This season the 40-year-old from Rochester, New York, learns that she worked with her biological mother Nita Valdez 10 years ago
A woman who spent more than 15 years trying to find her birth mother
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A woman who spent more than 15 years trying to find her birth mother has discovered that she unknowingly worked alongside her biological mom for two years, without any idea that they were related.
Jenny Thomas, 40, from Rochester, New York, is one of 16 individuals featured on the new TLC series, Long Lost Family, which helps reunite people with their biological relatives.
'I was just in shock,' she told the New York Post
of realizing her former co-worker Nita Valdez is her birth mother. 'I
had looked in so many faces for so many years, [thinking] "Could that
be her? Is she looking at me because she knows me?"
'All the while I had looked at the woman who once knew me as her daughter.'
Nita
was the daughter of a minister who was ashamed by her pregnancy out of
wedlock, and the expectant mom ended up being forced to give up her
daughter to social services because of the lack of support she was
getting from her family.
What
Nita didn't realize however, is that her daughter would later spend
years searching for the mother who gave her away as a child.
However,
after more than a decade of searching for Nita, Jenny only realized
after the show's experts identified her that she had not only met her
mother 10 years ago at a Rochester hospital, but that they had actually
spent hours working together, when Jenny was employed as a part-time
patient care technician.
Crazy coincidence: Ten years ago, Jenny and her biological mother Nita worked together on a daily basis at a Rochester hospital
Long
time ago: Nita was the daughter of a minister who was ashamed by her
pregnancy out of wedlock, and the expectant mom ended up giving Jenny
to social services. Jenny is pictured now (right) and as a child (left)
During
the time they worked together, Jenny and Nita, who was a patient
transporter, interacted daily, and while they had a friendly
'working-professional relationship' she admitted she never felt any sort
of instinctual connection to the woman who had given birth to her.
However, she noted that her birth mother would 'always laugh at my jokes'.
Jenny's
jaw-dropping story will be featured in an upcoming episode of the new
series, which premieres on Sunday, and in a preview clip, Jenny can be
seen looking at a picture of Nita that leaves her in shock.
'Oh my god. I know her!' she says with disbelief as she stares down at the image.
The
show's hosts Chris Jacobs and Lisa Joyner have embarked on their own
journeys to find their biological families, and this season the
television personalities will help others do the same.
Experience:
The show's hosts Lisa Joyner (left) and Chris Jacobs (right) have
embarked on their own journeys to find their biological families, and
this season the television personalities will help others do the same
Loving
mother: Rita (pictured) was forced to place her baby boy up for
adoption 31 years ago, but she made a vow to herself that she would try
to find him again
Memories: Rita
has a shoebox filled with the last of her son's belongings before he
was adopted, which she has held on to for more than three decades
In
a clip from Sunday night's episode, Lisa can be seen sitting down with
a woman named Rita, a mother who was forced to place her baby boy up
for adoption 31 years ago.
After
she learned that she was expecting, Rita's boyfriend broke up with
her, and her mother sent her to a home for pregnant young women out of
fear of the scandal the pregnancy would create.
More than three decades ago, Rita made a promise that she would try and find the baby boy she had given up.
'He wasn't given up because he wasn't wanted. He was wanted very much,' she says with emotion.
Rita
goes on to show Lisa a shoebox filled with the last of her son's
belongings before he was adopted, which she has held on to for all of
these years.
Never forget: Rita can be see showing Lisa her son's baby blanket, which she admitted she stole off a hospital cart
Always searching: 'For the longest time it had his smell on it,' she says, sniffing the blanket
'This
was his last little spit bib and blanket that he was wrapped in. I
stole these off the cart,' she said with a sad laugh. I've saved these
for all this time. This is what he was wrapped in.
'You
know, when I miss him, and I think about him, these have been really
important to have,' she adds. 'For the longest time it had his smell on
it.'
Rita
says she has 'always' been searching for her son, but she has started
to dedicate more and more time to find him because believes it is the
right time.
'Our
children are older, and I just feel like life is settled right now,'
she said. 'The timing just seemed right all the way around.'
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