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For many adopted children, the search for their birth parents is not just about answers — it can be about finding the missing pieces of who they are, or sometimes to just say “thank you.”
On March 23, 1964, a newborn baby was found wrapped in blankets, placed in a paper bag, and left in a doctor’s car at the Pasqua Hospital in Regina. Now, 61 years later, Sherwin Moscovitch is still searching for his birth mother, hoping for the chance to thank her.
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“I didn’t think I had much time left to get hold of her. Twenty-five years ago she would have probably been not super old. But, you know, 25 years later, she is going to be very old and I just thought I’d try one more time,” Moscovitch said.
He explained that he found out he was an abandoned baby by accident while searching the archives at the public library in 1998.
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An aerial view of the Pasqua Hospital in 1964, where Sherwin Moscovitch was abandoned as a newborn baby on March 23, 1964. (City of Regina Archives)
“I went through the microfiche, and ended up finding a page that said in bold letters, ‘Baby found abandoned in doctor’s car.’ They had a picture of that child and I thought that child looked so much like me.”
Moscovitch said his adoptive parents never told him he was left abandoned as a baby, but when he told them of his discovery, they were quite relieved he finally knew the story behind his beginnings.
The article Sherwin Moscovitch read that made him realize he was abandoned in a doctors vehicle at the Pasqua Hospital in 1964.
“They explained that the mayor called them and said they had a baby boy that they were trying to adopt. My dad said yes … because he had two daughters and he wanted a son, so he adopted me.”
The discovery launched Moscovitch’s search for his birth parents.
“They (my adoptive parents) were quite happy for me. They know that it’s important to find your blood relatives, and they had no problem with it at all. They were very supportive, which I didn’t think they would be, but they were.”
Eventually, Moscovitch found his biological father through DNA testing. He figured out his birth father was still alive and living in Regina and used to own a trucking company in Qu’Appelle.
“I literally got into my car, found his address, knocked on the door, and said, ‘Hey, I’d like to talk to you.’ I got to talk a little bit to him, but his sister was also there, and she didn’t want me in the house.
“Of course, it’s a little saddening. I always figured he’d think about it and possibly want to get hold of me, but nothing like that happened,” he said.
“He didn’t remember anyone that he was dating in 1963. That’s what he told me anyway.”
Sherwin Moscovitch said his biological father is pictured here on the left. (Sherwin Moscovitch/submitted)
Over the years, Moscovitch said he had a few leads on people who could have been related, but every time they did DNA testing, it wouldn’t be a match.
“Back then, though, DNA technology was still not the best. A lot of people were saying they were my siblings. I had probably seven people tell me that they were a brother, sister, or something. Even a mother said I could have possibly been her son, but nothing ever turned out.”
There was even a woman in Germany who claimed to be Moscovitch’s half sister. That resulted in him flying there to appear on a talk show on TV in the early 2000s.
Sherwin Moscovitch travelled to Germany to appear on the Nicole Show, where he did a DNA test live with a woman claiming to be his half sister. (Sherwin Moscovitch/submitted)
“We did the DNA test right on the show, and it showed that she was not my sister as well,” said Moscovitch. “It was almost like these talk shows we have now — Is she really your sister?
“I think everyone was disappointed. I never talked to her again after that.”
Sherwin Moscovitch standing next to the woman claiming to be his half sister on the Nicole Show in Germany. It did not end in a match, and the two never spoke after the TV appearance. (Sherwin Moscovitch/submitted)
Despite all the dead-end roads, Moscovitch said he still wants to meet his mother.
“I’d love to — wouldn’t you?” he said.
“I would love to talk to my mother and just see what was going on. What happened that night? Did she drive herself? Did somebody drive her? She just had a baby. I was brand spanking new. I was only a few hours old.”
He said there are currently a couple of leads on genealogy website Ancestry that could be his birth mother.
“I can only wait and see what happens if anyone is going to answer and come forward.”
While decades have passed, Moscovitch still holds onto the quiet hope that one day he will find his mother, and he will finally get to say the words he has waited decades to speak — “Thank you.”
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