His mother gave birth to him when she was 18 years old, she is 77 when they meet again
At six weeks old, Timothy Welch was separated from his mother, June Mary Phelps. His mother was eighteen when she gave birth to him and Timothy believed it was a forced adoption. In 2022, he was looking through family photos and decided that he wanted to look for his birth mother. Now, after 58 years apart, the two have been reunited.
Adoption
Timothy Welch (59), a teacher from London, was adopted at a young age by Bill and Eunice Welch. According to Timothy, he lived a happy live with his adoptive parents, even though he knew that he was adopted. He told the BBC: “My adoptive parents always said to 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 when they were 36 they adopted me.”
Up until 2022, Timothy had never really thought about looking for his birth parents. But when Bill and Eunice both died and he was looking through old family pictures, he decided that it was time. “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,” Timothy said. “When my adoptive parents died, it makes you feel differently about the world and yourself. A counsellor said to me that after people’s adoptive parents die they often re-open the curiosity about their own heritage because we are all searching for connection. I think that’s really what it was about for me. It gives you a permission to think – OK what now for myself?”
Search
And so, the search began. He joined a Facebook group for families, mothers and children born in Yately Haven, Hampshire. That is where Timothy was born. The moderator of the group, Penny Green, asked him why he wanted to join. She created the Facebook page for people linked to ‘The Haven’, a mother and baby home that was run by the Baptist Church. A lot of unmarried mothers gave birth there and those babies were adopted. Usually forced. And that is what Timothy believes happened to him and his mother too.
Penny advised Timothy to get a copy of his birth certificate and that is how Timothy found Michael Mortimer, June’s current husband. After 58 years, Timothy finally got to meet his birth mother on September 19, 2022. Het told the news channel: “It was the first time I was able to see myself in my mother’s eyes. It was emotional but at the same time it felt natural. We spoke about a variety of things but the part I enjoyed the most was just looking at her and taking in the person that she is.”
And it turns out, Timothy didn’t just find his mother. He also got two brothers in the process. June married in 1966 to Michael Mortimer with whom she had two sons. Timothy said: “Now, I’ve got brothers so it is interesting to have this extra layer and it’s exciting to me. I shall be visiting my mother and look forward to getting to know her as time goes on.”
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Source: BBC | Image: Unsplash, Joshua Hoehne