Ayesha was not only a mother who lost her daughter to adoption in 1992, she was also a very unhappy adoptee. She was adopted as a baby into her adoptive family who already had three sons and another daughter. But sadly, she didn't have a happy home life, as her story unfolded she revealed to me that she was one of the many kids living on the streets. She spent time in and out of Homes and Institutions, she became pregnant and somehow managed to keep her first-born child, she was around fifteen at the time.

She later married and went on to have another child, she along with her husband and children spent time in Institutions for the homeless. Eventually they went Interstate to live, and events in her young life went from bad to worse, her husband was doing drugs and encouraged her to try it also. Ayesha's husband eventually committed suicide, leaving her alone in the world once again with two children to raise and another on the way. Her third child was born May 30th 1989, however, with the many health problems she suffered she found this difficult to cope with and went to a Private Agency for help.

She once again spent time in and out of Institutions trying to get well. But somehow the Authorities managed to get her to sign papers, these were Adoption Consent Forms, her daughter was three years old at the time, this was an "OPEN ADOPTION", she did manage to have one supervised access visit, and a photo, but then nothing. During all this time Ayesha managed to keep her eldest son with her at all time, he was an absolute delightful and well-mannered child. It has to make one wonder WHY her daughter was taken from her and placed for adoption.

She kept asking me to try to get her a photo of her daughter, which I did, I contacted the right people who should have been able to produce one just before Mother's Day 1998, it was not forthcoming. I later tried again in December, asking for a photo to give her for Christmas, but once again Nothing.

Ayesha also told me that she looked for and found her birthmother, but this was not the happy reunion she hoped for. When they met, her mother looked at her and said, "What do you want from me, I had you, I gave you away, I don't even know which one you are, I gave three of you away". She also met her half-sister twice, and a half-brother once and neither of them really wanted to know her either.

In February 1999, Ayesha came to my home to start writing her submission for the Adoption Inquiry that we were hoping for. We worked on it for five and a half hours, until she couldn't go on, and both of us crying, and left it for another day.

When we received the news in May 1999, that we had secured our Inquiry into Past Adoption Practices, I tried to locate Ayesha. I phoned and went to her last address many times, but faced a brick wall every time. It was almost as though she had dropped off the planet.

Our Inquiry started on July 13th 1999. In the middle of the 3rd day after one of the representatives from Centrecare were interviewed, their Catholic Welfare Officer informed me of Ayesha's fate. I was completely stunned. Just two months short of her 30th birthday, Ayesha ended her very sad and lonely life. What I couldn't understand, and still don't to this day is, that all this mother ever wanted was a photo of her little girl, yet Centrecare could not locate the Adoptive Parents to acquire one over a period of 7 months, yet, I was informed that they managed to find these people to inform them of her death.