that time."

Since putting her son up for adoption, she has always wanted to reunite with him. "I have never had any other children. When people asked me if I was a mother, it was very difficult for me to answer. Mother's Day was especially challenging." When Adam was 21 years old, Margaret put a letter in his adoption file stating that she would like to meet him. Then in 2000, she updated the file with medical information.

Around the same time, Adam decided to search for his birth mom. "I always knew I was adopted and I would wonder about my birth mom on birthdays and other occasions, but it wasn't until this time that I seriously considered searching. I was concerned about my parents reaction to a search. But, my mom was the one who brought it up. She encouraged me to move forward with the search." While Adam was fully prepared never to find his birth mom, he did register his information with www.adoptionregistry.com.

On May 26, 2002, Margaret visited the aforementioned web site and "within a half an hour, a match was revealed," stated Margaret. And while both were quite sure that there wasn't another "Ryan" born on June 6, 1977 at Elmbrook Memorial Hospital, they wanted to be certain.

Through an email, Adam wrote, "...so it looks like we found a perfect match. Just to be safe though, I have a blanket hanging on my wall that my birth mother knitted for me. It is blue and white and is my symbol of strength and perseverance when I wake up each day. If you knitted that, I think we can say we've got ourselves a match."

"Giving birth was the most miraculous experience in my life. I was told I could give him a present, so I crocheted a blue and white blanket that I gave to him when he was six weeks old." Margaret and Adam did indeed have a perfect match. While there were many things Margaret wondered about, she was most curious about "Ryan's" name. "I always hoped that part of Ryan's name would be kept, " and it was. Born Ryan Thomas, his adoptive parents changed his first name to Adam, but kept the middle name, Thomas.

"I was very excited to learn that the name Thomas was kept. I had a brother, Thomas, who was named after my mother's brother." As it turns out, Adam's adoptive dad's name is Thomas, and Adam has a relative whose name is, Ryan Thomas. Adam credits Margaret with blessing him with two loving families. In an email to Margaret, Adam writes, "If I was ever given the opportunity (I wanted to say) THANK YOU! Thank you so much for having the strength and courage to bring me into this world. I feel truly blessed to be alive and to have been placed with the loving family that I have (a wonderful mother and father and 4 sisters). My parents told me about you from the beginning and I have always had the most profound respect for you." The two met for the first time on June 27 in Milwaukee (Margaret now lives in Arizona). Margaret describes, "It was a perfect day. We walked arm-and-arm to a nearby picnic table laughing seeing the resemblance in one another's faces."

Margaret and Adam definitely share similarities. Adam stated that they are linked in their world view, expression in their writing, and most importantly, spiritual beliefs. They both say that they are "cut from the same bolt of soul fabric." They certainly speak in similar ways, and their love of life is extremely evident. Adam stated, "We are definitely a case study for the nature vs. nurture debate!"

Even though the two were disconnected physically 25 years ago, their lives seem to have traveled down similar paths. Tommy, Margaret's brother, along with her mother, died in a car accident when Margaret was very young. "I have often felt the parallels between Adam and myself in not knowing our birth mother, being given an amazing second mom, and now see the gift of rebirth through our reunion, which has been truly a miracle of healing larger than us all."

Margaret and Adam have shared very special and intimate moments, and are working on creating their own memories. We certainly appreciated hearing their remarkable story, and their willingness to share their lives with us.