It was a meeting years in the making.
Antigua Bailey found a sister she never knew existed after adoption separated the two decades ago.
Before calling Opelousas home, Bailey was adopted from an orphanage in New Orleans when she was four-years-old. From the time she could remember, she was searching for her family.
“I believed that there was someone somewhere in the world. I just kept that hope alive,” said Bailey.
With the help of the nonprofit Search Angels and Catholic Charities, she received some information about her birth mother. The results narrowed her down to Tennessee, and thanks to the help of some friends, she took her first road trip to Tennessee in hopes of finding her family.
The trip didn’t give her the outcome to which she had hoped, but she remained hopeful.
Then, on June 5, she received a phone call that changed her life.
“The voice on the other end says, ‘This is Yolanda. I’m your sister.’ And, time stopped. It really… it stopped,” Bailey said as she fought back tears.
Five days later, she was Tennessee bound for the second time to meet her sister face to face, telling her friends, “This time, I have a sister.”
When the moment came, the sisters embraced each other and cried. Bailey’s sister, Yolanda Laiche McClain, says she never thought she would meet a sister.
“I grew up without any siblings, and to be an adult and find out that there is someone that’s related to me, we have the same mother, that was just… I found it to really be a blessing,” said McClain.
Bailey never gave up hope in finding her family despite some obstacles.
“It was my daily prayer, sincere prayer, sincere hope that I not leave this Earth until this part of my journey had been completed,” said Bailey. “But, a sister… astonishing.”
She has advice for others who are looking for their families.
“Everything in in God’s time, but wait on his time, and don’t give up.”
