Facebook helps woman find birth mother

A picture and social media have helped a Des Moines woman find her birth mother, KCCI reports.

It took about three days for Hannah Stouffer to get the name she was looking for. "It's actually happening," Stouffer said. It was the moment Stouffer had waited years for.

"I felt like I was going to throw up, like I wanted to scream," Stouffer said. "It was within three days, 50,000 people." Thousands of people saw the picture and couldn't help but spread the word.

"Within an hour, I had over 1,000 retweets. I have over hundreds of shares on Facebook," Stouffer said. "The next day, it was on KCCI."

It was a simple photo with a huge plea.

"My name is Hannah. I was born April 12, 1995, at Des Moines Hospital, Iowa. My birth mom was 15 years old ... I was adopted through a closed adoption and am trying to find my birth mom. I just want to meet her," Stouffer posted.

"I won't go every day wondering what I look like. I won't go every day wondering where I got my nose from, my eyes from," Stouffer said.

A woman who saw the post three days later thought she knew Stouffer's birth mother.

"I didn't believe it at first, and then she was asking different questions, and then she ... asked her who delivered me, and she told me the name of the doctor," Stouffer said.

There was something else.

"I asked her if she left me anything, and she said, 'Yes, a blanket and an outfit,' and I knew no one else would have known that," Stouffer said.

Stouffer has already talked to her birth mother on the phone, and they've exchanged text messages. Now, 19 years later, she'll once again get to feel her mother's arms around her.

"I want to see her. I want to thank her, hug her, talk to her, her her voice," Stouffer said.

Stouffer will reunite with her mother over the weekend. Her mother also lives in Des Moines.

Stouffer said she doesn't yet know her mother's address, but she's excited to meet her.