LUBBOCK, Texas — In April 2014, Toya Dupree took to social media to ask the public for help in locating her younger sister, who was adopted at birth in October 1996. Fast forward 10 years, Dupree is still looking for answers about what happened to her little sister.
Dupree said her grandmother became her primary guardian when she was between the ages of 8 and 10 because her mother suffered from drug addiction.
During that time, Dupree’s mother gave birth to a baby girl whose birth name was “Michelle Adams,” and she said she was “astonished” at the fact she had a baby sister.
“I just looked at her and [was like] ‘Oh my gosh,’ you know, and astonishment, I’m thinking, ‘Wow… I finally get to get a little sister,'” Dupree said.
Dupree said she only met her baby sister for less than an hour when a nurse came into the room and said they needed to take the baby to the nursery.
“I remember waiting for her to come back and she never came back,” Dupree remembered. She explained her sister’s adoption was a closed adoption. American Adoptions says a closed adoption means the birth parents and the adoptive parents share “little to no contact.”
“[It] also means that identifying information generally remains confidential,” American Adoptions said.
On April 1, 2014, Dupree posted on Facebook asking for the public’s help in finding her sister and was met with widespread support.
She added that new platforms have allowed her to search further.
“There was no TikTok when I originally shared the post. So now, you know, all of the outlets have allowed people, people have been reaching out to me messaging me…” Dupree said.
Dupree said she wants her little sister to know is that she “never stopped looking for” her.
“Someone never stopped looking for you,” Dupree said. “The truth is that our mother…giving you up was probably the best thing for you at that time.”