Abandoned at birth: 50 years searching for our families

When he was just a baby, David McBride made headline news in Northern Ireland. He had been discovered in the front seat of a stranger’s car, with no trace of who had left him there or why. David was a foundling. As an adult, he was desperate to find his birth mother and his search would lead him to Helen Ward. She was on a similar quest with a story as astonishing as David’s. Helen had also been abandoned as a baby, found in a phone box by a truck driver. They were born years apart and discovered in different countries but unusual details – like the fact they were both found in tartan bags – connected their stories. Decades of searching for answers would reveal an extraordinary secret. (This episode was first broadcast in June 2022.)

Presenter: Andrea Kennedy
Producer: Maryam Maruf

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(Photo: A collage showing David McBride and Helen Ward as babies and adults. On the left is a black-and-white newspaper photograph of baby David wrapped in blankets. In the centre, adult David and Helen sit stand side by side outdoors, smiling at the camera. On the right is a black-and-white newspaper photograph of baby Helen lying in a cot. The image contrasts the pair's early beginnings with a meeting later in life. Credit: Courtesy of Helen Ward)