Woman Finds Siblings and Mom after Indiana Releases her Adoption Records

“Melissa Maldonado was born in Valparaiso and adopted as a baby girl. She grew up an only child and learned about the adoption before entering kindergarten. As Melissa grew, the questions grew.

“I’ve looked in my mirror and thought who do you look like? Who do you talk like,” said Maldonado.

Melissa’s mystery ended when Indiana’s adoption records law changed last July.

Melissa and other adoptees could finally request and get access to their original birth certificate.

The state has received about 3,382 requests for adoption records since June 1. The state says the actual number of requests could be a little lower since some of the requests could be duplicates.

As of December 31, 888 of those requests were completed.

The Indiana State Department of Health is advising people that it may take more than 20 weeks to process the request. State officials have a very detailed, multi-step process to log the request, check for matches, locate records, check paternity details and verify all information. Complicating the process, many records, particularly for older adoptions, are on microfilm or in old paper files.

Three months after requesting her info, Melissa’s original birth certificate arrived in the mailbox.

“42 years worth of answers on one piece of paper,” said Maldonado.

For the first time, Melissa knew something about her biological mother.

“I saw her name and I’m like, ‘Oh, my God. My mom has a name. That is so crazy,'” said Maldonado.

There were surprises. Maldonado’s mother wasn’t 13 years old when she gave birth as she had been told. She was 24. Melissa learned she had four siblings including an older brother who lived just a few blocks away from Melissa in Valpo.

“We went to the same elementary school, just different years,” said Maldonado.

“I’ve driven past her house countless times. You live in one town 46 years. Valpo’s not that big,” said Jeff Schroeder. “It’s just crazy that we’ve grown up in this same town and never crossed paths that we’re aware of.”

Jeff Schroeder said his parents divorced when he was two years old. Schroeder always knew he had an adopted sister out there.

“For years, I’ve wondered who is this? Is she here? I would often see girls at school that would be about the right age, that maybe had some similar red hair. I wonder if that’s her. You’d meet their parents and they’re both redheads. Ok, that’s definitely not her,” said Schroeder.

Melissa and Jeff met at a Wendy’s restaurant not far from where they both live.

“The minute I got out of the car I knew that she was my sister. It just clicked,” said Schroeder. “It was awesome. We hugged each other. It was like nobody ever missed a beat. There was no uncomfortableness. There was no awkwardness. Just a whole lot of love. Some day we’re going to look back on this amazing occasion where we finally got to meet each other and we did it at a Wendy’s.”

“I just kept staring at him,” said Maldonado. “The same blood that runs through my veins runs through his. I’m looking at his nose. They all say I have a pug nose. Does he have the pug nose? Knowing that’s my brother.”

It turns out, Melissa and Jeff knew some of the same people.

“(Jeff) graduated with my ex-husband. Apparently they went to school together. They graduated together,” said Maldonado.

“Her friends are my friends’ younger sisters. It’s a God thing. It’s crazy,” said Schroeder.

Melissa spent Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve with her older brother.

Melissa also has a relationship with her biological mom who lives in Texas.

Maldonado remembers that first phone conversation.

“I cried. I don’t even know how she understood what I was saying. It was a good hour of me sobbing,” said Maldonado.

“One of the first questions she asked me, promise me that you had a good life. That was her main concern. And, she wanted to know how many grandbabies she had. She reassured me that she loved me enough to make sure that I had a perfect life. She knew she couldn’t provide it at that time,” said Maldonado.

The two women talk on the phone twice a week and have plans to meet in person soon.

Until then, Melissa received a gift from her mom. A bracelet with Melissa’s birthstone. It says “daughter” in the middle of the heart.

“She looks like my mom… mannerisms, the way she laughs. The way she carries herself. Her looks. I told my older sister, you’re not going to believe it, she’s mom,” said Schroeder. “All my brothers and sisters are ecstatic over finally getting to meet her. My mom has had a harder time with this because that was a chapter in her life that she had closed. And it was opened back up again.”

“It’s so cool cause now I’ve got a big sister. I’ve got an older brother. I’ve got two younger sisters. I’ve got a younger brother. Just to be able to say that,” said Maldonado.

“I haven’t had a sibling in Valpo for 30 years. Now I do,” said Schroeder.

Melissa Maldonado now has answers to her past and an expanded family for the future.

“This just blows my mind. This is so much more than I could ever imagine,” said Maldonado.”

Indiana adoption records release: 42 years of answers on one piece of paper

[WTHR 1/15/19 by Scott Swan]

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