Especially connected – It doesn’t always have to be the biological mother

The reason why Lisa moved from her hometown to Gols: Her birth mother needed therapy. The event surprised both Lisa and Michi. Because the two didn’t know each other before and the Golserin hadn’t expected a foster child. Even if it was only meant to be temporary, it was a big step. One question was decisive for the eleven-year-old at the time: whether she could bring her gerbil, Olli, with her.

“When Michi said yes, I knew I would stay,” Lisa laughs today. The girl’s first impression of her counterpart? “I thought she was a diva because she wore purple sunglasses and a purple leather jacket,” says the now almost 26-year-old with amusement. “But my heart skipped a beat, I kind of knew it was going to be okay.”

Both describe how it was as if two worlds had collided. Initially, Lisa was convinced that her foster mother must be very rich. Why? “Because she always had a full fridge. I wasn’t used to that.”

shock after a year
A year after she moved to Gols, Lisa’s mother died. A shock to both. When Michaela Moser got the message by phone, she and Lisa were out shopping. At first she panicked – mostly because she didn’t know how to tell Lisa. So she held back the bad news until the next day. At seven o’clock in the morning, two people from the crisis intervention team came to the house. When the girl opened the door, she knew that her mother was no longer alive, in fact she had already felt it the day before.

“It was a bad time. Lisa had nightmares, asked the same questions over and over. But it was also decided at the time that she would stay with us,” says Michi Moser. Because after the death of her mother of the twelve year old, the youth services wanted to know whether she wanted to move to her father in Lower Austria or stay in Gols. It was clear to the girl: she will stay in Gols. “I still have a good relationship with my father, but I wanted to stay with Michi. This was my home,” she says.

connection and love
That is now 14 years ago. During that time, Lisa trained as a dental assistant, found a boyfriend and even built a house. Very close to her foster mother. The two don’t connect the same genes, but love and trust do. When asked if they could imagine it any other way, both said no. They are like mother and daughter – with all the ups and downs there is. Puberty was not easy for either of them. “We bitched each other just like other mothers and daughters did,” they laugh.

But they are both aware of how special their relationship is. As Lisa puts it, “I have a belly mom and a mom of choice.” Her “chosen mother” says, “It’s like I gave birth to her myself. Lisa is an extra gift for my son, just another miracle for which I am very grateful.”