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At 16 she was forced to give her baby away. But good came from the loss.

Thirty years ago Michelle Patterson was a 16-year-old school girl living in the country. After reporting some back pain she found out she was pregnant and was sent to Sydney to hide and give birth in secret.

Michelle.

 

“There really wasn’t any conversation. It was just, ‘this is what’s happening.’ I had so much guilt and shame I didn’t speak up” Michelle told us on Just Between Us.

The birth was traumatic and she went into shock not knowing for some time if she'd had a boy or a girl.

“I held him for 10 minutes and I was sobbing the whole time.”

Michelle held her son briefly, and then she held onto the secret and the guilt for three decades.

Michelle tells Just Between Us what happened to her then and why she's speaking out now to release the calcified shame. She also reveals the good that came out of the loss.

You can listen here on iTunes and below:

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