Her 47th birthday recently came and went, and, for Lisa Marshall, there was no phone call, no card, no present, no hug from her birth father.

Just like the previous 46 birthdays.

That乌鸦传媒檚 because the Vernon magazine distribution company employee has no idea who her birth father is.

乌鸦传媒淗e may not even know I exist,乌鸦传媒� said Marshall, married with two adult kids.

For more than 25 years, Marshall has been searching for her birth parents. She乌鸦传媒檚 known since she was young she was adopted. Her adoptive parents had five boys and kept trying for a girl, so they adopted Marshall.

She found her birth mother, a woman named Sharon Bolen, 21 years ago. And Bolen was not at all thrilled to learn Marshall乌鸦传媒檚 adoptive parents had helped by pulling a ruse.

乌鸦传媒淪he phoned me at 6:30 a.m. from North Carolina and she was not too happy,乌鸦传媒� said Marshall. 乌鸦传媒淢y parents had found her using a lie, saying they乌鸦传媒檇 known her when she lived in Vancouver and wanted to know where she was.乌鸦传媒�

They talked for about 45 minutes. Marshall let Bolen yell at her and get mad at her for the way she found her, which Marshall says she 乌鸦传媒渃ompletely understands.乌鸦传媒� Bolen asked what kind of information Marshall was looking for. Marshall was specific: she wanted the name of her birth dad.

Bolen never told her.

乌鸦传媒淚 tried to ask as many questions as I could,乌鸦传媒� said Marshall. 乌鸦传媒淕ive me a little medical information about the family. She wouldn乌鸦传媒檛 tell me who my father was. I asked, she just said no.

乌鸦传媒淪he made it known she didn乌鸦传媒檛 want any contact with me at all and I respected that. It乌鸦传媒檚 her life, her secrets. But she gave me no clues as to who my dad is.乌鸦传媒�

Through her research, Marshall has been able to ascertain that Sharon likely got pregnant in Regina and moved to Vancouver to live with a sister (Marshall was born in Grace Hospital in Vancouver). Marshall made contact with the sister and, like Sharon, Marshall said she乌鸦传媒檚 not happy she made contact with the family.

Marshall believes her dad was about 30 at the time, which 乌鸦传媒� if he is still alive 乌鸦传媒� would make him 76 or 77.

Marshall never talked with Bolen again. It was through Facebook that she discovered her birth mom had a profile page and when clicking on that page, Marshall discovered she had died.

She also discovered she had a sister, Nicole, who lives in North Carolina, and a brother, Chris, who lives in Europe. The trio are planning to meet at family events this year in Saskatchewan and North Carolina.

Marshall is the oldest of the three siblings and said Nicole told her they share the same father.

乌鸦传媒淪he has been amazing since we made contact,乌鸦传媒� said Marshall, who spends a couple of hours each night on her laptop researching. She has built a family tree but is missing the branch that would lead to her birth father.

乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檇 love to meet him and talk to him or any of his relatives, sons, daughters, cousins,乌鸦传媒� she said. 乌鸦传媒淚 put it off for the last 21 years thinking Sharon would come around and give me information. She never did.乌鸦传媒�

Her family is completely behind her goal to find her dad.

乌鸦传媒淭hey乌鸦传媒檝e been awesome,乌鸦传媒� she said. 乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 never been a secret I was adopted and it shouldn乌鸦传媒檛 be.乌鸦传媒�

She has done DNA testing and regularly checks ancestry.ca but is hopeful somebody may read her story and suggest another way to try and track down her birth father.

Anybody with suggestions can e-mail Marshall at lisamarshall5@shaw.ca.