Letters to Muriel: A Search for Kin

Pat Fenton is chair of the Adoption Council of Ontario.

An adopted person’s four-year search for her biological roots is the
subject of this book. Through a collection of 40 letters written to
Muriel, her friend since early childhood, the author gives a personal
and detailed account of the ups and downs of her search. Adopted as a
newborn and now in her 60s, she embarks on journey that takes her to
Winnipeg, where she was born, to Northern Ontario, and to Scotland. She
describes the excitement of visiting places her birth mother was known
to frequent and learning about her birth mother from those who knew her.
At her birth mother’s gravesite, she experiences a sense of
contentment for having “followed her to the end.”

As is often the case, finding out about her birth father proves more
difficult, but she does manage to uncover some information.

Although not designed as a guide to adoption search and reunion,
Letters to Muriel gives readers a sense of the psychological and
practical dimensions of adoption search. Deachman mentions the various
services and tools she used to conduct her search (e.g., the Adoption
Disclosure Register, Henderson’s City Directories, voters’ lists,
church records). She also addresses the issue of privacy and
confidentiality. Adoptees and/or birth relatives who are contemplating a
search could benefit from reading this poignant and engaging work.