Soma with her husband Shane and on her wedding day
Soma Mcleod who was abandoned as an infant on the doorsteps of the police station in Panadura, a coastal town approximately 24 km south of Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo, is looking for her birth mother.
Soma who lives in Adelaide, Australia, ‘assumes her birthday to be 17 August 1973’. She was sent by the police to an orphanage which, as she was told by her adopted parents, was managed by a person living in Panadura and his family.
In an email to newstrails.com she says: “My birth name was Somawathie. I was left on the doorstep at the police station in Panadura and from there I was sent to the orphanage. (I can’t remember the name of the home). At the time a family was managing it. My Australian parents had gone to Sri Lanka in the early 70s as my dad was setting up a nutrition centre in the island. While they were there they decided to adopt a child and when they found me I was just two years of age. Apparently, I am told I was the first Buddhist female child to be adopted from Sri Lanka.”
Soma wrote to us responding to a story we carried about Kacee Rhodes, another Sri Lankan adopted by an Australian family. Kacee went to the Peter Weerasekera Children’s Home in Yakkala, where she lived before being adopted, to find her birth mother but the home was not able to provide any proof of her parents during her brief holiday to Sri Lanka last March. Sheree Atcheson, who is listed among the 50 most influential women in technology in England, had a happy ending in her quest to find her Sri Lankan mother. She reunited with her biological mom last February. Fortunately, Sheree had the copy of her birth certificate and her DNA matched with her mother.
According to what Soma’s adoptive parents told her, she was malnourished at the time they got her for adoption and she held a banana for the entire duration of the flight back to Australia ‘apparently as I didn’t know if I’d be fed again and I also clung to my mum during the entire journey back’.
“I have had issues with abandonment over the years and failed at relationships. I was a single mom at the young age of 20 but I have no regrets as my son is now 25 years old and the best thing I ever did, and now I am married to a wonderful man”
She says she had a great childhood with close and loving parental care and had a good education. “So I think I was very lucky and I am very grateful to my parents for everything they provided for me”.
However, she had found that living in a large family had its own share of problems and at times Soma felt that one of her sisters disliked her as she believed ‘I had more attention growing up than she did. So she resented me for this’.
“This divided our family over time and I now don’t have a relationship with that sister. I was extremely close to my father but my mother has shown more affection for her natural children over the years and I always felt the odd one out, even though I knew I was loved. I have had issues with abandonment over the years and failed at relationships. I was a single mom at the young age of 20 but I have no regrets as my son is now 25 years old and the best thing I ever did. I never really had the desire to look for my biological mother (as I have adoptive parents) but the older I get the more curious I am and I know time is a big factor”.
She had gone to Sri Lanka 18 years ago with a Sri Lankan friend for two weeks. She visited the orphanage which took care of her after she was found on the police station’s doorsteps. But the home was unable to find any clue to her biological parents.
“It was difficult seeing children so young with no parents or love at the orphanage. I wanted to take them all home. Looking back, it was a wonderful experience for me. It made me appreciate everything that I have even more so. I met with the Fonsekas (they knew my Australian parents while they were in Sri Lanka) but I think my biological parents have both passed now. I asked the orphanage if they had any records but they said no. It was great to see the country that I originated from and I think every adoptee should visit their country of origin. I have exhausted many avenues of seeking my birth parents as I have no birth certificate or papers.”
Soma says she did not think about contacting the media when she was in Sri Lanka to help her find her birth parents. “I wouldn’t know where to start so any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I also don’t know anyone in Sri Lanka and can’t speak a word of Sinhala. I even thought of putting an ad on Sri Lankan TV asking mothers if anyone remembers leaving a child on the doorsteps of Panadura police station. I thought this may encourage a relative or someone to help me in my search”.
“I completed my nursing degree and have worked as a nurse in Cairns for 10 years. I have now married to a wonderful man. Shane and I have a successful painting company which we both manage and run. I am now studying Interior design and plans to open my own business next year.”
She says she and her husband applied to adopt a child from Sri Lanka one and half years ago (preferably a girl) but the Australian adoption process is ‘slow and frustrating but I keep my fingers crossed’.
“I have always had a strong desire to adopt a little girl like myself and give back what my Australian parents did for me. I would love any help with tracing my parents. I know it’s a long shot and I have no illusions that I may never know, but it’s worth the try,” Soma says appealing to anybody who may remember anything about a child being abandoned at the Panadura police station 45 years ago. – newstrails.com
