I wrote the movie/tv essay we just did in class on the film, Philomena. This is sort of a continuation of that, but specifically the after part of the whole story. After realizing what happened to her story, she created something to help fix adoption laws in Ireland to help other families. In January of 2014, Philomena and her daughter launched the Philomena Lee Project. It is a campaign that is determined to uncover and release to families over 60,000 adoption files. At the time in Ireland, the state, church, and private adoption agencies were the only ones who had access to them. Not only is Lee trying to work with the state, she is also asking for the Catholic church to be supportive. The documents contain specific information that could reunite mothers with their biological children. Not only did she meet with Irish politicians, she also traveled to DC and spent a long time with senators there, too. The Philomena Project worked closely with the Adoption Rights Alliance. While I can't find any recent news or updates on the work Lee did, I think it is important to recognize her efforts. After what Philomena went through, it is so incredible that she wanted to give other people the opportunity that she never had. She made it very clear that she wanted to do whatever she could to reunite families and their children. I think a lot of people could have taken this opportunity to be resentful and close themselves off from the world. This is just another testament to her resilience and grace.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., right, and Philomena Lee, conduct a news conference on Jan. 30, 2014.
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