The man who found his biological mother 58 years after being given up for adoption

Timothy Welch was one of thousands of babies given up for adoption at a home for mothers and babies in the 1960s in the UK.

He was only six weeks old when he was separated from his biological mother, June Mary Phelps, then 18 years old.

Timothy, a 59-year-old London teacher, grew up with his adoptive parents Bill and Eunicé.

“My adoptive parents always told me ‘you were special, you came to us in a different way.’

“They couldn’t have their own children, so they started the adoption process and at 36 they adopted me.”

Timothy described his life with his foster parents as “really happy”and never considered trying to find her birth mother until her adoptive parents died: Bill in 2018 and Eunicé in 2020.

“As an adopted child you always think about investigating your birth family, but whether or not to act on it is another matter,” Timothy said.

“A lot of it goes back to identity as a person over the years. I wondered who I was, certain personality traits that were different from my adoptive family.”

“When my adoptive parents died, it made me feel different about the world and about myself.”

“A counselor told me that when adoptive parents die, people often become curious again about their own heritage, because we are all looking for a connection.”

“I think for me it was about that. She gives you permission to think: what now?

Timothy began searching for his birth mother in January 2022, after going through some old family photos.

“I found a photo of my birthplace: Yateley Haven, Hampshire (England),” he explained.

“While searching I realized that there were a closed Facebook group for families mothers and children who were born there”.

“I applied to join the group and the moderator, Penny Green, got back to me and asked for my story.”

“As a keen amateur historian, she was very interested and offered to help me locate my birth parents.”

Penny Green, a former charity worker from Bedfordshire, created the Facebook group for people who were born in or have an association with The Haven, an England home for mothers and babies run by the Baptist Church, after being born there herself.

The 62-year-old woman explained that single mothers petitioned to go there to give birth, and their babies were given up for adoption, often by force.

“The theory at the time was that they were doing single mothers a favor, because it was not well seen to be a single mother,” she asserted.

According to the Yateley Society, The Haven was open from 1945 to 1970, and nearly 1,800 babies were born there.

Penny’s mother was 36 years old when she was sent there by her parents, as she was single and pregnant.

Unlike many young mothers, however, she refused to give up on her daughter. According to Penny, her mother then changed her name and told people that she was married, but the baby’s father had been killed in a car accident.

Timothy also believes that his mother was the victim of a forced adoption.due to the fact that he was so young.

“June had no choice, especially if she wanted to keep working. How was she going to support me without having a job?

Penny said that although some mothers in The Haven knew their children were being taken away, they were not told when they couldn’t even say goodbye.

“A mother made a toy for her baby for when it was taken away, but since she was not told when it was being taken away, she was never able to give it to him.”

“Some of the mothers were so traumatized that they had gone into hiding and they were so afraid of bringing up the past.”

Following Penny’s advice, Timothy applied to the General Registrar’s Office for a copy of his original birth certificate, which listed his birth mother’s full name, date and place of birth.

Next, Penny used the electoral roll and Internet searches to locate her.

After Penny made the first contact on his behalf, Timothy found his mother’s current husband, Michael Mortimer.

Timothy provided Mortimer with his email, which he forwarded to Timothy’s brothers and they arranged a day to meet in London.

“They are both wonderful men: kind, caring and thoughtful,” she said.

“I feel very lucky to have met you at this stage of our lives. and I’m going to really enjoy getting to know them and their respective families.”

“A bonus for me was meeting Chris’s partner Amanda and Greg’s partner Gemma and some of their children, who are all lovely.”

After 58 years apart, on Saturday, September 19, 2022, Chris and Greg took Timothy to reunite with his birth mother.

“It was the first time I could see myself in my mother’s eyes”he expressed.

“It was emotional, but at the same time natural.”

We talked about many things, but What I liked the most was looking at her and assimilating the person she is”.

Timothy explained that despite his health problems, his mother has fond memories of him and eats like an Olympian.

Timothy said that since the meeting, is beginning to piece together details about his early life.

“My mother was 17 when she got pregnant and 18 when she gave birth to me. She had another son a year or so earlier, when she was 16, who was given up for adoption and whom she has not seen since,” she explained.

“She was the youngest of three children: she had a sister, Audrey, ten years older than her, and a brother, Bill, eight years older. He still alive”.

“My father’s name was Hedayat Mamagan Zardy and he was an Iranian Muslim. They had a fleeting romance and loved to dance at night in Oxford.”

“Attempts to find my biological father and older brother are at a very early stage.”

Timothy explains that June married in 1966 and had two more children, his brothers, with whom he is now in contact.

Reflecting on his experience in finding his family, Timothy said: “You have to keep an open mind and be strong with yourself.”

“Now I have siblings, so it’s interesting to have this extra layer and it’s exciting for me.”

“I’m going to visit my mother and I’m looking forward to meeting her as time goes by.” (YO)