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Woman discovers her co-worker is her birth mother

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – The Ohio Department of Health released birth records for those born between Jan. 1 1964 and Sept. 18, 1996.

One woman was reunited with her mother this week, after those records were released

“Ever since I found out that I was adopted, I wanted to know who my biological mother was,” said La-Sonya Mitchell Clark.

On Monday, Mitchell-Clark finally received her answer in the mail.

“I picked it up and (saw) the Department of Health from Columbus. I knew right then and there (that) this was it,” said Mitchell-Clark.

Her birth records included her mother’s name, Francine Simmons. She went to Facebook to search the name and found that her mother worked at the same place that she did.

And then it clicked.

“There’s a Francine that works at my job. She works at the front desk,” Mitchell-Clark said.

She reached out on social media and a day later, she received a phone call from her birth mother.

“She called me and I said, ‘Is this Ms. Francine?’ She said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘I think I’m your daughter’,” Mitchell-Clark said.

They had plenty to discuss but their reunion started with tears of joy.

“I’m still in shock. It’s amazing,” Simmons said.

She said she always wanted to reconnect with her daughter, but never knew how.

“I got pregnant when I was 14. I had her when I was 15. I was put in a home, a girl’s home. Had her. Got to hold her. Didn’t get to name her, but I named her myself in my heart all these years,” Simmons said.

The sentimental reunion does not end there, because it turns out Mitchell-Clark has three other sisters she did not know about. One of her siblings works with her and her birth mother.

Mother and daughter live six minutes from each other and Mitchell-Clark said her adoptive parents are happy for them.

“My mom and dad have always been supportive of me. (They’ve) always encouraged me to look for them. They’re going to be a part of this, too,” Mitchell-Clark said.

“Now, we’ve got a bigger extended family where we can just be together,” Simmons said.