Adopted Woman Finds Out She Grew Up Watching Her Birth Mother on TV

TAMFAM, please welcome to the studio Lisa Wright. Going back to your childhood, you were surrounded by love, raised in a loving home, and there was really no desire on your part to search out answers that a lot of kids who are adopted honestly at some point come to. You know, my mom made sure that I felt good about being adopted. She told me that my biological mom loved me so much, but she knew she couldn't take care of me, and she allowed her to take care of me instead. And so she really just painted a picture of, you've got two moms who love you so much. And so, you know, from that, I never felt angry or, you know, upset or abandoned. There was just a little part of me, you know, I didn't look like anyone in my family. And it was just glaring all the time because everybody looked like each other except for me. And so that was something that was just always with me. But in terms of being happy, I was. In terms of love, I had lots of it. It was just that little, you know, that little feeling knowing that, you know, this is your family, but this is not where you came from. Your parents passed away in 2006 and 2010, and you say you felt like an orphan at the age of 54. I did. You know, my daddy passed away in 2006, and my mom passed away in 2010. And I just remember having a conversation with my son, and I said, you know, when you lose your mom, you just feel like you're just out here in this world all by yourself, you know, just lost. And you know, I think that there was some divine intervention, and I think my mom looked down and said, this girl needs some help. So we're going to step in. You went to the space of feeling lost. You go through, you take the DNA test after your son pushed you. My son, Nick, said, Mom, go take the DNA test. And at the time, he just said, take it so we can find out what we're made of because, you know, we didn't know, right? And I thought, OK, you know, I'll do it. You know, there was a there's always been a small part of me, you know, that felt like even if I did try to look like, I don't know what would happen. I don't know if I would be accepted. I don't know if I would be rejected. I don't know if I was some secret. I just didn't know. And part of me didn't want to know, you know, because everything was fine. When your. Fears of maybe being rejected or this part of the story that wouldn't turn into the beautiful journey that it has, when that fear was not real and your uncle said you were lost and we've been waiting to find you. What was that like? My uncle, I spoke to him on the phone and this all took about a matter of an hour. Honestly, it was really quick and really fast. And I'm telling him what I knew about my biological mom. And halfway through my sentence, he just stopped me and said, Lisa, let me just stop you right now. And I thought, OK, he's going to tell me to never contact him again and to never call him again. And this is why I don't want to do this. But he said, Lisa, let me stop you right now. You're my niece. And at this moment, you're my favorite niece. When we come back, Lisa Googled her birth mom's name. A photo popped up and Lisa immediately recognized her as an actress that she watched growing up. Coming up, we'll meet Lisa's birth mom and you'll find out who she is. We are back with Lisa Wright, who recently reunited with her birth mother 50 years after she was put up for adoption. When Lisa went in search of her mom, she put the name in given to her by her uncle. And this is who she found. Well, I finally got the dishes out of the way. Thought you might like a piece of pie. Oh, thanks, sis. You know, that was some dinner Mama made. She's usually such a great cook. I mean, her pot roast is terrific. Her ribs are fantastic. So whatever possessed her to try a trout casserole? That thing feels like it's still swimming upstream trying to jump my kidney. Lisa was shocked when she found out her mom is actress Lynn Moody, who starred in shows like Roots, Knots Landing, and the 70s sitcom we just saw in that clip, That's My Mama. Lisa used to watch the show like me as a child. She didn't know she was watching her mother. Lynn Moody joins us now. Lynn, come on out. Oh my gosh. So nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Same eyes. Lisa, you were saying you were looking for people you look... Your twin is here. Thank goodness, by the way. Thank goodness. Lynn, you've said that giving Lisa up for adoption. You were 18. I was 18. I was away from home for the first time. I was out in California going to school and had a one-night stand with a guy that I liked at the time, didn't like afterwards, and found out that I was pregnant. So my parents were conservative. My father was a doctor, actually, in Chicago. And so they found a home for unwed mothers that they sent me to, where I stayed for the next eight months because I entered really early. Then, when it was time for me to deliver, went over to the hospital floor, and they thought that it would be best for me, you know, if I didn't see my