Parents Abandon Baby Girl at Church, 65 Years Later She Finds Her Bio Family and Asks Them Why
A woman from Santa Barbara learned she had been abandoned as a baby at a church. She always wondered about her biological parents and why they had left her behind.
Carma Nagel was in her sixties when she decided to embark on a journey to find her birth family and seek answers to her questions. Her story started with a 1954 newspaper headline: "Infant Found Abandoned."
It wasn't the ideal beginning, but she was lucky enough to be taken in by a loving family who adopted her the following year. They gave Carma a happy home, but her curiosity about the past remained.
Abandoned in Front of a Church
Carma adored Ruth and Leeland Nagel, the people who raised her as their own in Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, but she wondered about her past.
She was abandoned in front of St. Joseph Cathedral in San Diego, and while she wouldn't change her life, she always longed to clarify where she came from and why her birth parents gave her away. She expressed:
"I didn't have a desire to replace what I'd been given in life. I had the most wonderful adoptive parents. I had a joyful and happy upbringing."
The Woman Started Her Search
In 2017, after living a full life filled with love and children of her own, Carma began a search for the truth at her daughter's insistence. She was 63 then, and her adoptive parents were no longer alive, so she approached the investigation with determination.
She sent 23 and Me a DNA sample and discovered she was linked to the Iberian region of Spain. The information also brought her into contact with John Michael Cuellar.
There was a wide family net connected to Carma's birth mother because she had been married twice and had multiple children. As Carma searched for more answers about the family she never knew or met, she discovered a piece of heartbreaking information.
The Life-Changing Information
John led Carma to his aunt Diana Potts, but it was months before she got any helpful information. Diana's parents were Los Angeles-based residents, Frank Villegas and Raquel Torres Villegas.
It turned out Diana possessed life-changing information about Carma. Her father had revealed something shocking before he passed—his wife had given birth to a baby girl. However, they abandoned her when she was just a few days old and told their family Raquel had miscarried.
Per Carma's request, Diana agreed to take a DNA test, confirming what they suspected—they were sisters!
Finding Her Long Lost Relatives after Six Decades
Two years after she began her search, Diana, who turned 65 that year, finally found her long lost relatives. There was a wide family net connected to Carma's birth mother because she had been married twice and had multiple children.
As Carma searched for more answers about the family she never knew or met, she discovered a piece of heartbreaking information.
Her birth mother passed away when she was 44, but fortunately, six of her eight siblings were still alive. Carma reached out to them, and while they had not yet met due to distance, she was open to getting to know them.
The Reason They Abandoned Their Daughter
While Carma never discovered why her parents gave her away, her half-sister Denise had a possible clue. Before their mother's passing, she called every child to her bedside and gave them advice before saying goodbye.
Her words of wisdom to Denise were potentially very telling. She told Denise that she should never give a man the power to control her. It gave Carma hope that perhaps her mother never wanted to abandon her.
Eternally Grateful for Her Adoptive Parents
Carma has visited the St. Joseph Cathedral many times in recent years. In fact, she celebrated her 65th birthday there in 2019. She also remained thankful for her adoptive parents and the life they gave her. Nobody would ever replace them.
They were the ones who provided her with love, support and a home when she needed it. On her Facebook page she posted an array of family photos. One image featured her as a little girl alongside her adoptive dad, and she captioned it:
"My dad. The love of my life! I'll always be daddy's girl"
Amid all the new discoveries about her past, Carma was excited to learn more about her biological family and described the twists and turns she experienced:
"This is like reading a novel and opening a new, exciting chapter."
Though it was a difficult and emotional journey, Carma finally had the closure she sought for so long. She had located her family and found a piece of the truth.
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