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Actress Victoria Rowell's Foster Care Journey Revealed
11 Oct
Summary
- Victoria Rowell was placed in an orphanage at birth in Maine.
- Informal racial matching was common in adoptions during the 1950s.
- Rowell met her birth mother, who was White, at age six.
Victoria Rowell, 67, has opened up about her experiences growing up in foster care after being given up for adoption by her birth mother. Born in Maine in the late 1950s, Rowell was placed in an orphanage operated by nuns shortly after her birth. This was due to the adoption practices of the time, which often involved racial matching.
Two women from Maine eventually took Rowell in, but child welfare services later found a more permanent home for her with a Black family when she was three years old. Rowell's birth mother was White, and the actress believes she had no choice but to give her up for adoption due to societal pressures.
Rowell stated she holds no resentment towards her birth mother, whom she met for the first time at age six. She described the encounter as strange and scary, noting she did not see her own features in her mother. Rowell added that her birth mother had a difficult life and was already raising five children when Rowell was born.
