MONTEGO BAY, St James — With a heart filled with anxiety and questions, 33-year-old Gloria Smart is yearning for the day when she is reunited with her mother.

“Mi just want to see the lady who carry me come here, so at least I know that I have a mother. That would mean everything to me,” she told the Jamaica Observer in a recent interview.

According to Smart, she was raised by a St James couple with whom she has no biological relationship. She explained that information about the living agreement was never forthcoming, however her older brother and herself were taken in by that couple in the late 1980s.

“I don’t know much about myself – what I have heard over the years is what I have worked with. This lady took me when I was three months old. I don’t even know where she took me from, but I know that she took me and my brother when he was three years old and I was three months old,” said Smart.

Smart went on to tell the Sunday Observer that since her brother died 20 years ago at the age of 17, she has been on a journey to locate her mother. That search has failed to yield positive news over the last two decades, and Smart stated that the woman who raised her had also refused to assist in helping to locate her biological family. She was also unable to ascertain if a legal adoption process was involved in their living situation so the Registrar General’s Department (RGD) was her last resort, Smart admitted.

“She didn’t tell me anything much. And whenever I would go to ask her, she would run me away and tell me to not ask her anything. Now she dead, gone, so I am trying to just work with the little information I see on my birth [certificate],” she said before noting that her birth certificate states that she was given her biological mother’s maiden name at birth.

“My birth paper says that my mom is from St John in the John’s Hall area and I was born on November 12, 1988, at the Cornwall Regional Hospital,” she added. According to Smart’s birth registration form, her biological mother’s name is Eleisa. There is no other information regarding her mother’s identity on the form.

Smart said that her “father” has also not aided in the search for her biological family.

“The man who I call my father has not given me much information either. Truth be told, mi never really ask him anything and he never volunteered any information. I don’t even have any childhood photos to show,” she said.

Though she was reluctant to explain, Smart told the Sunday Observer that her younger years were “not good”. The woman said she was unable to pursue an education past the primary level as she learned that she did not have a birth certificate at the time. Smart reminisced that this also hindered what may have brought about many opportunities for a better life.

“I attended the Granville All-Age School. I did not go to a high school because when I was supposed to take GSAT [Grade Six Achievement Test] I did not have a birth paper. Since I get big and turn woman, mi look about my own birth paper and get it,” she explained.

Noting that she has no ill feelings towards her biological mother or family, Smart stated that she would love to hear why both she and her brother were sent to live elsewhere. She told the Sunday Observer that she is desperately in need of assistance to locate her biological family, though she has very little information to help with her search.

“I just really want to know the woman who gave birth to me. I have an 18-year-old son who always asks me about my side of the family, so that is one of the reasons I want to meet her. Also, I would like to ask her why she gave us up,” she said.

While baring her soul, Smart shared that she has always yearned for a sense of belonging, as her only known biological relatives are her deceased brother and son. She acknowledged the possibility that her biological mother may have passed away, but Smart said that she is hoping for the best as she dreams of meeting her biological mother soon.

“I don’t even know if my life would have been different, but I just want to know my people. I am not thinking about if my life would have been better or even worse. I really just want to meet her,” Smart said.

“Please help me,” she appealed.