A Mobile-born woman who spent much of her life wondering about the family she never knew eventually found not only her birth mother but also a chance to save an aunt’s life through an extraordinary act of generosity — a kidney donation that changed both of their futures.
Liz Story was adopted at six weeks old and raised in Arkansas, unaware of her origins until her family told her the truth when she was in the fourth grade. Rather than feeling unsettled by the revelation, Story said she was thrilled by the discovery.
“I was so excited that there was this mystery in my life. I couldn’t wait to get to school the next day to tell everyone,” Story said.
The curiosity never faded. Story carried the hope of finding her birth mother through much of her childhood and into adulthood. She attended college for a time before leaving to join the U.S. Army, where she served four years. After leaving the military and starting a family of her own, the desire to locate her biological mother resurfaced with new urgency.
Story eventually hired a private investigator, who traced her birth mother to a location not far from Mobile, where Story had been born decades earlier.
Although Story was living out of state at the time, the reunion with her birth mother was an emotional one, and the two women vowed to stay in touch. Story’s adoptive mother, who had raised her, initially had mixed feelings about the search.
“My mother took it very hard when I decided to find my birth mother. But when I told her, she just sighed and told me, ‘Well, I always knew you’d look,'” Story said.
The two families eventually came together for dinner, giving Story’s two mothers the chance to meet face to face for the first time — an encounter that could have been awkward but instead blossomed into friendship.
“My birth mother told my mom thank you for raising me, that I was such a wonderful woman and everything. And it was weird — after that moment, they were like best friends. They keep in touch regularly now,” Story said.
Five years after reconnecting with her biological family, Story learned that her newfound aunt, Nell Gustavson, her birth mother’s sister, needed a kidney transplant. Gustavson had been diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease, a genetic condition that causes clusters of cysts to develop in the kidneys and gradually impairs their function. The disease affects hundreds of thousands of people nationwide, and roughly half of those diagnosed eventually require dialysis as their condition worsens.
When Story learned of her aunt’s diagnosis, she didn’t hesitate to get tested. “I happened to be the only one in my family to both be a match and who wanted to donate. It’s just so crazy how you come into people’s lives for a reason,” Story said.
Becoming a living donor required months of preparation. Story underwent a battery of blood tests, genetic screenings and medical evaluations to confirm she carried no genetic markers for the disease herself and was healthy enough for surgery. She described the process leading up to the operation as physically demanding.
On April 23, 2010, Story underwent surgery to donate one of her kidneys to Gustavson. The timing carried extra significance, falling during April, which is recognized nationally as Donate Life Month, a period when organizations encourage more Americans to register as organ, eye and tissue donors.
“The doctors told us if the kidney creates urine on the operating table, then it was a successful surgery, and that’s just what happened. It was a major success,” Story said.
After a two-week recovery, Story returned home with no lasting complications, while Gustavson’s life took a dramatically different course than doctors had once predicted.
“She never had to do dialysis because of the donation, so now she likes to do a lot of charity walks, and she works a lot with the Alabama Kidney Foundation,” Story said.
Despite giving up an organ to save her aunt’s life, Story downplays any notion of heroism, framing the donation instead as another chapter in the relationships she has built with her birth family since finding them.
In November 2013, Story published her first book, “A Series of Extreme Decisions: An Adoptee’s Story,” chronicling her search for her birth mother and the donation that followed. The book also explores questions of nature versus nurture as they relate to adopted children.
“I just thought of the majority of adoptees who are unsettled or unhappy, and I wanted to put out a positive story about adoption, as well as inspire people to donate organs,” Story said.
Story said part of her motivation for writing was to reach other adoptees who may struggle with questions of identity and belonging after growing up without knowledge of their biological roots.
“Hopefully, the book will help adoptees realize that they can figure out who they are, and that it’s not DNA or who raised you,” Story said.
Story has said she plans to write two more books related to adoption, including one that examines the history of adoption and how motivations for adopting children have shifted over time.
Reflecting on her journey, Story said she has come to appreciate both of the families that shaped her life.
“I’m grateful to have two mothers. Mother’s Day is even more special now that I’ve found my birth mother,” Story said.