LilMtnCbn
02-06-2005, 09:24 AM
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050205/1026485.asp
Abandoned as tot, woman seeks to trace mother, two siblings
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
JUNE SEIFERT: "There's so much emptiness. . . . It really took my childhood
away from me."
By CHARITY VOGEL
News Staff Reporter
2/5/2005
Sharon Cantillon/Buffalo News
June Seifert has faith that someone locally knows the whereabouts of her birth
mother, who abandoned her at a police station when she was 18 months old. A
recent serious health problem led her to step up her search for family members.
Early on the morning of Aug. 10, 1967, a 22-year-old woman labored to give
birth in what was then E.J. Meyer Memorial Hospital in Buffalo. At 4:35 a.m.,
her child - a girl - was born.
Already, the odds were against little June Marie Seifert.
Born prematurely, she weighed just 2 pounds, 3 ounces. She also had cerebral
palsy, although it wouldn't be diagnosed for two years.
Her toughest struggle, however, was still to come.
When she was 18 months old, Seifert's mother abandoned her at a Buffalo police
station. She spent the next 17 years in foster care.
The day she was abandoned marked the beginning of Seifert's quest - a quest to
find out who she is and where she came from, even as she has dealt with severe
and painful health problems.
Now, she's asking for help.
She thinks some people in Western New York must know the whereabouts of her
birth mother - who would be 60 now - and her two siblings.
"There's so much emptiness, so much searching," she said. "It really took my
childhood away from me. I feel robbed."
Seifert, now 37, does have a few clues about her mother and siblings. But she
knows nothing about her father - not even his name - other than that he might
have been a member of the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang.
"I feel like there are people out there who know stuff," said Seifert, who
lives in Lackawanna.
As she searches for her relatives, Seifert emphasizes the practical, not
emotional, grounds for her quest.
She has endured several years of painful medical tests and treatments and wants
to know the details of her family's medical history.
"I think it's my right to have that," she said. "I don't want to upset anyone,
and I understand if people don't want to be in my life. But I need to know
this."
Here are some details of her past that Seifert knows:
Her mother, Diane Elizabeth Seifert, was 22 when she gave birth to Seifert.
Seifert's birth certificate shows that her mother listed her address as 238
Edison St.
The birth certificate does not list her father's name.
She has at least two older siblings, Their names, as far as she has been able
to determine, are Michael Brandt, born Jan. 23, 1966, and Cathleen Hill, born
Feb. 10, 1964. She may have grandparents or other relatives with the last name
Morriss. Seifert has tried some local routes to find her family.
She approached City Hall in Buffalo to see if her mother married and changed
her surname - but was told that those records were not available to her.
Diana Rico, deputy city clerk of vital statistics, confirmed that marriage
records in the state are private and are opened only 50 years after the death
of both spouses.
"A daughter can't even get her mother's marriage certificate or birth
certificate," Rico said. "Our records are all closed to the public."
Seifert also has tried several times to work with the Erie County Social
Services Department to get information about her family from her old foster
care files.
Until last week, those efforts had been largely fruitless.
But last week, social services officials told Seifert that they will check to
see whether her records are still available. Usually, she was told, foster care
records are destroyed 10 years after the person leaves the foster care system -
in other words, when Seifert was 28.
Seifert lived in four foster homes from the time her mother dropped her at the
police station until she turned 18.
Deborah Merrifield, a top social services official, said that the foster care
system has changed drastically in the intervening years.
When Seifert was in the system, extended stays in foster care - without
adoption by a new family or a return to the birth family - were far more
common, Merrifield said.
"That would be typical for those years," Merrifield said, of Seifert's
experiences in the late 1960s and 1970s. "The whole culture of foster care has
totally changed, even in the last 10 years. The focus is much more on
permanency."
For the last 20 years, Seifert has struggled to make a life for herself.
At 18, after graduating from Frontier High School in the Class of 1987, she
briefly attended college but got very sick and was forced to drop out.
She then worked for a while at McDonald's and a few other places. Since 1992,
she has lived on a limited disability income.
Recently, she has dealt with such health problems as a gastric obstruction that
caused her to stop digesting food last summer.
She was hospitalized with severe pain; her weight dropped to 70 pounds; and she
ended up being treated for ulcers and polyps in her colon.
"I was terrified," she said. "I was crying. I know I was close to dying."
That experience played a part in the decision to pursue her search for her
family yet again.
She now hopes that county officials may turn up some information and that
somebody in the area recognizes her story and can offer some help.
"I've learned one thing: Life is so precious, and it's so short," she said. "I
would love to have (her mother) still be alive - but I don't know if it's
possible."
