A woman who, as a newborn, was abandoned in the bathroom of a Pennsylvania fast-food restaurant said she has found her birth mother just three weeks after launching a search that garnered worldwide attention, and as her mother prepared to look for her.
Katheryn Deprill, 27, said Tuesday she felt "pure joy" when she met her biological mother for the first time Monday at an attorney's office. And, after she learned the sad details of her conception and abandonment, she said she understood why her mom did what she did.
"She is better than anything I could've ever imagined. She is so sweet and amazing. I'm so happy," said Deprill, who has become known as the Burger King Baby.
The woman had decided about six months ago to launch her own search for the daughter she gave up.
Deprill began her quest on March 2 by posting on her Facebook page a photo in which she held up a sign that said, "Looking for my birth mother. ... She abandoned me in the Burger King bathroom only hours old, Allentown PA. Please help me find her by sharing my post."
The photo was shared more than 30,000 times by Facebook users around the world, and Deprill's story landed in numerous media outlets. That caught the attention of the woman who abandoned her, and she came forward to attorney John Waldron, who arranged for them to meet.
Deprill said she bears a very strong resemblance to the woman, whose name she wouldn't disclose.
"It looked like I was looking in a mirror," she said.
Deprill, an EMT and married mother of three who lives outside Allentown in South Whitehall Township, said she embraced her mother.
"I got the hug that I had wanted for the last 27 years, and that broke the ice," she said. "I asked if I could have it, and she said, 'absolutely,' and just held her arms open, and the rest is history."
The pair met for about four hours and exchanged contact information. Deprill said they plan to meet again.
"We are definitely going to have a relationship," she said.
Deprill declined to address the circumstances of her abandonment, referring those questions to Waldron.
The attorney said the woman said that, as a 16-year-old, she was raped while traveling abroad and became pregnant. The woman said she hid the pregnancy from her parents and, after giving birth in her bedroom, felt she could not take her newborn to the hospital because she would have to answer questions.
Waldron had his staff prepare for the reunification with flowers, chocolates and boxes of tissues. Deprill, who had launched the search with the blessing and encouragement of her adoptive parents, was accompanied by her adoptive mother and her youngest son, 7-month-old Jackson.
"It was one of the most emotional, joyful, dramatic, exciting things I've ever seen," Waldron said, adding there's no doubt in his mind that his client is Deprill's mother.
"If you sat there for five minutes and heard them and watched them and observed them and looked at them, you would know," he said.
Deprill said her birth mother expressed regret during their tear-filled meeting. She said she forgave her "110 percent, absolutely."
当还是新生儿的时候，一位女性就被遗弃在宾夕法尼亚州一家快餐店的洗手间。当开始寻找生母后，她得到了世界范围内的关注，并在三周后找到自己的生身母亲，而这位母亲也正准备寻找女儿。
27岁的凯瑟琳·德普瑞尔于周二时表示，当她在周一首次见到自己的亲生母亲时，心里是满满的兴奋。这次见面被安排在一个律师办公室。当德普瑞尔了解到在母亲怀孕和遗弃她期间发生的悲惨情节时，她说她理解为什么母亲抛弃她了。
“妈妈比我想象中的还要好。她很贴心并且很棒。我现在真的很高兴，”德普瑞尔说到，而她也因“汉堡王女孩”为外界所知。
这位母亲在六个月之前同样也下定决心去寻找自己遗弃的女儿。
德普瑞尔于3月2日时在她的脸书主页面上张贴一张照片，从而开始了寻找之路。在那张照片中，她手举一张海报，上面写着，“寻找我的亲生母亲……她在我出生后的几个小时就将我遗弃在亚林镇汉堡王快餐店的洗手间。请分享我的海报照片，帮助我寻找妈妈。”
在全世界范围内，这张照片已脸书用户分享了三万多次，同样许多媒体也刊登了德普瑞尔的故事。这样就引起了德普瑞尔亲生母亲的关注，之后她就前往律师约翰·沃尔德伦处，望其帮助二人准备见面。
德普瑞尔说她像极了妈妈，而对于妈妈的名字，她无法透露。
“看着她就像是我在照镜子，”她说。
作为一名内科急救专家和三个孩子的母亲，现居住在亚林镇南白厅乡的德普瑞尔表示欢迎妈妈回家。
“对于这个拥抱，我已经想了27年，同时它也消除了我们母女间的尴尬，”她说。“我说我能不能抱她，她说，‘当然’，并张开了双臂。而过去的一切都过去了。”
这次见面持续了大约4个小时，二人也交换了联系信息。德普瑞尔表示他们会计划再见面。
“我们注定分不开了，”她说。
德普瑞尔不愿提及自己被遗弃的情况，将相关问题交由律师沃尔德伦代答。
沃尔德伦说德普瑞尔妈妈16岁去国外旅游时被强奸了，从而致使其怀孕，同时她也没有将这件事告诉父母。而当在卧室诞下婴儿时，她觉得不能去医院，因为那样会被问很多问题。
沃尔德伦让他的职员准备成束的花，巧克力和纸巾。德普瑞尔在此寻找过程得到很多祝福和来自养父母的鼓励。见面时德普瑞尔由她的养母和最小的儿子——7个月大的杰克逊陪伴。
“这是我见过的最动情，最激动，最戏剧化，最兴奋的场景之一了，”沃尔德伦说，他又补充道在他心里，他的客户肯定就是德普瑞尔的妈妈。
“如果你在这坐五分钟，听着他们之间的对话，看着他们，观察着他们，你就会了解了，”他说道。
德普瑞尔说在这次见面中，双方都情绪激动，流了很多眼泪，德普瑞尔的亲身母亲也表达了她的悔恨。德普瑞尔表示绝对会“百分之一百一”原谅她的妈妈。
