Partnership to Improve Community Health Outcomes

Nicole Munhoo
Foundling Adoptee

Nicole was adopted in 1980 from The Foundling as a 5-month-old baby. “My mother has a story about how she fell in love the first time she saw me as an infant,” she says.

Growing up with her adoptive parents in Long Island, NY, and in Florida, Nicole gravitated toward music and the arts at a young age. “As an adoptee, the arts really engaged me, they helped me emotionally, and I didn’t feel lonely because the arts programs filled a void,” she says. Nicole played French horn throughout school, and found a job as a professional player with the U.S. Army during college. While she is still engaged in the arts, Nicole attended graduate school for business, and now works as a program analyst in the Washington, D.C. metro area.

“My parents were great parents, they raised me very well and were supportive of my artistic endeavors and me pursuing college,” Nicole says. However, she has been committed to finding her biological family – particularly after the birth of her son, Cortez. “Until I was in my early 30s, I didn’t know any of my biological relatives,” she shares. “My adoption was ‘closed’ so I only had non-identifying information available to me. I called The Foundling, and I searched records—I decided it was time to find out more.” Nicole has found some answers through DNA testing, but is currently still searching for her immediate biological family.