CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) -

For decades, the state of North Carolina singled out people it deemed unfit to have children. Those people were forced to have surgery to become sterile. The North Carolina Eugenics Board existed from 1929 to 1974.

Victims came forward and state lawmakers set aside $10 million for compensation. But some who were sterilized may never see that money.

Deborah Blackmon from Charlotte was sterilized when she was 14-years-old. Her sister remembers when it happened, and her niece found the paperwork that shows it happened.

They submitted an application to the Office of Justice for Sterilization Victims and found out in July they were ineligible for the money. Their lawyer, Bob Bollinger, explained that while there is a lot of paperwork showing what happened and that the state paid for it, they lack a crucial piece of paper from Raleigh that says the sterilization was authorized by the Eugenics Board.

That's not what the legislature intended, I don't think, because they had the best of intentions with this. They're trying to right a wrong. I'm sure the legislature did not intend for people who were unlawfully sterilized to not be compensated, because all these sterilizations were done by the state, Bollinger said.

This has been a difficult process for sterilization victims. Deborah Blackmon's sister said Blackmon thinks about being sterilized but would rather not talk about it.

In 1972, Blackmon wrote DEBRA on her sterilization permit. Her sister, Margaret Rankin, remembers that day.

I remember when she came home my mom, my dad and myself went out to the car. My dad wanted everybody to grab a hold of her so she wouldn't fall or anything, Rankin said.

Rankin said she didn't fully understand what happened until her daughter, LaToya Adams, dug up the paperwork.

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Some sterilization victims seek compensation after denied state money