Man abandoned in block of flats as a baby finds birth family after 65 years
DNA testing helped lead David Stevenson to the truth about his origins after a decades-long search for answers
A man who was abandoned as a baby has been reunited with his birth family more than half a century on.
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David Stevenson, from Peterborough, was discovered in the hallway of a block of flats in Golders Green, north London, in 1960.
Just a few days old when he was found, he was later adopted and raised by the Stevenson family in Edgware.
David, 65, grew up aware that he was a foundling - the term for babies abandoned by their parents, who are found and cared for by someone else.
He went on to say: "My adopted parents had shared that with me. But it wasn’t until I had children of my own that I started to think about where I had come from.”
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Over the years, successive attempts to shed light on David's origins failed to yield much information.
In 1960, the Daily Mail published an appeal seeking to identify the "rainbow baby left in the hall" - referring to the colourful knitted clothes he was found dressed in.
The newspaper published another call-out in 2009 in a renewed bid to solve the mystery.
After 30 years of searching for answers, David finally learned the truth about his heritage.
"My wife got involved and realised there was a police report in the records and was able to locate the woman, a PC named Tegwen Curl, who dealt with me," he explained. "She was able to give us more information about the day I was found.
The couple managed to meet PC Tegwen Curl 17 years ago.
Julie said the officer had "never forgotten" David, the BBC reported.
David appeared in the latest episode of ITV's Long Lost Family on Monday, which led to a sad development in his search for answers.
Through DNA testing, the team learned there was a connection to a Dutch family - leading the couple to the truth about David's mother, who they identified as a Dutch woman called Petra, born in the Netherlands in 1940.
She gave birth to David aged 19 while working in England as an au-pair.
Juliet said: "Although it's unclear whether she knew she was pregnant when she arrived in London, she carried him to full term and appears to have been supported by those around her throughout the pregnancy".
“It was difficult for girls in the 1950s and ‘60s to be unwed mothers,” David said. “I think she did the best she could.”
But they also found that Petra passed away in 2010.
David said hearing of his mother's passing was "a shame because it closed an avenue that might have been open to me. I hope today to answer some questions that have been present my entire life."
However, he has since been reconnected with the rest of his Dutch family.
Later in the episode, he travels to Rotterdam for a first meeting with his aunt Marianne and cousins Bart, Saskia and Jan.
An update issued at the end of the episode read: "David is in regular touch with his newfound Dutch family. He supported both teams in the World Cup."