Winnipeg woman searches for child whose heritage was hidden when she gave him up in 1979

Lynn Paul wants to fill a hole in her life that's been there since she gave up her baby for adoption in 1979 and fill a hole in his knowledge about himself.

Paulwants to find her son and let himknow about his heritage, which was not correct on the adoption forms she filled out, following the advice of her own mother.

"I'm Indigenous. I am Cree, Ojibway and Mtis, and so there's Scottish and Welsh and all British area that are covered in my genetic background. I would like him to know that he is Indigenous."

When she turned 53 earlier this month, Paul decided to put her name on the Manitoba Post-Adoption Registry to see if she can find her son.The registry does not facilitate reunions but it allows birth parents and adoptees to put their names on a list showing they are interested in finding family and allowing access to their records.

In 1979, Paul was 14 and pregnant.

Mother on why she wants to meet child

7 years ago

Duration 1:01

Lynn Paul wants to fill a hole in her life that's been there since she gave up her baby for adoption in 1979 and fill a hole in his knowledge about himself.

Her parents weren't prepared to help her raise the baby, so it was decided she should give her child up for adoption.

On July 8, 1979, she gave birth to a baby boy at theMisericordia Hospital in Winnipeg. She named him Robert Michael.

She only got to hold him for a short time.

"One of the nurses said it wasn't advisable for me to get attached, but I wanted those moments," Paul said.

"So I chose to spend as much time as I could with him.I fed him bottles and I looked at his little hands and his feet, and I smelled him. You know that baby smell."

When the papers were done and taken care of, I asked her, "Why? Why Welsh?" And she goes, "Unfortunately, people don't want to adopt mixed-race babies"- Lynn Paul

Her mother told her to put down Welsh for her ethnicity when she was filling out the adoption paperwork.

"When the papers were done and taken care of, I asked her, 'Why? Why Welsh?' Like, what was Welsh? And what part did it have in my life? And she goes, 'Unfortunately, people don't want to adopt mixed-race babies,'" Paul said.

Paul was discharged from the hospital two days later and never saw her baby again, but she never forgot him.

"I think about this child just about every day, and he's not a child any more, he's a man. You know, the first Mother's Days were very hard; his birthdays were hard," she said.

• Manitoba adoptees', birth parents' identities revealed under new legislation

The paperwork for the Post-Adoption registry is still going through, so Paul put the only photo she has of her son on Facebook, along with information about his birth, to see if social media might find him.

The post has been shared more than 6,000 times.

Paul said her baby's adoptive parents were in their 30s at the time of adoption and may be in their 70s now.

"Maybe at this point in time he may have a family of his own where he's looking for medical history," Paul said.

"He can ask me whatever he wants."

Winnipeg woman searches for child

7 years ago

Duration 2:05

Lynn Paul wants to fill a hole in her life that's been there since she gave up her baby for adoption in 1979 and fill a hole in his knowledge about himself.

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