Philomena Lee facts for kids

Annie Philomena Lee (born on March 24, 1933) is an Irish woman. Her life story was told in a book called The Lost Child of Philomena Lee in 2009. This book was later made into a movie titled Philomena in 2013.

The movie was very popular. It was nominated for four Academy Awards. These included Best Actress for Judi Dench, who played Philomena. It was also nominated for Best Picture.

Today, Philomena Lee works to help people with adoption rights. She started The Philomena Project. This project aims to teach people about adoption laws. It also tries to make these laws better. In 2014, she even met Pope Francis to talk about adoption rules.

Her Early Life

Philomena Lee was born in County Limerick, Ireland, in 1933. When she was six, her mother passed away from tuberculosis. Her father, who was a butcher, sent Philomena and her two sisters, Kaye and Mary, to a convent school. Her brothers stayed at home.

After finishing school at the convent, Philomena went to live with her aunt, Kitty Madden.

A Difficult Time

When Philomena was 18, she became pregnant. She was then sent to Sean Ross Abbey in Roscrea. This was a place for young women who were pregnant and not married. After her son was born, Philomena had to work at the Abbey without pay. She was made to stay there until she was 22 years old.

When her son was three, the Abbey arranged for him to be adopted. He was adopted by a Catholic family in the United States. This happened without Philomena's full agreement. At that time in Ireland, this was a common practice for young, unmarried mothers.

After Philomena was made to sign the adoption papers, the nuns would not tell her anything about her son. They only said he was taken to the United States. After leaving the Abbey, Philomena moved to England. There, she studied and became a nurse.

She got married in 1959. She had two more children, Jane and Kevin. She worked as a nurse for many years. Later, she divorced her first husband and married again.

Finding Her Son

Around Christmas in 2003, Philomena told her family a secret. She had given birth to a son when she was 19. She did not know where he was. For many years, she had quietly tried to find him. But she had not been successful.

A few weeks later, her daughter, Jane, met a journalist named Martin Sixsmith. Jane asked him for help. Sixsmith and Philomena spent years searching. They finally found out what happened to her son. He had been adopted by an American couple, Doc and Marge Hess. They named him Michael Hess. The Hess family also adopted a little girl named Mary from the same Abbey. Mary and Michael grew up together as brother and sister.

Michael's Story

Sixsmith and Philomena learned that Michael had passed away in 1995. He died from AIDS. They also found out that Michael had tried for years to find his birth mother. He had not been successful either.

Before he died, Michael made a special request. He wanted to be buried at Sean Ross Abbey. He hoped that one day, his mother might find his grave there. And she eventually did.

The Film Philomena

A movie script was written by Jeff Pope and Steve Coogan. It was based on Martin Sixsmith's book. Stephen Frears directed the film. Judi Dench was chosen to play Philomena.

The movie was released in November 2013. It was nominated for four Academy Awards. These included Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score.

See also

In Spanish: Philomena Lee para niños