A grandfather whose story first made the Daily Mail’s front page 65 years ago, after he was discovered abandoned as a baby in an upmarket block of flats, has finally uncovered the identity of his birth mother.
David Stevenson became known to readers as the “Rainbow Baby” when he was found wrapped in brightly coloured clothing on the second floor of the building in Golders Green, north London.
His search returned to the spotlight in 2009, when he spoke movingly to the Mail about his lifelong effort to find the woman who had given birth to him — but at the time, the mystery remained unsolved.
Now, following a home DNA test, Mr Stevenson has been connected with relatives in Holland and has finally begun piecing together the family history that had eluded him for decades.
Although he learned that his mother, Petra, had died in 2010, Mr Stevenson said the discovery had brought comfort as well as sadness, describing it as “an emotional but very rewarding and uplifting experience.”
The DNA results showed that the father-of-three had a second cousin living in Vancouver, Canada, who was able to tell him that the wider family came from Rotterdam.
ITV’s Long Lost Family – Born Without Trace, the programme that helps foundlings trace the relatives who left them as babies, became involved earlier this year, contacting family members and arranging for them to meet Mr Stevenson.
“It was quite incredible because they literally didn’t know me from Adam and had only a week to absorb this information but I can’t tell you how accepting they were of my situation and me,” said Mr Stevenson, who lives in Peterborough.
Abandoned: how the Daily Mail announced the mystery of the ‘Rainbow Baby’ – so-called after the colourful clothes he was found wearing – in 1960
‘I went to Rotterdam to meet them and it was an incredible moment. It’s changed me and I’m also able to share that information with my sons and grandchildren.’
He added: ‘[Petra’s death] made me sad because I’d have loved to have met her, particularly as I learned more about her and how she was a lovely lady.
‘They all loved her and didn’t have a bad word to say about her.’
Two family members, including a woman called Marianne who was confirmed to be his maternal aunt, agreed to take DNA tests – which allowed Petra to be confirmed as Mr Stevenson’s birth mother.
Marianne and his first cousins, Saskia and Bart, told the show that the family had never even known Petra had been pregnant.
‘That’s just very sad to think of,’ they admitted. ‘A very young woman in a strange place in another country and then giving birth somewhere to a child…’
During the emotional meeting, Mr Stevenson learned that his mother was born in the Netherlands in 1940 and raised in a strict Catholic family.
Aged 19, she travelled to France and later to England, where she worked as an au pair.
‘I was conceived in Paris. That much is clear because my father’s line is French [according to the DNA analysis],’ Mr Stevenson said.
‘It’s possible when she travelled to the UK she didn’t know she was pregnant.’
How and why he came to be abandoned in the second-floor hallway of the flats in Golders Green at what doctors estimated was four days old remains a mystery, as he could have been left in the porch or just inside the main entrance doors.
David Stevenson finally met his family in Holland, after a breakthrough using a home DNA test kit – although he learned his mother had died in 2010
The 65-year-old was found in 1960 on the second floor landing at West Heath Court in Golders Green, north London
Mr Stevenson held back tears as Davina McCall gave him a letter from his birth relatives
‘I don’t know any of the circumstances at all but my strong belief is she’d made an arrangement with somebody because I’d been well looked after for the first few days of my life,’ said Mr Stevenson, who still doesn’t know his exact date of birth or his father’s identity.
‘I have nothing but sympathy for her. It was difficult for girls in the 1950s and 1960s to be unwed mothers. I think she did the best she could.’
His mother returned to Holland in 1964 and went on to work in an administrative role for an airline.
She also married – although, poignantly, never had more children. Photos of her as an adult exist but her family have not released them out of respect for her husband, who is 90.
One image of Petra, aged around four, shows a happy child whose smile is strikingly similar to that of her son, who was adopted by Stuart and Margaret Stevenson in 1963.
The couple, who lived in Edgware, Middlesex, had three other children – a boy and two girls, one of whom was also adopted.
Mr Stevenson, who became a product director for a successful software company, said a bus route he used to take from time to time as a child took him past the flats where he was left but he had no urge to investigate his background.
‘I remember feeling lucky that I’d grown up with a loving family and not in a care home,’ he said previously.
Standing outside the door where he was abandoned in the luxury block of flats
Mr Stevenson’s family in the Netherlands gave him a photo of his mother, Petra, when she was aged around four
Mr Stevenson (front row, with grey striped tie) with his adoptive family, going clockwise brother Mark, mother Margaret, father Stuart, sisters Karen and Beryl
Reunited with retired PC Tegwin Curl, who was called out to the building where Mr Stevenson was found
‘It wasn’t until I’d become a parent myself for the first time [with Joshua in 1989] and held my son that it made me think about my background.’
Sam followed in 1991 and then Mikey and it was in 1995 that Mr Stevenson contacted social services, who gave him a bundle of papers including his birth certificate, the original police report and his adoption papers.
His wife, Julie, a former Peterborough city councillor, tracked down PC Tegwin Curl, who had been called out to the building where he was found.
Although she added more context to the circumstances of his discovery, it didn’t help him find his birth family until he completed the home DNA analysis.
Mrs Stevenson said: ‘The police officer said she had never forgotten rescuing David. It was one of the most poignant events in her career.’
Her husband added: ‘It’s hugely rewarding to understand where I came from – although there is still some paternal side to investigate.’
DNA home testing kits started becoming popular in the early 2010s.
They involve saliva samples from a simple cheek swab or a drop of spit that are inserted into a test tube and sent off in the mail.
Wife Julie helped track down PC Curl, who was able to add some detail to the circumstances of Mr Stevenson’s discovery in the block of flats
They then link sections of a person’s DNA with reference databases of populations in other countries.
For adoptees or people with uncertain family backgrounds, the tests can offer proof about their heritage.
But there have also been cautionary tales, with people receiving them as gifts for birthdays or Christmas only to discover they are the result of an affair.
Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace, presented by Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell, aired yesterday and is on ITV on Mondays at 9pm.
