Nearly 30 years without a mom - Woman searches for parent who left her

It has been 27 years since Melissa Grant saw her mother who she said left her with one of her friends in Waterhouse and never returned.

Now 31, Grant said she is seeking answers and the public's assistance in locating her as she is unable to live a normal life and even get a birth certificate as she is unaware of her mother's surname.

"Mi really would like to ask her why she gone and leave mi so long. She leave mi with her friend and she never even come back come look for me and find out if mi okay. Mi wa ask her why she couldn't keep me and raise me. She just gone and leave mi suh and mi never do her anything bad. Sometimes I feel like a fish out of water and it gets really hard on my birthday and Christmas holidays when I see everyone around their families and I don't have one," she said.

Grant broke down in tears as she explained how her mother's friend, Charmaine Broderick, had given her to another woman who lived in St Mary.

The woman, who she called Miss Patsy, has no information about her except her name.

She told THE STAR that she was told that her mother's first name was Claudette, and she was an exotic dancer at a club in St Catherine.

LIMITED ACHIEVEMENTS

Currently unemployed, Grant stated that she is unable to live a full life as not having a birth certificate has limited her achievements drastically.

"I was just four at the time (she left) so I really don't remember what my mother looked like. Charmaine would have known more about her but she has been dead for years now. Miss Patsy didn't know my mother or anything but she managed to get me in school in St Mary, and afterwards we moved to Westmoreland and I went to Knockalva High School (in Hanover).

"Right now because I don't have a birth paper, I can't even get a passport or a good job. I have tried getting it a lot of times but they keep telling me that I need to know my mom's last name. All I want from her is some information so I can get the document. She don't have to deal with mi or anything at all. I just want her last name. I have a son now and sometimes him ask mi how him never hear mi talk anything about my mother or family. I really don't know what to tell him because I am seeking answers myself," she added.

Reflecting on her life, Grant said she has suffered both physical and emotional abuse.

"I went through a lot. I was even placed in a children's home and when I reached 16 I ran away. I couldn't manage the treatment at the home because the bigger girls used to beat me up. I'm just tired of everything. During my teenage years, I was subjected to much abuse ... it wasn't pretty," she said.