A woman who, as a newborn, was abandoned in the bathroom of a Pennsylvania fast-food restaurant said Tuesday she has found her birth mother just three weeks after launching a search that garnered worldwide attention, according to the New York Daily News.
Katheryn Deprill, 27, said she felt "pure joy" when she met her biological mother for the first time Monday at an attorney's office, the Daily News reported.
After she learned the sad details of her conception and abandonment, she said she understood why her mom did what she did, according to the Daily News.
"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 Daily News reported.
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," according to the Daily News.
The photo was shared more than 30,000 times by Facebook users around the world, and Deprill's story landed in numerous media outlets, the Daily News reported. 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, according to the Daily News.
Deprill, an EMT and married mother of three who lives outside Allentown in South Whitehall Township, said she embraced her mother, the Daily News reported.
"I got the hug that I had wanted for the last 27 years, and that broke the ice," Deprill said, according to the Daily News. "I asked if I could have it, and she said, 'absolutely,' and just held her arms open, and the rest is history."
The attorney said the woman said that, as a 16-year-old, she was raped while traveling abroad and became pregnant, the Daily News reported. 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, according to the Daily News.
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, the Daily News reported.