baby, if I didn't see her, because otherwise I wouldn't be able to forget her. Is it true they covered your eyes? It is. So they put a cloth, a towel over my face when she was born so I couldn't see her, but I could hear her cry. I could hear her crying. And I said, I'm sorry, baby. I'm sorry. And they took her away, and I never saw her again. And so, you know, I had to live with that. I had to live with the tremendous guilt that I have a child, a daughter. She's out there. I don't know if she's alive, if she's happy, if she's hungry, if she's safe, if she's secure. Nothing. Because I had to sign away all my rights in order for her to be adopted. And so I just tried to learn how to live with it and go on with my life, and we never talked about it in my family. When you were in your career and you were doing these shows and you're on TV, did you ever wonder, like, she might be watching me? You know what? I never did. You never wondered. I was so full of guilt that even when good things happened to me, you know, when I got great roles, Knott's Landing, Soap, That's My Mama was the very first series, I still had this hole, you know, this pain, this guilt that I was living with, that I left this baby. Yeah. And I don't know that she was adopted. They told me she would be right away. But you didn't know. But, yeah. Lisa. Yes? It is not lost on me that you go on the internet and you find your mama on That's My Mama. I know. Like, I can't make it up. You're like, that's my mama. Yeah. That's incredible. I know. Well, the first thing that I thought when her photo popped up, I looked at it and I, that was the first time I saw someone who looked like me. Yeah. So that was the very first thought that I had was like, oh my goodness, this is who I look like. This, I finally see someone who looks like me. Like, this is why I look this way. Yeah. And then 15 seconds after that, I went, wait a minute. Wait a minute. And I went, oh my God. And then I went, oh my God. And I watched, it was like must see TV in my household. So we all sat around the TV to watch That's My Mama. I was like 10 years old, nine years old. You know, when this series started, it was a big, huge deal. Huge show. It was huge. It was a big deal, you know? And that's what we did. And I have a friend. Her name is also Lisa. And she said, don't you remember when we were little, I used to say, that lady on TV looks just like you. And I said, you probably did. And I was like, okay, whatever, you know? And, you know, cause who knows? You both were living just a few miles apart in LA. So you decided to meet up the very next day. Very next day. And you brought a birthday card? So, you know, I thought, no one's ever called her mom. It was foreign to her. So I said, let me go stop and get a card of some sort. So this was in June. So Mother's Day was gone. And so I thought, I'll just, I'll find her a birthday card that said, happy birthday, mom. Cause she had never had that before. It was the first day that we met. It was kind of like a milestone for us. So I bought her this card. And that's the card. This is the card. It says mom. It was the very first that it was directed at me. I never thought I would be part of the conversation when people would talk about their kids or their grandkids. And so at my stage of life, when I never got married, I never had any other kids, I thought, my God, look what God did for me. And when my brother called and said that a woman has contacted him and her name is Lisa and she thinks I'm her uncle, immediately I, something happened to me. A primal sound came out of me. It was like I was in labor all over again. It was like I was delivering all over again. I fell on the ground. I was in a fetal position and I was just screaming at the top of my lungs. It was fetal. I didn't, I wasn't in control. My sister didn't know what to do with me. She, cause I was in controllable. All of that. All that. All of that. 50 years of that coming out. Going back to the fact that your face was covered and you couldn't see her and then you see her. Yes. What was that like for you to see those eyes? Listen, this has been the most healing process for me because all of these years of guilt even like I said, when good things would happen, there was still that hole that unhappiness that deep and knowing that I'm a mom somewhere. Yeah. So when I see her, I know I did the right thing. It took all this time for me to know I did the right thing. I was 18, her family that adopted her, they were in their 30s. They really wanted a baby. I knew that. So I knew then, you know, she, she had a great life and I didn't have to feel so terrible and so guilty for all these years. And you're a grandmom now. Look at her. She's beautiful. Yes. And you're a grandmom too. I mean, just when I thought life couldn't get any better, she goes and blesses me with a grandson. This is his card. I never called him by his name. It was only grandson. So his card, she just signs grandson because I wouldn't call him name, just, just grandson, just my daughter. Just God is good every day. I love you.