She told the Bay of Plenty Times she was born in Jilava Penitentiary prison during the communist regime in Romania and transferred to an orphanage. <\/p>\n
Brown said her birth mother was incarcerated under crimes of solicitation.<\/p>\n
She was adopted by Auckland couple Rod and Jeanette Brown, along with her younger brother Jaxon, also from Romania.<\/p>\n
Brown said Rod was already learning the Romanian language before their adoption and spoke some at home, while Jeanette ensured the children were immersed in Romanian culture.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always tried to learn the language, but I\u2019m useless at doing it properly.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said her parents had a 10-acre lifestyle block where they grazed horses.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs millennials, we look back with nostalgia with our childhood. It was very unattached to devices and quite freeing.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was also involved in the local church community.<\/p>\n
When she was 12, the family went to Romania to learn \u201ca bit about our roots\u201d.<\/p>\n
During the trip, she remembered coming to terms with the \u201cgrim reality of this was my life, this could\u2019ve still been my life\u201d.<\/p>\n
One difficult moment was remembering a friend from her time at the orphanage. <\/p>\n
She was told he was still there when she visited.<\/p>\n
Tauranga woman Daniela Brown spent time volunteering in Romania when she was living in London. Photo \/ Alex Gilbert, I’m Adopted<\/p>\n
After finishing school, Brown completed her Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Teaching degrees in Sydney.<\/p>\n
Her first teaching job was at Tauranga\u2019s Bethlehem College. She now works at Bethlehem Tertiary Institute as a secondary teaching lecturer.<\/p>\n
From 2015, she spent two years living in London and went \u201cback and forth\u201d to Romania.<\/p>\n
She volunteered at several places, doing art therapy and at a rehabilitation centre for people with intellectual and physical disabilities in Romania.<\/p>\n
She also volunteered for Love Light Romania \u2013 a Christian organisation whose mission was to do good in the community, such as housing orphans living with HIV\/Aids.<\/p>\n
She said that volunteering at Love Light Romania \u201cchanged my life in terms of finding the mystery about my family\u201d.<\/p>\n
By assessing paperwork from her mother\u2019s incarceration and making some phone calls, Brown was connected with her birth mother\u2019s cousin, Georgetta.<\/p>\n
Georgetta told Brown she had a birth brother and sister.<\/p>\n
\u201cLiterally the next week, I was all together with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brown said it happened \u201cso intensely and so quickly\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI come from that Christian perspective, so I just had peace flooding through me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brown said she believed God helped find her family.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod opened the doors for this to be the right time to meet my birth family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tauranga woman Daniela Brown tried to contact her birth mother for the first time last year. Photo \/ Alex Gilbert, I’m Adopted<\/p>\n
In 2021, Georgetta\u2019s husband told Brown that her birth mother was still alive and gave her a phone number.<\/p>\n
Brown left the phone number untouched for years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just thought if she wanted to reach me, she knows she can, and I don\u2019t want to insert myself somewhere … I\u2019m not wanted. I\u2019m very happy with my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first time Brown called was when filming the documentary episode last year. Her birth mother did not pick up.<\/p>\n
Brown said she had \u201ca lot of questions\u201d for her birth mother, including about her time in prison.<\/p>\n
Her \u201cdying wish\u201d was to know if she had heard a song Brown wrote, which she described as a letter \u201cto release her of obligation\u201d.<\/p>\n
Brown said she felt a \u201cpeaceful pragmatism\u201d at where things stood with her birth mother.<\/p>\n
Daniela Brown showing series creator Alex Gilbert a song she wrote for her birth mother. Photo \/ Alex Gilbert, I’m Adopted<\/p>\n
Gilbert said creating the series was important \u201cas we all have a story to tell\u201c.<\/p>\n
He said the series had helped adoptees talk more openly about their stories through family, friends, or I\u2019m Adopted – the charity he founded and runs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I liked about Daniela\u2019s story is that she spoke openly about the ups and downs of her story, and of course, there was pain in her story with her birth mother … but she understood that her life wasn\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs an adoptee myself, I understand that with my own birth family. Adoption always comes with its complexities on all sides.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gilbert\u2019s adoption story was also available on his YouTube channel.<\/p>\n