Hairdresser Finds Her Roots

Hermine was 12 months old when she went into an displaced persons orphanage camp during the restoration of Austria after World War II. Gertrud, her 17-year-old mother adored her baby girl but had no family to help her, no money to support her, and no way to keep Hermine. I am Hermine, and for many years I believed about myself only how the paperwork described me: "illegitimate," a "displaced person," and, "father unknown." These words haunted me long into adulthood. I knew I was adopted, but I never knew why. Often as a child, I would make up the family that I really wanted or convince myself that my real mother would find me. Taking a child out of his or her country and giving them a new life is a kindness that cuts. You will see how difficult and emotional this process was for me and continues to be for thousands of other children. It takes courage to adopt, it takes faith, and it takes a big heart. I hope to encourage truth-telling, love, forgiveness, and discover the real joy that being adopted can be. To prospective adoptive parents, do you have what it takes to raise a child that is not biologically yours? And to adopted children, can you honestly say it doesn't matter who your birth parent was? Hairdresser Finds Her Roots explains my adoption adventure and the extremes it put me through. I think everyone suffered from this adoption. I did meet my birth mother as an adult; she suffered great sorrows all her life. In the end, you decide which side of the story of my adoption you can stand firmly on.