On this day in 2015, the beautiful story of the oldest adoption was born.
Muriel Banks Clayton (USA) became the oldest adoptive parent (female) at the age of 92 years 322 days when she officially adopted her cousin Mary Banks Smith in Dallas, Texas.
Mary, who was 76 years 96 days old at the time, earned the record for oldest adoption (female) at the same time.
It was a life-long dream come true for Muriel, who wanted to make things official before it was too late.
She’d raised Mary as one of her own children for more than 60 years.
Mary was just 11 years old when her father – the brother of Muriel’s mother - died. Her mother had been in a mental health facility for years and was unable to care for her.
Muriel, then 27 and newly married, stepped up to raise Mary herself.
Mary stayed with other relatives from time to time, but from the age of 13, their arrangement became permanent as it was when she was with Muriel that Mary was happiest.
She became part of the family alongside the four daughters Muriel went on to welcome.
Decades later, a family court declared Muriel to be Mary’s mother legally on 9 June 2015.
It was a moment that Muriel said made her life finally feel complete.
She told the Dallas Morning News at the time: “I feel great - this is what I have wanted to do for a long, long time, and now it has come to pass.
“I'm an old lady, and I work jigsaw puzzles. And I have a big picture of my life - my jigsaw puzzle. But I needed one more piece to make it complete - and this is it.”
Muriel had wanted to adopt Mary for years, but explained she didn’t feel comfortable doing it while her biological mother was still being treated.
She said Mary’s biological mum was a “sweet lady” who sadly “just couldn’t live in the real world”.
The woman died years earlier, but Muriel waited a little while before asking Mary if she could adopt her, making the proposal the day before Mother’s Day.
Mary, of course, was thrilled to accept.
After things became official, they applied for Guinness World Records titles.
Muriel wrote to us at the time: “I legally adopted my first cousin who I raised from the age of 13. I wanted to make her legally my daughter before I die. At the time of the adoption last June I was 92 years old and the adoptee was 76 years old.
“She is my first cousin but circumstances came up where I had to take her in as my own and raise her as my daughter.”
In her own application to us, Mary explained that Muriel became her mother, although not legally, until that day at the Dallas County Courthouse.
“I feel very happy. She has been Mom for a long time, and now it’s official.” - Mary
Sadly, Muriel died in 2019, four years after her dream of officially becoming Mary’s mom came true.
Her obituary states that she and her husband of 40 years, Gerald S. Tate, raised their FIVE daughters together in Richardson, Texas.
The tribute also talks of their feature in our 2017 book, where their amazing story of love was immortalized forever.
And we’re sure proud to have been even a tiny part of their beautiful life together.
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