A woman who was abandoned as a new-born in the bathroom of a fast-food restaurant got the first ever hug from her birth mum as the pair were reunited this week.
Katheryn Deprill, 27, said she felt “pure joy” on meeting her biological mum, less than three weeks after she launched a search which gained global attention.
Katheryn became known as the ‘Burger King Baby’ when she was left in the Pennsylvania fast-food restaurant in September, 1986.
She got a lifetime of questions answered when she met her mum for the first time on Monday, and brought with her the youngest of three sons, 7-month-old Jackson and her adoptive mother.
Katheryn began her search mission on March 2nd by posting a photo on her Facebook page holding up a sign that said, "Looking for my birth mother. ... She abandoned me in the Burger King bathroom only hours old, Allentown PA. Please help me find her by sharing my post."
The photo was shared more than 30,000 times by Facebook users around the world, also gaining a lot of media attention.
It also caught the attention of her birth mum, and she came forward to attorney John Waldron, who arranged for them to meet.
The woman’s attorney said that, as a 16-year-old, she was raped while travelling abroad and became pregnant.
The woman said she hid the pregnancy from her parents and, after giving birth in her bedroom, was too afraid to take her new baby to hospital.
She had decided about six months ago to launch her own search for the daughter she gave up.
"She is better than anything I could've ever imagined. She is so sweet and amazing. I'm so happy," said Katheryn, adding that looking at her mum is like “looking in a mirror.”
"I got the hug that I had wanted for the last 27 years, and that broke the ice," she said. "I asked if I could have it, and she said, 'absolutely,' and just held her arms open.”
Katheryn said she forgave her mum "110 percent” adding that the pair definitely plan to have a relationship.
