Superior woman's fears give way to joy in reunion with her birth mother

Jennifer Kurosky met her birth mother for the first time at age 29.

The Superior resident has known all her life she was adopted by her parents, Roberta and David Lindemann. At times she was curious about her birth parents but never felt compelled to look for them.

Roberta Lindemann felt differently. This fall, Lindemann convinced Kurosky to start the search for Sue Meyer Gengler -- Kurosky's birth mother.

"I always wanted her to do that because I wanted the birth mother to know she was alive and well," Lindemann said. "And I wanted to thank them and thank her for letting us have the opportunity to have a child."

Kurosky agreed to the search when she began having children of her own.

"I just wanted to know about medical information. Everything else was a bonus," she said.

The search only took one month. First, the state contacted Gengler and asked whether she'd be willing to be in contact with Kurosky.

"I was bawling. I said 'God yes,' " Gengler said. "I said. 'I've prayed for this for 29 years.' "

She always wanted to know Kurosky, but Kurosky had to be the one to initiate contact.

"This is something I'd been hoping for many, many years," Gengler said.

Both Kurosky and Gengler had to consent to a meeting. The state gave Kurosky Gengler's phone number, and Kurosky had to make the first call.

"I didn't want to call, I was so scared," Kurosky said.

The fear didn't last long. Kurosky and Gengler talked for more than an hour, and then for another hour later that night.

That weekend last fall Kurosky, her husband, Jim, and Lindemann drove to Medford, Wis., for the first face-to-face meeting. Lindemann had compiled hundreds of pictures from Kurosky's life and copied pages from Kurosky's baby book to take down and share with Gengler.

Kurosky was still a little hesitant.

"I was so nervous pulling into their driveway," she said.

Gengler was just as nervous. She, her husband, Matt, and two daughters cleaned the entire house. Gengler had no idea what Kurosky would be like. She was afraid Kurosky would have hard feelings about begin given up for adoption.

"I was petrified. I was beyond nervous," she said. "I didn't know what to expect."

Any fears dissipated quickly.

"It was kind of scary how well it went," Kurosky said.

"We all just clicked," Lindemann said.

When Kurosky stepped out of the van, Gengler ran up and put her arms around her.

"I told her, 'Now I feel complete,' " Gengler said. "There's been a part of me missing all this time -- but not anymore."

For Gengler, that first meeting was a dream come true. At age 17 she had given up her baby for adoption when she felt an adoptive family could provide her a better life.

Kurosky, 29 years later, didn't just meet her birth mother. She met Gengler's husband, Matt, two half-sisters and her maternal grandparents.

For the Genglers, the meeting was a long time coming. Gengler has three daughters in addition to Kurosky.

Kathy, Mahryah and Jackie always wanted to meet their big sister. At one point while growing up, the girls even wrote a letter to Montel Williams asking him to help them find Kurosky. However, they never sent the letter. They couldn't figure out how to get a stamp without alerting their parents, Kurosky said.

Even though they grew up apart, Kurosky has always had connections with her birth family.

Kurosky's middle name is Mae. The Lindemanns had no idea, but Mae is the name Gengler chose for Kurosky and indicated in the adoption papers she wanted Kurosky to have.

The new relatives speak to one another about three times a week and share everything, Gengler said. The two families came together for Christmas, a birthday and for the birth of Kurosky's second son, Nathen, this summer.