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---
title: Burger King Baby Finds Birth Mom
description: Burger King baby Katheryn Deprill says she felt &quot;pure joy&quot; after meeting her biological mother Monday.
canonical: https://time.com/38956/burger-king-baby-finally-meets-birth-mom/
author: Olivia B. Waxman
article:opinion: false
article:content_tier: free
article:published_time: 2014-03-26T19:43:25.000Z
article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:08:12.815Z
og:title: &quot;Burger King Baby&quot; Finds Birth Mom
og:description: She was reunited with her biological mother on Monday
og:url: https://time.com/38956/burger-king-baby-finally-meets-birth-mom/
og:site_name: TIME
og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt849b03820fddfb81/69868761adae447a4454229c/burger-king-baby.jpg?branch=production&amp;width=3840&amp;quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;crop=16:9
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og:image:alt: Burger-King-Baby
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twitter:title: &quot;Burger King Baby&quot; Finds Birth Mom
twitter:description: She was reunited with her biological mother on Monday
twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt849b03820fddfb81/69868761adae447a4454229c/burger-king-baby.jpg?branch=production&amp;width=3840&amp;quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;crop=16:9
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![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt849b03820fddfb81/69868761adae447a4454229c/burger-king-baby.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9)


# "Burger King Baby" Finally Meets Birth Mom


![Olivia B. Waxman](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3c95204947ba81f/6989408e97cdff3ae16b6e48/o_waxman.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1:1)

by 

[Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)


![Olivia B. Waxman](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3c95204947ba81f/6989408e97cdff3ae16b6e48/o_waxman.jpg?branch=production&width=96&quality=75&auto=webp)

## Olivia B. Waxman


Staff Writer

Mar 26, 2014 7:43 PM UTC

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt849b03820fddfb81/69868761adae447a4454229c/burger-king-baby.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=3:2)

Courtesy of Katheryn Deprill / AP

![Olivia B. Waxman](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3c95204947ba81f/6989408e97cdff3ae16b6e48/o_waxman.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1:1)

by 

[Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)


![Olivia B. Waxman](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3c95204947ba81f/6989408e97cdff3ae16b6e48/o_waxman.jpg?branch=production&width=96&quality=75&auto=webp)

## Olivia B. Waxman


Staff Writer

Mar 26, 2014 7:43 PM UTC

Twenty-seven years after being abandoned in the bathroom of a Burger King in Allentown, Pennsylvania when she was just a few hours old, Katheryn Deprill finally met her biological mother Monday after recently launching a [social media campaign](http://time.com/19131/left-in-86-woman-seeks-birth-mom-on-facebook/) to track her down, [_The Morning Call_](http://articles.mcall.com/2014-03-25/news/mc-allentown-burger-king-baby-finds-mom-20140325%5F1%5Fmother-and-daughter-finds-mom-south-whitehall-township) and the [Associated Press](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/burger-king-baby-finds-birth-mom-feels-pure-joy) report.

The birth mother — whose identity has not been revealed — got in touch with attorney John Waldron after seeing the news coverage of the photo that Deprill posted on Facebook on Mar. 2\. Her plea has been shared more than 33,000 times.

Nicknamed “Burger King Baby,” Katheryn Deprill, 27, told [_The Morning Call_](http://articles.mcall.com/2014-03-25/news/mc-allentown-burger-king-baby-finds-mom-20140325%5F1%5Fmother-and-daughter-finds-mom-south-whitehall-township), “The first thing I got was my hug that I wanted.” She [said](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/burger-king-baby-finds-birth-mom-feels-pure-joy) that seeing her mother was “pure joy” and that the two look so much alike that it was like “looking in the mirror.”

As the [AP recounts](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/burger-king-baby-finds-birth-mom-feels-pure-joy) attorney John Waldron’s description of the difficult circumstances that led to Deprill’s birth mother abandoning her newborn on Sept. 15, 1986:

---

> “”

---

Found [wrapped in a red sweater](http://www.today.com/news/burger-king-baby-finds-birth-mom-i-am-filled-emotions-2D79437635), Deprill was adopted by Brenda and Carl Hollis and is now an emergency technician and mother of three.

After a four-hour reunion, Deprill understands why her birth mother made the decision that she made, telling [CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/26/us/pennsylvania-burger-king-baby-reunion/) affiliate [WFMZ](http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-lehighvalley/burger-king-baby-reunites-with-mother/25159192), “She left me somewhere she knew I’d be found. She did not want to throw me away.”

**MORE:** [“Burger King Baby” Launched Facebook Campaign to Find Her Biological Mother](http://time.com/19131/left-in-86-woman-seeks-birth-mom-on-facebook/)

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