Then She Found Me

Then She Found Me is a story about a woman searching for answers to personal issues she has in her life. April, who is played by Helen Hunt, is a middle aged school teacher who experiences the death of her adopted mother the day after her husband decides to leave her. This brings up issues of abandonment April has never really dealt with. After the death of her mother, April ends up meeting her biological mother Bernice, played by Bette Midler. Where April is reserved and proper, Bernice is flamboyant and usually the center of attention. Bernice happens to be a local celebrity who hosts her own talk show.

At first, April is skeptical that Bernice is her real mother so she obtains a hair sample and has it tested for DNA. The problem April has with Bernice stems from Bernice's ability to embellish any story to make her sound good. When April asks about her biological father, Bernice tells her it is Steve McQueen. This turns out to be false and only adds to the mistrust April already has towards Bernice. Another question April has always wondered about is why her mother gave her up for adoption in the first place. Bernice tells April she had no choice, and that she gave April up right after she was born.

On one occasion, April finds herself looking through Bernice's drawers and stumbles onto some photos. The photos show a young Bernice with a child clearly older than a newborn. April confronts Bernice again and discovers her mother did not actually give her up right after she had her, but over a year later. Bernice admits that raising a child as a young single mom without her parents support was too hard for her to do so she gave April up for adoption. Her real biological father was just a local teenage boy who never married her.