Mother and Daughter Reunite at OhioHealth Grant Medical Center After 54 Years

At 16 years old, on March 20, 1970, Carla Lemaster walked into OhioHealth Grant Medical Center pregnant. She gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl. However, she left the hospital alone. 

Lemaster spoke with NBC4 reporter, Cierra Johnson, about her experience and the painful decision she felt she had to make. 

“I had her and they swiftly took her away, I didn't get to see her, hold her, touch her, count her toes,” Lemaster said. 

Lemaster made the decision to place her baby for adoption to a family she'd never seen or met. Over the years, she has always wondered where her daughter was, what she looked like, and what her personality was like. 

About a year ago, Lemaster received a letter in the mail from a woman claiming she was her daughter. Pamela Easley, who lives in Texas, sent the letter. 

Easley said for years, the adoption case has been closed and she wasn't able to find any information on who her birth parents are. When the laws changed, Easley felt it was time to do some digging. With the help of health records and social media, Easley found her mother.

The two women exchanged letters and photos back and forth for about a year after that before even talking on the phone.

Fast forward to March 19, 2024, the two met in person for the first time. The next day, they visited Grant Medical Center to see where Easley was born and to create a new memory for Lemaster on the labor and delivery floor, 54 years later. 

While spending time with one another, they're noticing similarities in the way they talk, move and think. Like mother, like daughter. 

“I watch the way she holds her hands, the way she stands, she's got a bunion on her foot like me, it's things like that,” Lemaster told Johnson.