Man Adopts a Girl No One Wanted, 28 Years Later He Finds Out Why

Like many other people around the world, a young man decided that it was a commendable idea to adopt a child. So he went ahead to adopt a girl no one else wanted to take in. Despite this, he cherished her and raised her to maturity without problems, until one sprang up from nowhere.

Meet Dale Jefferson, a 44-year-old who lived in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Dale wasn’t married or in a relationship, but he wanted a child of his own. He wanted a child so bad, that he didn’t mind adopting a 6-year-old who no one wanted.

One day, the police showed up at Dale’s and he had no idea why. When they told him that it had something to do with his adopted daughter, he couldn’t hide his surprise. Dale hadn’t seen his adopted daughter in 16 years. So he wondered what this was about.

The police told him something about his adopted daughter and he couldn’t believe his ears. He was overwhelmed by the information. How on Earth could he have just realized this?

A lot was going on in Dale’s mind and there were numerous questions he needed to ask. What was happening with his beloved child? Did it have anything to do with why no one was interested in adopting her? Most importantly, why did it take so long for him to finally learn the truth?

It all started many years ago when Dale adopted Lise, something he had always wanted to do. Although he had hoped for a large family, adopting Lise felt like the first step to achieving this life-long desire. That’s especially because he didn’t have any women in his life.

Despite being a romantic, Dale wasn’t lucky enough to have found his one true love. So, after trying for a while, he finally accepted his fate and decided to live his single life to the fullest. However, that didn’t stop his desire to have a child of his own. If it meant adopting one, then so be it.

His determination to adopt a child led him to Lise Barber, a 6-year-old girl who led a difficult life. Lise had grown up in the system and never knew what it meant to be in a permanent home. While she was friends with other orphans, she had to watch them leave for their new homes while she remained unwanted.

As time went by, Lise’s chances of being adopted grew slimmer. She was sick already and only a few parents would want to bring home a child as old as that. The orphanage understood this and decided to give her a fighting chance by withholding some information about her.

Did the plan work out? Judging by the way Dale and Lise naturally took to each other, we can say “you bet it did!” It was love at first sight for Lise and Dale especially because Lise was such a well-mannered child. Again, since it wasn’t commonplace for a single man to adopt a girl, he felt very lucky to be given this opportunity.

As we mentioned already, Lise was the model child. She was proof that adopting a 6-year-old wasn’t a bad thing after all. Lise had overgrown the stage for throwing tantrums as toddlers do, and because she was independent, didn’t need as much attention as a newborn.

Dale did everything he could to be the father that Lise needed. He ensured that he spent quality time with her and didn’t hold back on anything necessary to make her feel loved. Unfortunately, Dale noticed that Lise wasn’t as trusting of him or comfortable as he was of her.

It’s not like Dale wanted Lise to be perfect, but he couldn’t just shake off the feeling that something was wrong. Lise started to live a very secluded life and increasingly became distant and withdrawn.

Like every responsible parent, Dale was worried about Lise’s behavior. It was worse that he didn’t know why she was acting up. She didn’t seem to want to talk to him about what was going on with her. He wondered why she couldn’t trust him enough.

If Dale ever thought that Lise was just passing through the teenage phase and will get better when she reached adulthood, he was in for a huge shock. Lise turned 18 but nothing changed. Now, she was ready to start college and be truly independent.

After Lise went to college, Dale made efforts to get through to her during the first weeks, but nothing worked. But he was expecting this. He knew it was going to be more challenging now that she was far away from home.

When Dale couldn’t bear it anymore, he decided to go see his daughter at her college. He anticipated this surprise meeting for weeks and thought that it would soften Lise’s heart and make her more receptive to him.

The receptionist informed Dake that Lise had dropped out of school some months back. Dale had no idea and wondered why Lise lied to him. Lise also didn’t feel the need to tell him anything about her whereabouts. Now, he was truly livid and feared for her safety.

Now not only was Dale worried that Lise was withdrawn, but he also wondered if any harm had come to her. He called her phone but she hung up, clearly indicating that she thought he was intruding into her personal space.

The more Dale was worried about his daughter, the more he began to see himself as a failed parent. How did he allow things to get this bad between him and his daughter? What was he doing wrong that he had no idea about?

He decided he was going to try one last time, and then let her be. So, he sent her a message asking if everything was okay with her. Comparing the attention, money, and years he invested in Lise to their current situation made him depressed.

The response was emotionless and straight to the point, “I’m fine.” There was no explanation as to why she left school without informing him or her whereabouts. She didn’t even acknowledge him as her dad in the text or appreciate Dale’s efforts so far.

Despite the cold response and his daughter’s absence, Dale couldn’t help thinking about her. Although he wanted to ask her where he went wrong, he was overwhelmed with emotions considering he hasn’t heard from her in many years.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t grab his phone early enough to pick up the call. He saw a missed call but there was no follow-up voicemail or text. Who could that be?

Some years back, Dale had met and married Hannah, a woman who loved the quiet life as he did. Hannah had two sons who had died in an auto crash about 2 decades before their paths crossed. So, they quickly took to each other as they had something in common—separation from a dear child.

Hannah claimed she hadn’t shared his phone number with anyone and was unaware of the call in question. She asked if he had returned the call, but Dale hadn’t because he thought it was a phony call that’ll waste his time. On a second thought, however, he decided that calling back wouldn’t hurt anyone.

When he picked up the call, he said “hello,” several times but got no response. Although he knew that it was a man behind the phone, the man refused to answer Dale when he asked who it was. He later realized that the man covered his phone mouthpiece with his hand, trying to get instructions from a female.

The man explained that he was there with Lise but Lise didn’t know if her dad would want to speak with her. Dale assured him that he wanted to speak with this daughter. It’s what he had been hoping for all these years.

Lise explained that she found his adopting her weird. When he asked her why it took her so long to say anything, she started crying. But he needed to know why as he hadn’t stopped thinking about it for years.

Lise was finally able to visit her birth parents after getting their records. Unfortunately, she was robbed and everything she had was taken from her. Although she discovered that her parents were no longer in that house and they were undergoing drug rehabilitation, she kept her hope alive.

Although her lover encouraged her to speak with her dad, she thought he no longer wanted to have anything to do with her. When she eventually decided to reach him, he was difficult to track.