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Published Wednesday February 7th, 2018 at 6:57pm

Original Article by Stephanie Robusto

A woman in Fairport, New York has been searching for her birth parents through a journey of heartbreak and hope.
A woman in Fairport, New York has been searching for her birth parents through a journey of heartbreak and hope.



A woman in Fairport, New York has been searching for her birth parents through a journey of heartbreak and hope.

Stephanie Forrester was born at Saint Mary's on January 14, 1981. Her birth name was Stephanie Lynn Martin and she was adopted through the Catholic Family Center in Rochester.

She grew up knowing she was adopted, surrounded by support from her parents to search for her birth parents.

For Christmas, her mother-in-law gave her an Ancestry DNA kit. The results came back at the end of January.

"Within 48 hours I found my great aunt on my mom's side, her first cousins, her aunt Mary who raised her," explained Stephanie Forrester.

They were women she had never seen before but had been searching for her entire life. She was able to connect to her aunt online less than two weeks ago. 

"She messaged me the next day and said ‘I know who you are,' recalled Forrester. "I freaked out. It was huge."

Her aunt knew of her, but didn't know where her birth mother was, losing touch nearly 25 years ago. 

Forrester dug through information given to her from her newly found family members on her maternal side, calling number after number until she could track down her birth mom.

"I almost gave up. I called the last number on the list and asked for Claudia martin…the girl who picked up said ‘she isn't here' and then she paused. 'She passed away Saturday'," said Forrester. 

Her birth mom passed away just days before her first born was able to reach her…leaving Forrester to mourn the loss of a woman she'll never get the chance to meet, but creating a relationship with a half-sister she never knew she had.

"When we were talking she's like, ‘mom had wanted to find and always talked about you, I used to sleep with a picture of you and mom under my pillow'….they thought about me, they wanted to find me," expressed Forrester through tears. 

That conversation led to a tearful reunion last week, where Stephanie Forrester was able to meet part of her birth mom's family.

"I'm sure I'm going to hear a lifetime of memories about who my mother was," she said, while showing photos sent to her from the family, including her birth picture.

She discovered her birth mom had been living just blocks away from her.

"We've been circling around each other our whole lives," she said. 

But her journey isn't over, as she's now searching for the other half of this puzzle; her birth father.

Her half siblings don't share the same father, and no one Forrester has spoken to knows who or where he may be.

She believes he may be in Syracuse or Rochester, basing that off clues she's been piecing together, knowing now that her mom went to school in Syracuse.

"I want to see if I have other siblings…to see what kind of bonds I can make, if any….and if not, just to take the time to thank them for giving me an amazing life," explained Forrester.

She's using social media to spread her story, hoping someone, somewhere, may know her birth father.