Peterborough man abandoned as a baby finds birth family

David Stevenson, from Peterborough, was a foundling discovered in the hallway of a block of flats in Golders Green, London, in 1960. He was adopted by the Stevenson family. For decades, he lived with the question of his birth parents. In 2015, he connected with ITV’s Long Lost Family team, using DNA and genealogical research to identify his birth mother, Petra, born in the Netherlands in 1940. Petra was an au pair in England when she became pregnant in 1960. She gave birth to David and left him with strangers, later supported by those around her. Despite years of searching, adoption records provided little information. Julie Stevenson, David’s wife, met PC Tegwin Curl, who helped uncover Petra’s identity. Petra died in 2010, but her story was brought to life through the Stevenson family’s recollections. David also reconnected with Petra’s sister, Maryanne, and cousins in Rotterdam, learning his great-grandmother was Indonesian. He expressed sympathy for Petra, acknowledging the challenges faced by unwed mothers in the 1950s and 1960s.