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
Abandoned as tot, woman seeks to trace mother, two siblings
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
JUNE SEIFERT: "There's so much emptiness. . . . It really took my childhood
away from me."
By CHARITY VOGEL
News Staff Reporter
2/5/2005
Sharon Cantillon/Buffalo News
June Seifert has faith that someone locally knows the whereabouts of her birth
mother, who abandoned her at a police station when she was 18 months old. A
recent serious health problem led her to step up her search for family members.
Early on the morning of Aug. 10, 1967, a 22-year-old woman labored to give
birth in what was then E.J. Meyer Memorial Hospital in Buffalo. At 4:35 a.m.,
her child - a girl - was born.
Already, the odds were against little June Marie Seifert.
Born prematurely, she weighed just 2 pounds, 3 ounces. She also had cerebral
palsy, although it wouldn't be diagnosed for two years.
Her toughest struggle, however, was still to come.
When she was 18 months old, Seifert's mother abandoned her at a Buffalo police
station. She spent the next 17 years in foster care.
The day she was abandoned marked the beginning of Seifert's quest - a quest to
find out who she is and where she came from, even as she has dealt with severe
and painful health problems.
Now, she's asking for help.
She thinks some people in Western New York must know the whereabouts of her
birth mother - who would be 60 now - and her two siblings.
"There's so much emptiness, so much searching," she said. "It really took my
childhood away from me. I feel robbed."
Seifert, now 37, does have a few clues about her mother and siblings. But she
knows nothing about her father - not even his name - other than that he might
have been a member of the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang.
"I feel like there are people out there who know stuff," said Seifert, who
lives in Lackawanna.
As she searches for her relatives, Seifert emphasizes the practical, not
emotional, grounds for her quest.
She has endured several years of painful medical tests and treatments and wants
to know the details of her family's medical history.
"I think it's my right to have that," she said. "I don't want to upset anyone,
and I understand if people don't want to be in my life. But I need to know
this."
Here are some details of her past that Seifert knows:
Her mother, Diane Elizabeth Seifert, was 22 when she gave birth to Seifert.
Seifert's birth certificate shows that her mother listed her address as 238
Edison St.
The birth certificate does not list her father's name.
She has at least two older siblings, Their names, as far as she has been able
to determine, are Michael Brandt, born Jan. 23, 1966, and Cathleen Hill, born
Feb. 10, 1964. She may have grandparents or other relatives with the last name
Morriss. Seifert has tried some local routes to find her family.
She approached City Hall in Buffalo to see if her mother married and changed
her surname - but was told that those records were not available to her.
Diana Rico, deputy city clerk of vital statistics, confirmed that marriage
records in the state are private and are opened only 50 years after the death
of both spouses.
"A daughter can't even get her mother's marriage certificate or birth
certificate," Rico said. "Our records are all closed to the public."
Seifert also has tried several times to work with the Erie County Social
Services Department to get information about her family from her old foster
care files.
Until last week, those efforts had been largely fruitless.
But last week, social services officials told Seifert that they will check to
see whether her records are still available. Usually, she was told, foster care
records are destroyed 10 years after the person leaves the foster care system -
in other words, when Seifert was 28.
Seifert lived in four foster homes from the time her mother dropped her at the
police station until she turned 18.
Deborah Merrifield, a top social services official, said that the foster care
system has changed drastically in the intervening years.
When Seifert was in the system, extended stays in foster care - without
adoption by a new family or a return to the birth family - were far more
common, Merrifield said.
"That would be typical for those years," Merrifield said, of Seifert's
experiences in the late 1960s and 1970s. "The whole culture of foster care has
totally changed, even in the last 10 years. The focus is much more on
permanency."
For the last 20 years, Seifert has struggled to make a life for herself.
At 18, after graduating from Frontier High School in the Class of 1987, she
briefly attended college but got very sick and was forced to drop out.
She then worked for a while at McDonald's and a few other places. Since 1992,
she has lived on a limited disability income.
Recently, she has dealt with such health problems as a gastric obstruction that
caused her to stop digesting food last summer.
She was hospitalized with severe pain; her weight dropped to 70 pounds; and she
ended up being treated for ulcers and polyps in her colon.
"I was terrified," she said. "I was crying. I know I was close to dying."
That experience played a part in the decision to pursue her search for her
family yet again.
She now hopes that county officials may turn up some information and that
somebody in the area recognizes her story and can offer some help.
"I've learned one thing: Life is so precious, and it's so short," she said. "I
would love to have (her mother) still be alive - but I don't know if it's
possible."
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
