Kathy Mershon

Infobox soap character
series = All My Children
name = Kathy Mershon
first= December 26, 2006
alias= Kate Martin (birth name)
parents= Thaddeus "Tad" Martin (biological father)
Dixie Cooney Martin (biological mother, deceased)
Julia Santos (adoptive mother, deceased)
siblings = Adam "JR" Chandler Jr. (biological maternal half-brother)
James "Jamie" Martin (biological paternal half-brother)
Jennifer "Jenny" Martin (biological maternal half-sister)
residence = Pine Valley, Pennsylvania
portrayer = Alexa Gerasimovich

Kathy Mershon (Martin) (born Kate Louise Martin) is a fictional character on the soap opera "All My Children". She has been portrayed on a recurring basis by Alexa Gerasimovich from December 26 2006, to the present.

Character history

As Kathy Mershon

Kathy Mershon was the adopted daughter of the late Jim and Linda Mershon, friends of Julia Santos from her time in the Witness Protection Program. Kathy was orphaned when the three of them were in a car accident outside of Pine Valley.

Kathy was taken in by Jamie Martin and Julia Santos, but Jamie has left Pine Valley to work in Tanzania with his Uncle Jake. Up until recently Kathy lived with Julia at Wildwind.

Kathy and Julia Santos have just returned from their visit to see Julia's sister Maria and Maria's children Sam and Maddie in California.Julia was offered the head nurse job at a hospital in Australia and was planning on leaving Pine Valley. But before she could, on May 23, 2008, while at the wedding of Jesse and Angie Hubbard, Robert Gardner (Ray Gardner's brother) busted in to the reception holding Angie at gunpoint. Gardner spotted Aidan Devane gunning for him out of the corner of his eye and fired off a wild shot in Aidan's direction. Gardner missed Aidan, but accidentally shot Julia. At the hospital, Joe Martin tells her that the wound lacerated her liver. Together with a steady internal bleed, Julia knew her chances of surviving were slim to none, even with surgery, and so she decided against it. Knowing that Kathy had lost her mother in the same hospital, she would not let Krystal, who travelled with her in the ambulance, get Kathy so she could say goodbye. She asked Krystal to call her sister Maria to come and take Kathy. In the hospital bed, in the presence of Joe and Krystal, Julia tearfully slipped away, speaking of her love for Kathy. On May 27th, 2008 Julia died from her gun shot. Kathy is to go into the custody of her adoptive aunt Maria Santos.

As Kate Martin

Unbeknownst to everyone, Kathy is the only living biological child of Tad Martin and Dixie Cooney. Tad and Dixie previously had another child who was miscarried years earlier. Kathy/Kate was born in Switzerland and given up for adoption when Dixie was made to believe, by Dr. Gregory Madden, that she would not make it through the car crash. Although Tad and Dixie referred to their daughter as Kate Martin, she was never legally named as such.

Ever since he learned that his child was alive, Tad has been searching for his daughter and he has no idea that Julia Santos has been raising her. Kathy has three biological living half-siblings, half-brothers Adam "JR" Chandler Jr. and James "Jamie" Martin and half-sister Jennifer "Jenny" Martin.

On June 2, 2008 Krystal Carey finds out that Kathy is really Kate Martin. After Tad wakes up and discovers that Kathy is really Kate, he tells her. On June 18, Kathy moves in with Tad, Krystal, and Jenny. She helps Colby present Tad with a cake decorated with "Welcome Home Daddy."

In August 2008, Kathy and Krystal were playing a game of hide and seek and Kathy locked Krystal in the front yard while Jenny was inside. JR had a talk with his sister and they think that her problems will work out until her 'mommy doll' goes missing. Tad soon finds it in the yard headless. He is curious, but becomes more concerned when Kate pushes Krystle off of a ladder and onto Jenny. Tad doesn't believe Krystle, and they clash over the argument whether Kathy can do wrong or not.