News

Actions

Four siblings reunite in Claremore after mother puts them up for adoption more than 60 years ago

Posted at 10:19 PM, Oct 20, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-20 23:24:33-04

CLAREMORE, Okla. - It's a family reunion like you've never seen, more than 60 years in the making. 

Friday, Claremore's Hammett House was the host of a special day, and not just because of the food on the menu. 

Larry, Terry, Laura Lou and Susan were all born of Betty Baldwin in Pawhuska. 

But by the 50s the young woman had more kids than she could manage. 

“An anesthesiologist at the hospital there in Pawhuska basically brokered the adoption of the kids from her to a lawyer." 

Betty's niece Cheryl Baldwin sat at a table to ask her about it at a family reunion. 

“I asked my mom one time when I was a teenager, doesn’t she have any kids, what happened? And my mom told me to ask her.”

Aunt Betty told her she only had three kids. 

“Two cars, they were on a dirt road. And two cars came up that road. They put Susan in one. They gave her an ice cream cone, put her in a car. They gave Lloyd and I an ice cream cone, put us in the other car." 

Larry Sisk is the oldest child. 

“I didn’t know they were my brothers. I just knew they were little boys that I played with.”

Susan Maslen is his younger sister. 

She grew up believing she was an only child. 

 “When I would ask questions she would just tell me God gave you to us and that was it. That was her explanation," she said. 

But the uncertainty wasn't good enough for Cheryl. 

“So I said would it be ok if my mom and I tried to find your kids?”

With the help of ancestry.com, a handful of DNA tests and Facebook, an unimaginable family dinner with two siblings they knew nothing about was born. 

“You wait your whole life for something like this to happen.”

Susan, no longer an only child, with a special gift to prove it. 

The four siblings standing together for the first time for the family picture not a single one of them knew was possible. 

There were two people noticeably absent; one of the brothers passed away a few years ago, and Aunt Betty passed away at the age of 83. 

She never lived to see the day all of her children sat  in the same room. 

Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.

Download our free app for Apple and Android and Kindle devices.

Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox. Select from these options: Breaking News, Severe Weather, School Closings, Daily Headlines and Daily Forecasts.

Follow us on Twitter

Like us on Facebook