Her 47th birthday recently came and went, and, for Lisa Marshall, there was no phone call, no card, no present, no hug from her birth father.

Just like the previous 46 birthdays.

That害羞草研究所檚 because the Vernon magazine distribution company employee has no idea who her birth father is.

害羞草研究所淗e may not even know I exist,害羞草研究所� said Marshall, married with two adult kids.

For more than 25 years, Marshall has been searching for her birth parents. She害羞草研究所檚 known since she was young she was adopted. Her adoptive parents had five boys and kept trying for a girl, so they adopted Marshall.

She found her birth mother, a woman named Sharon Bolen, 21 years ago. And Bolen was not at all thrilled to learn Marshall害羞草研究所檚 adoptive parents had helped by pulling a ruse.

害羞草研究所淪he phoned me at 6:30 a.m. from North Carolina and she was not too happy,害羞草研究所� said Marshall. 害羞草研究所淢y parents had found her using a lie, saying they害羞草研究所檇 known her when she lived in Vancouver and wanted to know where she was.害羞草研究所�

They talked for about 45 minutes. Marshall let Bolen yell at her and get mad at her for the way she found her, which Marshall says she 害羞草研究所渃ompletely understands.害羞草研究所� Bolen asked what kind of information Marshall was looking for. Marshall was specific: she wanted the name of her birth dad.

Bolen never told her.

害羞草研究所淚 tried to ask as many questions as I could,害羞草研究所� said Marshall. 害羞草研究所淕ive me a little medical information about the family. She wouldn害羞草研究所檛 tell me who my father was. I asked, she just said no.

害羞草研究所淪he made it known she didn害羞草研究所檛 want any contact with me at all and I respected that. It害羞草研究所檚 her life, her secrets. But she gave me no clues as to who my dad is.害羞草研究所�

Through her research, Marshall has been able to ascertain that Sharon likely got pregnant in Regina and moved to Vancouver to live with a sister (Marshall was born in Grace Hospital in Vancouver). Marshall made contact with the sister and, like Sharon, Marshall said she害羞草研究所檚 not happy she made contact with the family.

Marshall believes her dad was about 30 at the time, which 害羞草研究所� if he is still alive 害羞草研究所� would make him 76 or 77.

Marshall never talked with Bolen again. It was through Facebook that she discovered her birth mom had a profile page and when clicking on that page, Marshall discovered she had died.

She also discovered she had a sister, Nicole, who lives in North Carolina, and a brother, Chris, who lives in Europe. The trio are planning to meet at family events this year in Saskatchewan and North Carolina.

Marshall is the oldest of the three siblings and said Nicole told her they share the same father.

害羞草研究所淪he has been amazing since we made contact,害羞草研究所� said Marshall, who spends a couple of hours each night on her laptop researching. She has built a family tree but is missing the branch that would lead to her birth father.

害羞草研究所淚害羞草研究所檇 love to meet him and talk to him or any of his relatives, sons, daughters, cousins,害羞草研究所� she said. 害羞草研究所淚 put it off for the last 21 years thinking Sharon would come around and give me information. She never did.害羞草研究所�

Her family is completely behind her goal to find her dad.

害羞草研究所淭hey害羞草研究所檝e been awesome,害羞草研究所� she said. 害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 never been a secret I was adopted and it shouldn害羞草研究所檛 be.害羞草研究所�

She has done DNA testing and regularly checks ancestry.ca but is hopeful somebody may read her story and suggest another way to try and track down her birth father.

Anybody with suggestions can e-mail Marshall at lisamarshall5@shaw.ca.