Penny's Tale
By: Mary Jo Mosher


Penny’s Tale is a story about a child’s psychological suffering at the hands of negligent adults, her subsequent adoption at age ten, her ongoing search for her birth parents, and her tenacious push for release of her birth records. The story is told from Penny’s point of view. The fortunate children born of dysfunctional relationships are given up as babies and placed in loving, secure homes. The unfortunate children are the older ones who end up in orphanages or foster homes and never experience permanency in their lives. Some become delinquents; others become psychologically damaged and can’t function well in society. Adoptive homes are scarce for the older child.

When a child enters the adoption courts, a new birth certificate is issued that states the child was born to the adoptive parents. The child’s original birth certificate is placed in an agency file never to see daylight again, and the birth family ceases to exist. Thus, through a lie, the child’s past is laid to rest: the birth mother secure in thinking the child she gave up will never return to haunt her, the adoptive parents secure in ownership of the child. Some children are never told about the adoption but stumble upon the truth later in life. The result is devastation and upheaval in the family. Others know from the start that they were adopted and are content with leaving the past alone.

Adoption is a timely subject, especially in states where many adopted persons are pushing legislators to change the laws regarding access to adoption records. This book is based on a true story and deals with this issue as well as other aspects of adoption.


Mary Jo Mosher is a retired journalist with stories published in newspapers and several horse magazines. She is the author of Hiking Minnesota (Globe Pequot Press, Guilford, Connecticut, 2002, revised 2008) and One Man Against the Mountain (Studio See, LLC, Sheridan,Wyoming, 2008).