ORANGE PARK, Fla. – A Clay County woman is getting a major online boost in the search for her birth mother while also trying to change an Indiana state law that blocks her from learning her mother's name.
Kelley Baumgartner was born in Goshen, Indiana, and was put up for adoption immediately. Now an adult and living in Florida, she is using Facebook to try to find information about her past.
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Her post has been shared thousands of times across the country, giving her renewed hope that she'll find her flesh and blood.
"I can't believe how many people are responding," Baumgartner said. "My birth mother ... was a hairdresser in her early 20s and has seven siblings. And that's all I know."
Baumgartner has three children and wants them to know her family. She has so many questions about her past and her family's medical history, but is blocked from learning her mother's name due to an Indiana state law.
"In 1994 they passed a bill showing that 1993 and prior adoptions, they can't get their birth records opened unless they petition or the birth mother agrees," she said. "So I don't have any rights to my records at all."
Under Florida law, birth parents have similar options when putting their kids up for adoption. They can either choose an open adoption, a semi-open adoption or a confidential adoption.
However, Florida's law allows citizens to petition through the courts to get their birth mother's name. In Indiana, the law prohibits the release of the birth mother's name under any circumstances.
Baumgartner is hoping to overcome all these challenges by networking on Facebook.
"It would mean everything, even if it was just to say, 'Thank you,'" said Baumgartner. "I owe her so much and I don't even know her. She could have chose abortion, but she didn't. Mistake or wrong timing, I don't care. I just want to thank her."
Baumgartner said even if her story doesn't have a happy ending, she hopes she's inspired others to search for their birth parents.