Philomena Lee

Annie Philomena Lee (born 24 March 1933)[1] is an Irish woman whose life was chronicled in the 2009 book The Lost Child of Philomena Lee by Martin Sixsmith. The book was made into a film titled Philomena (2013), which was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Lead Actress for Judi Dench's portrayal of Philomena, and Best Picture.

Philomena Lee
Born (1933-03-24) 24 March 1933
Newcastle West, Ireland
OccupationNurse (retired), activist
Known forSubject of The Lost Child of Philomena Lee
Spouse(s)John E. Libberton (1959-?)
Philip Gibson
​
(m. 1984)​
Children3 (including Michael A. Hess)

Lee is now an advocate and spokesperson for adoption rights.[2][3] Lee has created The Philomena Project in order to raise awareness about adoption laws and find ways to improve them. In February 2014, she met Pope Francis to discuss the Catholic church's adoption policies.[4][5][6]

Personal life

Lee was born Annie Philomena Lee in County Limerick, Ireland in 1933. Her mother died of tuberculosis when Lee was six. Her father, a butcher, sent Lee and her sisters, Kaye and Mary, to a convent school and kept his sons at home. After Lee completed her formal education at the convent, she went to live with her maternal aunt, Kitty Madden.

She married in 1959, had two more children, Jane and Kevin, and worked as a nurse. She divorced her first husband and later remarried.[7]

Pregnancy

When she was 18, Philomena became pregnant by a man named John, who worked for the post office. She was then sent to the Sean Ross Abbey in Roscrea, a place for unwed mothers. After giving birth to a son, Philomena worked unpaid at the Abbey, where she was forced to stay until she was 22, at which time the Abbey sold her 3 year old son to be adopted by a Catholic family in the United States. This was done without Philamena’s consent and against her wishes. At the time in Ireland, such treatment of unwed mothers was common practice. After forcing Philomena to sign the adoption papers, the nuns involved refused to disclose any details regarding her son’s fate, except that he was taken to the US.[8] After she left the Abbey, Philomena moved to England and studied to become a nurse.

Book

Around Christmas, in 2003, Lee revealed to her family that she had given birth to a son when she was 19, and she did not know his whereabouts. For decades, she had secretly been trying to find out what had happened to her son, without success. Her daughter, Jane, decided to approach journalist Martin Sixsmith at a New Year's Eve Party a few weeks later. She explained Philomena's story and asked Sixsmith whether he would be interested in helping them find out what had happened to the child.[9]

Sixsmith agreed to take on the story. He and Philomena spent years researching, until they discovered her son had been adopted by an American couple, Doc and Marge Hess, who named the child Michael Hess. The Hess family also adopted a little girl named Mary from the Abbey; Mary and Michael grew up together as siblings. Sixsmith and Philomena eventually came to learn that Michael died (of AIDS) in 1995, and that for years he had tried, without success, to find his birth mother. Before his death he arranged to be buried at the Sean Ross Abbey, in the hope that his mother may someday find his grave, which she eventually did.[10]

Film

A script was developed by Jeff Pope and Steve Coogan based on Sixsmith's book. Stephen Frears directed with Judi Dench cast as Philomena. The film was distributed by The Weinstein Company in November 2013 and was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score.

References
  1. Sixsmith, Martin (2 July 2010). The Lost Child of Philomena Lee: A Mother, Her Son and a Fifty Year Search. Macmillan Publishers. p. 14. ISBN 978-0230744271.
  2. "Philomena Lee to tell world conference about her forced adoption in Ireland". TheJournal.ie. 4 September 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  3. Buckley, Dan (5 September 2014). "Philomena Lee: 'I can still see my son's little face'". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  4. Child, Ben (31 January 2014). "Philomena Lee starts campaign for law change on adoption rights". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  5. "What Is The Philomena Project?". The Philomena Project. Archived from the original on 7 September 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  6. "Steve Coogan and Philomena Lee meet Pope Francis". BBC. 6 February 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  7. Gritten, David (15 October 2013). "Philomena: behind the scenes with Dame Judi Dench and Steve Coogan". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  8. Midgette, Anne (4 February 2014). "The real Philomena Lee finds Hollywood ending to adoption story". The Washington Post. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  9. Adams, Cindy (10 March 2014). "Philomena Lee speaks about battle with Ireland's Supreme Court". New York Post. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  10. Sixsmith, Martin (19 September 2009). "The Catholic church sold my child". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
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