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Search for birth father continues

Vernon91Ƶs Lisa Marshall would love to know who her dad is and say hello 91Ƶ if he91Ƶs alive
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Her 47th birthday recently came and went, and, for Lisa Marshall, there was no phone call, no card, no present, no hug from her birth father.

Just like the previous 46 birthdays.

That91Ƶs because the Vernon magazine distribution company employee has no idea who her birth father is.

91ƵHe may not even know I exist,91Ƶ said Marshall, married with two adult kids.

For more than 25 years, Marshall has been searching for her birth parents. She91Ƶs known since she was young she was adopted. Her adoptive parents had five boys and kept trying for a girl, so they adopted Marshall.

She found her birth mother, a woman named Sharon Bolen, 21 years ago. And Bolen was not at all thrilled to learn Marshall91Ƶs adoptive parents had helped by pulling a ruse.

91ƵShe phoned me at 6:30 a.m. from North Carolina and she was not too happy,91Ƶ said Marshall. 91ƵMy parents had found her using a lie, saying they91Ƶd known her when she lived in Vancouver and wanted to know where she was.91Ƶ

They talked for about 45 minutes. Marshall let Bolen yell at her and get mad at her for the way she found her, which Marshall says she 91Ƶcompletely understands.91Ƶ Bolen asked what kind of information Marshall was looking for. Marshall was specific: she wanted the name of her birth dad.

Bolen never told her.

91ƵI tried to ask as many questions as I could,91Ƶ said Marshall. 91ƵGive me a little medical information about the family. She wouldn91Ƶt tell me who my father was. I asked, she just said no.

91ƵShe made it known she didn91Ƶt want any contact with me at all and I respected that. It91Ƶs her life, her secrets. But she gave me no clues as to who my dad is.91Ƶ

Through her research, Marshall has been able to ascertain that Sharon likely got pregnant in Regina and moved to Vancouver to live with a sister (Marshall was born in Grace Hospital in Vancouver). Marshall made contact with the sister and, like Sharon, Marshall said she91Ƶs not happy she made contact with the family.

Marshall believes her dad was about 30 at the time, which 91Ƶ if he is still alive 91Ƶ would make him 76 or 77.

Marshall never talked with Bolen again. It was through Facebook that she discovered her birth mom had a profile page and when clicking on that page, Marshall discovered she had died.

She also discovered she had a sister, Nicole, who lives in North Carolina, and a brother, Chris, who lives in Europe. The trio are planning to meet at family events this year in Saskatchewan and North Carolina.

Marshall is the oldest of the three siblings and said Nicole told her they share the same father.

91ƵShe has been amazing since we made contact,91Ƶ said Marshall, who spends a couple of hours each night on her laptop researching. She has built a family tree but is missing the branch that would lead to her birth father.

91ƵI91Ƶd love to meet him and talk to him or any of his relatives, sons, daughters, cousins,91Ƶ she said. 91ƵI put it off for the last 21 years thinking Sharon would come around and give me information. She never did.91Ƶ

Her family is completely behind her goal to find her dad.

91ƵThey91Ƶve been awesome,91Ƶ she said. 91ƵIt91Ƶs never been a secret I was adopted and it shouldn91Ƶt be.91Ƶ

She has done DNA testing and regularly checks ancestry.ca but is hopeful somebody may read her story and suggest another way to try and track down her birth father.

Anybody with suggestions can e-mail Marshall at lisamarshall5@shaw.ca.



Roger Knox

About the Author: Roger Knox

I am a journalist with more than 30 years of experience in the industry. I started my career in radio and have spent the last 21 years working with Black Press Media.
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