Oregon Law Allows Son to Meet Mother after 69 years

“Betty Lorsung remembers 1953 like it was yesterday.

The events of that year have been seared into her heart and mind since the day her parents gave her their orders: The 15-year-old Coos Bay girl would have to give up her infant son for adoption as soon as he was born. Lorsung obeyed them despite the pain she felt letting her baby go.

“I got to see him just one time in the hospital through the window,” recalled Lorsung, now 85. “But I had to beg and beg to do that. The nurse wouldn’t let me hold him.”

When Lorsung’s parents learned of their daughter’s pregnancy they sent her out of town, afraid of the shame she would bring to the family. Lorsung’s younger brother recalled his parents’ effort to hide the pregnancy from community members and even from him.

“All of a sudden my sister Betty was gone,” recalled Dick Kent. “I said, ‘Where’d she go?’ ‘Well, she went to live with your aunt in Portland. She has rheumatic fever.’”

Jeffrey Taylor grew up without ever knowing his birth mother.

“Sixty-nine years I’ve been away — I’m a boomerang!” said Taylor, now 69. “I’m just waiting for the biggest hug there ever were. Sixty-nine years worth of hugs wrapped into one.”

This summer, Taylor, Lorsung, Kent and dozens of other family members traveled to Newport, Oregon for a family reunion, where Taylor and Lorsung met for the first time. As mother and son shared their first embrace, loved ones held up cell phones to capture the moment as tears rolled down their faces.

“Oh my gosh!” cried Lorsung as she walked eagerly toward Taylor, her arms outstretched.

“I’m home! I’m home!” cried Taylor, burying his face into his long-lost mother’s shoulder.

“You’re home,” sobbed Lorsung. “I’m so happy. I’m so happy.””

“The biggest challenge hindering family members in their searches was an old Oregon law. The state required adult adoptees to get a court order to unseal adoption documents. But in 2014, that law changed. Now all family members need is a personal identification to join a mutual consent registry.

“If a family member is also registered or later registers, we will notify you and can facilitate contact,” said Jake Sunderland with the Oregon Department of Human Services. “We have a record of all adoptions finalized in Oregon since 1920.”

Lorsung’s children used that resource and social media to finally find Taylor. The most recent and successful search was instigated by Ron Steel, who connected with McCollum through Facebook. Steel is Taylor’s half-brother; the two shared the same biological father.”
At 15, she had to give up her son for adoption in Oregon. Decades later, they’re meeting for the first time
[KGW 8/9/23 by Katherine Cook]

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