I want to tell you all about a man I met named Sam. Sam is an elderly gentleman, he’s what you would commonly term a gentle giant.

I met Sam while we were in New Zealand recently, he attended our conference there, he came to suss us out, which I appreciate; I appreciate it because usually people just flat out ignore us, they decide who we are and what we’re all about without actually bothering to check it. I’ve discovered you can get a very bad reputation this way, people randomly deciding what you’re all about without ever meeting nor querying whether its actually grounded in any truth or not… Sam, along with his buddy, decided to come check us out, he stated firmly that he would only be there for a short while – so somewhere in his head was a decision already made. But he did suss us out and decided we weren’t so bad after all. He and his buddy were with us all through the conference, and will remain well loved buddies of ours hence forth.

Sam has a story, and he asked us to help, I have decided I will do all I can to help, and I am hoping you fine people out there will also help. Here is Sam’s Story..

Sam and his lovely bride briefly moved to Sydney Australia for a stint in the late 60’s through to the 70’s, in this time his wife had a beautiful baby girl they named “Meghan Anne”, she was born on the 25/2/69 in St Margarets Hospital in Sydney. Mehgan was born healthy, and fed well from her mother. Sam and his wife were overjoyed at the birth of their beautiful daughter, she was healthy, beautiful and all they had prayed for.

In those days a baby would be brought to the mother for feeding time, so at the next feed a baby was brought to the mother for her feed, however the mother instantly informed the nurse she had brought the wrong baby, the nurse argued that the mother was incorrect, that this baby was indeed hers. The mother was adamant that the baby brought was certainly not hers, the nurse then took the baby, changed her clothes and presented her again to the mother, the mother saw that this was still the wrong baby, but now dressed in her baby’s clothing. She argued with the nurse, the nurse shut her down again. The mother still adamant this was not her Meghan tried to feed the lethargic baby, the baby refused the feed, confirming further to the mother that this was not her baby, whom had fed enthusiastically the previous feed. This baby was not her infant, she was unhealthy, lethargic and did not take to the mother.

At the following feeds as the mother pushed for her baby to be brought to her, the nurses explained that her baby was very unwell and not expected to survive, the mother demanded to see her baby, and was refused. Instead the doctors pulled Sam aside and offered for him to see the infant, and make a judgement call as to whether or not the mother should see the infant. Sam was then lead to an incubator where a little blue dying baby laid, his immediate reaction was “This is not the baby my wife gave birth to”, his second reaction was “turn the incubator on!”. The doctors had decided that the baby had no chance, she was dying and would certainly not make it. Sam was adamant that this was not his baby, his wife had already stated that they had brought the wrong baby to her and she was correct, this baby lying here dying was not their child. He felt strongly for the plight of the little one in the incubator, however this baby was not theirs.

Sam and his wife left the hospital, the baby they were told was theirs had in fact died, and the doctors claimed that this was Meghan. Sam never believed for a second that his Meghan was gone, in his spirit he knew something had gone amiss… somehow the hospital had swapped his Meghan with a sickly infant, who didn’t have the strength to even feed from a mother, she was unhealthy from birth. Meghan was a healthy infant who enthusiastically fed from her mother at birth. Something was wrong.

Sam and his wife grieved the loss of their baby. Sam grieved, not the loss in death, but a loss, because he knew his baby Meghan was out there without her biological parents. This was a loss Sam was never able to shake off, over the years Sam continued to search and to pray about Meghan. Years later when Sam was back in New Zealand he came across an article in a Magazine, he picked it up intrigued at the inside articles regarding catholic maternity Hospitals and orphanages in Sydney Australia. It was a Australian Magazine, something akin to “Women’s weekly”. I’m not sure where Sam was, or exactly when it was, Sam cannot recall the exact details. However, the article was indeed pointing to past history of Catholic Maternity Hospitals and the discovery of the hospitals involvement with an Orphanage nearby swapping babies at birth. The article claimed that there were years of this from the late 60’s through to the 70’s where women who did not want their babies, or for whatever purposes could not keep their babies and therefore put them into orphanages. If an infant was born weak, sick or unhealthy the hospital would swap the weak baby for a healthy one, in their minds giving each infant a better chance. The thinking was that a couple who wanted and loved their child would easily nurture an unhealthy infant into health, whereas a unhealthy infant stood little to no chance being adopted out. A healthy baby stood much greater chances of adoption than an unhealthy infant. Therefore they simply swapped the infants at birth.

Sam tried again to pursue the hospital regarding Mehgan, he knew in his heart that this had happened with his baby. The grief was far too much to bear for his wife, she couldn’t face losing again, she had recovered as best she could, and therefore did not wish to pursue it any further. This left Sam in a predicament as he desperately wanted to find his Meghan. The hospital at that time shut him down again quickly, no doubt in fear of losing money. Sam was told that only a biological mother could access any information, Sam’s wife had been through enough.

Sam is still desperately seeking his daughter Meghan, who no doubt is not called Mehgan. She would be around 48 -49yrs by now. She has a family that long to meet her, a Father who from the moment he learned of her conception loves her, she was never left in an orphanage, never rejected, she has been sorely missed from the moment her parents noted the swap in the hospital. Meghan was born on the 25/2/69, she is 48-49yrs old and most likely lives in Australia.

There has to be nurses, doctors, carers, even journalists out there who are aware that this was happening in the Sydney hospital. We would like to find Meghan. We would dearly love to put Sam’s mind at ease over this, he lost his daughter, but he never stopped being a father to her. He has spent everyday with this weighing heavily on him. Sam’s a real tough old bloke (bro in New Zealand speak) He is as black and white as they come, he doesn’t buckle under pressure, he doesn’t give in on an argument (I would know we had a few!) He pursues the truth at all costs, he doesn’t settle for “near enough is good enough”. Like me, he doesn’t give up. That’s what I really love about Sam. He believes his daughter is out there, he believes that although he doesn’t see himself as the best of dad’s, Meghan should know that she is loved by hers. And I for one want to help Sam find Mehgan. If anyone knows anything that could be helpful, knows someone who knows someone, we want to hear from you, we want to find Meghan. Again, she is 48-49yrs old, she was born on the 25/2/69, anywhere close to this date, as the hospital and orphanage may have changed the records slightly. Please contact us if you believe you may know something, email us, I’d love to hear anything you may know that could lead to reuniting this family.

If you believe you may have seen the article that Sam saw regarding the Hospital then please contact us, as we can try pursuing the journalist who could have more information. Please tell this story, pass on Sam’s story, help Sam find his daughter. I need to add that I have told this story from memory, I’ve been told by Sam that it is fairly accurate, there were a few things I needed to edit, which has been done. Let’s all start getting this out there and help Sam. X