Stolen Baby: Mom Reunites With Daughter Taken 42 Years Ago

stolen baby Nancy Womac Melanie Spencer Bethesda Home for Girls Bethesda Home Bethesda victims Cherly Blackwell Ancestry DNA Test

By Lili Scott , Parent Herald Jan 01, 11:24 pm

Photo: (Photo : John Moore/Getty Images)

For the last 42 years, Nancy Womac has been reliving the trauma of her stolen baby. She was only 16 years old when she gave birth, but the orphanage where she lived took her child away.

Now, after four decades, Womac and her daughter, Melanie Spencer, are sharing their story. In an interview with NBC News, Womac said that she never stopped thinking about her baby, who was forcibly adopted by another family.

Womac said that she was sent to the Bethesda Home for Girls when the orphanage director found out she was pregnant. The facility in Mississippi took in troubled children to find direction in their life.

However, the girls at the Bethesda Home were often physically abused and threatened with fear. Womac said staying there was like a nightmare, and she was in survival mode most of the time.

Coming Home to Her Mom's Embrace

Bethesda Home arranged for Womac to deliver her baby at a Tennessee hospital six months later. She remembered going into labor and was given a shot. She woke up without any recollection of giving birth or being in the delivery room, and she never saw her baby at all.

Meanwhile, Spencer ended up with her adopted family, a pair of missionaries who served communities in South Africa and Indonesia. They told her that her birth mother wanted her to grow up in a Christian home.

Spencer told Today that she always had questions about her biological mother growing up. What stopped her from digging into her past was the fear of getting hurt. She thought her mom did not want her.

When Spencer became a mother herself, that yearning to find her biological mom grew stronger. So, she finally took the plunge and had a DNA test via Ancestry. Her test result led her to Cheryl Blackwell, Womac's sister, a year later. Blackwell filled her in with all the details about her sister, and then mother and daughter were finally connecting via Facebook.

Spencer drove to her mother's place in Georgia from her home in Maryland and spent days catching up and getting to know each other. She also met her other siblings.

"It almost feels like there wasn't any missing time," Spencer said of her reunion with her mom. "It feels like coming home."

More Bethesda Victims

Womac has a support group of former Bethesda Home residents who have been in the same boat and are looking for their stolen babies. At least a dozen women made their story public with NBC.

The news outlet also looked into court records and paperwork of cases relating to abuses at Bethesda Home. The organization, however, has refused to comment on the allegations.

Meanwhile, Womac said she is complete now that Spencer knows her birth mom always loved her. She also wants the other victims not to stop their search because the truth will come out no matter how long it takes.