Awesome - Years After Adopting A Baby In Infamous Fashion, This Couple Exposed Her Wild Past
Decades ago, patrons of a Burger King in Allentown, Pennsylvania, had their evening upended when they heard a strange sound coming from the restroom: a baby wailing. And sure enough, when they went to look they saw a baby all alone — no parent in sight. Fast forward 30 years, and that little girl was now an adult. She’d grown up in the care of a foster family, never knowing the truth about where she’d come from. Until one day, that is. Suddenly, everything clicked, and her adopted parents had to make a drastic move.
An interrupted meal
On September 15th, 1986, the fryers sizzled, the drive-thru speaker barked, and the kids got their happy meals at the Allentown, Pennsylvania Burger King. Workers and satisfied customers thought it a typical afternoon — until they heard shrieks in the bathroom.
No parent in sight
Only a baby, they knew, could produce those piercing wails. The Burger King crowd politely minded their business, thinking, "ugh, that parent's got their hands full with a fussy child." But as the clock ticked, the screams never quelled.
Manager steps forward
The manager on duty went to investigate. From the moment he opened the door, the cries, no longer muffled, filled the restaurant. He knew something was terribly wrong.
All on her own
Wrapped in a sweater, the red-faced baby was lying on the floor beneath the sink. With no sign of a parent or responsible guardian, the manager realized the child was abandoned. Judging by her looks, she was just a few hours old.
Medical attention
With the newborn's health at risk, Burger King's staff promptly called an ambulance. EMTs arrived and confirmed the manager's suspicions: the baby girl was maybe 3 hours old and, thankfully, healthy. This was only a small comfort to onlookers, who all felt tremendous sorrow for the baby.
Few clues
Allentown Police arrived on scene to attempt tracking down the person responsible for abandoning the baby. Realistically, there wasn't much to go on. One officer commented, "Right now, we're the only thing this kid's got in terms of a family."
Heartbreaking realizations
Police turned to the public, pleading for someone to turn themselves in. An EMT cuddling the rosy-cheeked infant voiced what a lot of responders were thinking, "I'm sure whoever gave her up is having a very hard time right now."
Media frenzy
The "Burger King Baby" was the hot one-liner on all the local news stations. The police department hoped the continuous press coverage would trigger a guilty conscious. Still, no one came forward.
Dead ends
After exhausting all investigative resources — fingerprinting, interviews — and the baby remained parentless. They moved to put the little girl up for adoption. Several months after her chaotic entry to the world, the baby went to her first home.
The Hollis family
Brenda and Carl Hollis learned of the abandoned baby in the bathroom from news reports. The couple was eager for a child of their own, so they adopted the "Burger King Baby" and finally gave her an actual name — Katheryn.
Normal childhood
So it was 12 years of a normal suburban childhood — dance class, sleepovers, homework at the kitchen table — until the Hollises decided it was time to tell Katheryn the truth. She'd known she was adopted but not the painful details of her abandonment.
Shards of the past
When words failed them, Brenda and Carl showed Katheryn an album of press clippings. Over the years, Katheryn wore the pages from use. "I would never want to replace my adopted family," she said, "but being adopted, a part of you is missing and unless you've been adopted, you really just don't understand that."
Seeking a purpose
But Katheryn carried on with life. After she graduated high school, she entered the medical field as an EMT ambulance driver, possibly a call to duty after the care she'd received in her most helpless time of need.
The value of motherhood
At 27, the now-married adult with her own child understood the challenge of bringing life into the world. Holding and mothering her own baby took the ever-present curiosity about her birth parents from a small flame into an all-consuming blaze.
Not giving up
Where does a regular person turn when they want to reach the masses? Facebook, of course. Katheryn hoped her snappy nickname would make people click the share button. So, she grabbed her markers, jotted down her unique story, and trusted the internet to come through.
Viral attention
Her photo, linked to a page titled Katheryn "Burger King Baby Deprill" quickly caught traction online. In the span of 2 weeks, 30,000 people shared her post. The power of social media circulation paid off, and Katheryn got the message she'd waited 27 years for.
A stunning message
Prepared for a hard-to-swallow serving of neglect, Katheryn was stunned by the story in her inbox. A woman named Cathy Pochek reached out, and she admitted she was her biological mother that left her in the public bathroom.
The hard truth
The message detailed how guilt ridden Cathy was for the ultimate act of abdication, but it was done out of the sheer desperation of a traumatized child. Cathy was 16 at the time, and she'd gotten pregnant as the result of a rape.
Staying silent
Her assault took place on a family vacation abroad. Gutted and wracked with shame, Cathy never confided in anyone, let alone her family, about the attack. When she returned to the States and discovered her pregnancy, she couldn't handle the reality.
The kiss goodbye
In Cathy's teenage eyes, leaving her baby in a public space, where she surely would be found, was the only way out of her predicament. After giving birth to her daughter alone in her bedroom, she kissed her forehead and left her in the Burger King.
Emotional rush
Katheryn sympathized. She thought of her own son, and how easy it is to make a mistake on the heels of trauma. Cathy had acted out of fear, but now they had a chance to move forward.
Televised reunion
Following an initial meeting, Katheryn, Cathy, and Brenda were invited to share their story on NBC's TODAY. For all three women, it was a major step towards healing and forging a new relationship, but they also discovered some funny family coincidences.
Fascinating similarities
For starters, they share the same name. Cathy's full name is Catherine Ann, and Brenda unknowingly named her daughter Katheryn Ann. Both women drive the exact same car, down to the color. Cathy worked as an EMT, just like Katheryn.
So close
Besides their many mother-daughter likenesses, Cathy and Katheryn shared another strange connection. Cathy babysat a little boy who grew up to be Katheryn's husband. In a small way, the universe brushed them past one another. It's easy to ignore some curious similarities we share with strangers, but what if, like in Cathy and Katheryn's case, it turns out to be so much more than coincidence.
Total lookalikes
Most of us have been told, at some point, that we look "just like" someone else. But what if there was really something to it? For one Virginia woman, she simply laughed off all the talk that she and a friend were lookalikes — at first. But as she dug deeper into her past, she discovered a shocking truth that gave Cathy and Katheryn a run for their money.
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