Over the last several years, I've posted contact information on adoption pages in Virginia, hoping to learn more about my birthmother. The information below is a letter from the Department of Public Welfare, York County, Yorktown, Virginia, containing "non-identifying" information:

"Donald was born in Norfolk, Virginia, (on a particular day in the very early 1960s), a full-term baby, and the mother was in labor only five hours. It was a spontaneous delivery and the complications of labor and delivery were uneventful and there were no complications during pregnancy. Donald weighed 7 lbs, 3 1/2 oz. at birth. Donald was a beautiful, healthy baby. He ate and slept well and was given splendid care.

Donald's natural mother was a quiet, gentle girl of 20 years at the time of his birth. She is a slender girl, 5'5" with olive complexion, large brown eyes and long dark hair. She is very pretty and attractive. She likes dancing and skating, is a high school graduate and at the time she became pregnant, she was employed as a switchboard operator.

The natural father was 27 years of age, of medium build with dark hair and eyes. He was a married man with a family. He came to this area looking for employment and he met the natural mother at a skating rink. He promised to marry her and it was not until after she became pregnant that she learned that he was already married. He soon left the community and his whereabouts is unknown.

No information was available on the paternal grandparents and Donald's mother knew nothing about the family background.

The natural mother had the usual childhood diseases and at the time Donald was born, she was in excellent health. She found it difficult to make the decision to place her baby for adoption, but after much consideration it was her feeling that her child should have both a mother and a father who would offer him not only love but every opportunity for advancement and development.

When Donald was three months old, he was seen by a clinical psychologist for an evaluation for adoptive purposes. He was said to be "a well-developed attractive baby who is al least average in his development and more likely somewhat accelerated. In addition to his physical and mental development, he appears to be emotionally well adjusted."

Thanks to the help of a wonderful person, an "adoption angel" named Kim, who, along with other adoption angels across the country, help folks by visiting county court houses and looking through legal documents that are public records, I found out my birthname on this day... Donald Edward Waltrip.

I'd always known that my birthmother had named me Donald, and that I had been adopted at 5 months. The feelings that I experienced that day are more than I can explain here... just know it was a day I will not forget. Suffice it to say... it just sounded right. And had a nice "Virginia" sound to it.