The infant Sonya Marie Perry passed away, perhaps peacefully in her sleep or perhaps awake and screaming, in Bowie, Maryland, in the fall of 1969.

The exact length of her life is unknown. It’s possible Sonya vanished from this earth the day she was released from Columbia Hospital for Women to an undisclosed foster home. Alternatively, the foster parent(s) may have nurtured Sonya until she was sent to her adoptive home six weeks later. Sonya was officially declared dead once she entered her adoptive home.

The baby’s name was pronounced Sahn-Ya because her mother preferred the Japanese pronunciation, as opposed to the American version Sewn-Ya … and because her mother was in Tokyo when she figured out she was knocked up. However, further research has revealed the correct Japanese pronunciation is So-Ni-Ah.

Sonya perished before uttering her first words, a blessing since she no doubt would’ve mispronounced her given name. Or perhaps she would have used her less troublesome middle name, Marie, in honor or her maternal grandmother or favorite aunt or because it had a nice ring to it.

During her brief life, Sonya’s hobbies included crying, refusing to take a bottle, and searching for a familiar face. 

Sonya is survived by her mother, Margarette, pronounced the American way but spelled the French way because Margarette’s big sisters filled out her birth certificate, as happens in large families; and by her father [name redacted], who would hyperventilate to learn she initially bore his last name; and two half-sisters whom [name redacted] is afraid to tell of her existence.

Sonya is also survived by an additional 51,696 DNA matches on Ancestry.com.

Burial is private in an unmarked grave, which will be unearthed 40 years from now by someone named Roberta. There will be no memorial service. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Saving Our Sisters, an organization that helps at-risk women keep their babies rather than relinquish them through adoption, allowing those babies to grow into who they were supposed to be instead of assuming a new identity.