David Stevenson, who was found abandoned in a locked apartment block in North-West London as a newborn in December 1960, has finally learnt who his birth mother was after appearing on ITV's Long Lost Family.
Now 65, David returned to the flats for the show more than six decades after he was discovered - cold but well fed - and used DNA technology and detective work to trace his family.
DNA reveals Dutch and French roots
DNA testing showed David had both Dutch and French heritage. The search then stalled until detective work linked him to a Dutch family who had lived nearby. A woman named Marianne agreed to take a test, and the results allowed expert Ariel Bruce to identify David's birth mother as Petra, who died in 2010.
Show host Nicky Campbell travelled to the Netherlands to meet Marianne - David's aunt - and his first cousins Saskia and Bart.
A secret pregnancy
It emerged that nobody in the family ever knew Petra was pregnant or had given up a baby in London. After finishing school she moved to Paris as an au pair, where David was conceived, before relocating to London. The discovery tallies with David's French DNA, suggesting his birth father was French.
Petra grew up in a strict Catholic household. As Marianne put it: "It was parents after Second World War. They would be angry." Bart added: "They were Catholic and they would also have been very concerned with what society would think of having a child born out of wedlock."
Police investigation and adoption
Although police investigated some residents at the time, enquiries failed to identify David's birth parents. He was adopted by the Stevenson family and had a happy childhood in nearby Edgware.
"I did know that I was a foundling but as far as I was concerned I had a mum and dad and it wasn’t a problem for me," he said.
An emotional letter
Co-host Davina McCall told David that Petra's family members in Rotterdam were willing to take DNA tests. She passed on a letter from them, in which they explained they would love to meet and share as much information about Petra as they can.
"To meet people close to Petra would be very nice. To put a name to my mother and a picture, it’s a profound feeling. That is amazing," David said.
