TORONTO (Reuter) - Kilauren Gibb was surfing the Internet when a picture of singer Joni Mitchell convinced her that the musician was the birth mother she had sought for years, the Toronto Star reported Tuesday. Gibb, who recently returned to Toronto with her 3-year-old son, Marlin, after a 19-day reunion with Mitchell at the singer's Los Angeles home, started her search with only a few facts about her natural mother.
But it was not until she surfed to Mitchell's home page on the World Wide Web and found 14 points of comparison that she was sure she was the long-lost daughter of the Canadian-born folk icon of the 1970s. "The more I read, the more I realized how alike we were. She was a singer. I was into music. She was an artist. I painted. We both enjoyed the same things," Gibb, a former model, told the Star. They also share a striking physical resemblance. Both have blue eyes, blond hair, long legs and high cheekbones.
Mitchell, too, was searching for the daughter she had given up for adoption 32 years ago when she was poor and alone. Mitchell, whose hits include "Both Sides Now," "Woodstock" and "Big Yellow Taxi," achieved stardom several years after her daughter's birth.
Gibb spoke to Mitchell for the first time a few weeks ago. "It was wonderful," she said. "It was a great relief to me in every way. It made me feel whole. It made me feel complete. "It was very comfortable, very natural. I immediately got the feeling that I was home, that we belonged together," Gibb said.
Gibb discovered at age 27 that she was adopted, and five years later received an information package on her birth mother from the Children's Aid Society, a child welfare agency. "The CAS information described her as being a successful Canadian folk singer," said Gibb. After seeing Mitchell's Web page in February, she telephoned the singer's agent in Vancouver. Although several other women had previously claimed to be Mitchell's daughter, Gibb broke through the veil of suspicion and spoke with Mitchell on the phone for the first time six weeks later.
Mitchell asked to see Gibb's baby photos to compare them to her own baby pictures of her daughter. The photographs matched.
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