Paul and Paula Scribner shortly after birth
Real Names: Paul and Paula Scribner
Case: Lost Siblings
Location: Winter Garden, Florida
Date: January 1942
Sue Scribner Thibodeaux
Case[]
Details: Twins Paul and Paula Scribner are the children of Clyde “Slim” and Calista Scribner. They were given up for adoption as infants. Their ten siblings are now searching for them. Sue Scribner Thibodeaux is the fifth of their ten siblings. When she was younger, she did not know about the twins.
Sue grew up in the 1950s in Redhill, Alabama. She says that every day seemed pretty much like another. But when she was thirteen years old, one day in January 1957 held an extraordinary surprise. She says she will never forget that day. When she came home from church, Calista was alone in the house, which was unusual because the children were usually all around.
When Sue sat down at the kitchen table with Calista, she discovered that Calista had written two names all over the newspaper – Paul and Paula. She asked Calista about the names. Calista said she had seen them and was writing them down. Sue then noticed that Calista had been crying. When she asked Calista why she had been crying, Calista told her about having twins - a boy and a girl - that had been adopted.
Sue says it was a shock to find out that she had a brother and sister that she did not know about, especially since she already had so many siblings. That day, Calista began to unburden herself. She said that she gave birth to the twins two years before Sue was born.
It all began at Orange County General Hospital in Winter Garden, Florida. In January 1942, Calista went into labor nearly two months early. She and Slim were frantic when they arrived at the emergency room. The twins were born a short time later. Calista and Slim named them Paul and Paula after their doctor, Paul Harter. Calista had hoped to take them home to Lockhart, Florida, so that the couple’s four older children could meet them.
Shortly after the births, Dr. Harter explained to Slim that the twins were very small and would most likely have serious health problems. They already had a heart condition and a blood disorder. Slim asked if they were going to be okay. Dr. Harter said that he believed so but also noted that they would require a great deal of medical attention.
Sue asked Calista why the twins were given up for adoption. Calista said they needed surgery for a heart problem, and the Scribners could not afford it. They had fallen on hard times; they were getting government support and having trouble feeding their other children. Calista was reportedly given the choice of either giving up the twins or giving up the government support that helped feed her other children.
Calista said that Dr. Harter knew someone “perfect” to adopt the twins and that they could also pay for the medical expenses. Three weeks after they were born, the twins were adopted. Sue says that the twins being adopted stayed with Calista forever. She never got over it.
Before Calista left the hospital, she made a solemn promise to Dr. Harter that she would never search for the twins. Soon after the adoption, Slim left the family. In 1944, he and Calista divorced. Two of their children went to orphanages, and the other two went to a boy’s home. In 1946, Calista remarried, improved her fortune, and regained custody of her children (except for the twins). She and her new husband eventually moved to Alabama and raised ten children.
After Calista’s death in 1979, Sue and her sister, Jean Taylor, enlisted the entire family to look for the twins. But the search went nowhere. Both Dr. Harter and Slim were dead, and the hospital records were sealed. Then, a rusty trunk in an attic finally yielded a clue.
In 1987, one of Sue’s cousins found a letter Calista had written to her mother shortly after the twins were born. Sue’s cousin was surprised that the letter never mentioned adoption. In fact, it seemed that Calista had every intention of bringing the twins home.
Calista wrote: “The babies are still improving. The first time they weighed them at Orange General, Paula weighed 2 ¾ pounds and Paul 2 ½ pounds. They told us the day before yesterday that they weighed 3 pounds, 14 ounces, and 3 pounds, 11 ounces. So they’re gaining right along. And also said they might be able to bring them home by the first of next week.”
Sue says that when she read Calista’s letter, its contents seemed to match what Calista had told her in 1957. The only thing the letter did not clear up was why the twins were adopted. She says that she can tell from the letter that Calista did not intend for them to be adopted. She believes that Slim coerced her into giving them up. The discovery of Calista’s letters sparked new interest in the twins. Several newspaper articles followed, and one of them paid off.
In May 1990, Gena Urbanek, Jean’s daughter who lives in Mobile, Alabama, received an anonymous phone call. The caller said that she knew the twins’ adoptive family and where the twins were located. She said they were fine but did not know they were adopted. According to Gena, the caller seemed elderly and very emotional. She refused to divulge her relationship with the twins but did say that she planned to tell them they were adopted on Mother’s Day.
The caller then said that Gena would be hearing from her in a couple of weeks or the twins would contact her directly. After the call, Gena called everybody in the family and told them that the twins had been found and that they would be hearing from them or the caller soon. She says that she counted down the days to Mother’s Day. Then, on that day, she counted down the hours. She would not leave her home because she did not want to miss the call. Unfortunately, it never came.
As a last resort, Sue wrote an open letter to the twins that was published in Florida and Louisiana newspapers. The letter read, in part: “And so, elusive twins, I still search. I write letters. I stare at strangers with hazel eyes and fair skin. Yet, should my efforts end in emptiness, my voice in oblivion, I must tell you this. I have not failed so completely, for I’ve already found you once, years ago, chasmed in that deep, indelible well, that safe place, our mother’s heart.”
Sue hopes there is a strong family resemblance between the twins and their full brothers and sisters. The siblings tend to have fair skin, hazel or blue-green eyes, and hair ranging from reddish brown to bright red. Premature graying is a family trait. Little is known about the twins. They were born in January 1942 at Orange County General Hospital near Orlando, Florida. Nurses there called them the “Coffee Pot Twins” because their combined birth weights equaled a five-pound bag of coffee.
Extra Notes:
- This case first aired on the October 9, 1991 episode. It was reaired on the January 29, 1992 episode and updated on the October 7, 1992 episode.
- It was submitted to the show by Sue.
Results: Solved - Ten days after this story was reaired, Sue received an anonymous call from a viewer who told her that the twins were living in Orlando, Florida. Sue immediately contacted them. Their names are now Bruce Cashion and Barbara Oscavich. They had been adopted by Franklin and Elma Cashion, who died in the early 1980s. The twins had no idea they had been adopted and were shocked to learn about a side of their family they never knew existed.
In fact, Bruce had watched the broadcast and “thought it would be funny” if he and Barbara were the Scribner twins. However, he did not actually believe that because he did not know they were adopted then. When they learned the truth, Barbara was shocked and could not believe it. But with a lawyer’s help, they accessed their adoption papers, which confirmed their identities.
On March 15, 1992, Sue met Bruce and Barbara for the first time. The joyous reunion brought together six of the Scribner children and their families. Sue says that when she first met Bruce and Barbara, she thought their knees were shaking because they were all nervous. She says it was very emotional, “but I think we’ve all cried enough tears, and we didn’t need a lot today.”
Bruce and Barbara were surprised at their resemblance to their siblings. Bruce thinks his newly found family is “wonderful and absolutely adorable.” He says it feels like they have all known each other their whole lives, even though they have not been around each other for more than a few hours. Barbara says she cannot wait to get to know them; she is very excited about that. She says she has many questions in her mind, like, “What did I miss out on all these years? What were they like as kids?”
Bruce thinks that everyone on both sides of the family will get to know each other. He says it is like a blessing for them to get together. Sue says it does not matter now what kind of life any of them had because what is left is what counts. She says, “We know where all the children are now.”
The Scribner siblings continue to stay in touch.
Links:
- Adoptees search for past (Page 1)
(Page 2) - November 27, 1989 - Twins' Surprise: Their Real Family - February 25, 1992
- After 50 years, siblings find 50-year-old twins they had never met - February 26, 1992
- 50-year-olds get surprise: A new family - February 26, 1992
- In Search Of The Coffee Pot Twins - June 2014