Trying to trace my mother’s mum
HIL ARY WRITES:
I have had a DNA test done and have carried out quite a lot of research.
As a child, I was in regular touch with three maiden ‘aunts’ and various other ‘aunties’ who I understood were my mother’s relatives. Eventually, my mother informed me that she had been brought up at the Foundling Hospital in London and the ‘aunties’ were mostly girls who had been there at the same time as her or were friends she had made subsequently. The maiden ‘aunts’ were actually part of the family she was fostered out to from the approximate age of 3 months to 5 years old. My mother had no knowledge of any blood relations.
Gradually, over the years I learnt that some of her friends had found out about their origins at the Foundling Museum in London. In 1994, my mother decided to do the same. I accompanied her on a very emotional journey to London, where we were met by a social worker, who was very kind and welcoming.
We were shown the entry in the large Baptism Book, documenting the new names children taken in by the hospital were baptised with (overriding the name given by their parent/s). I was the one who burst into tears, as I had wanted to know about my origins for so long.
The social worker asked my mother why she had not tried to find out sooner and she expressed very personal reasons why she had delayed. My mother was then handed her original birth certificate with
