Long Lost Family helps solve 55 year mystery of The Euston Baby
Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell helped Rachel MacArthur, who was abandoned at Euston station in 1969, find her birth family.
What did you miss?
Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace helped solve the 55 year old mystery of The Euston baby.
Rachel MacArthur appeared on the ITV show which sees Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell help adopted and fostered children find out about their birth parents and reunite them with their families.
Rachel MacArthur was dubbed 'The Euston Baby' by the press when she was found as a newborn baby abandoned at Euston rail station in London in June 1969. But Long Lost Family saw her discover the truth about her mother and resolve her feelings about being left as a baby.
What, how and why?
Rachel told the story of how she was abandoned as a baby and showed newspaper cuttings about her being found at Euston station. The 55-year-old said: "I could never do that, I could never do that. I'd rather die than give my child up, honestly, There's lots of thoughts in the past. I've had lots of thoughts some good, some bad. Make it right. She must wonder about me. She must have seen me. The pain and joy of delivering of a child is something you never forget."
Researchers for the show, using DNA, found that Rachel's birth mother was named Christine and she was 16 when she had Rachel, with a man called John who was in his 30s. She also had a daughter Eileen with the same man when she was 15, and later a son called Shane. Eileen told the show she remembered living on the streets with her mum Christine.
Hearing about her mother's difficult life Rachel said: "It must have been really hard for her. I'm grateful to my birth mother for giving me life. She didn't know what happened to me, and that was something I wanted to make okay for her. I understand now."
Eileen flew from Canada to meet Rachel. She told her that their mother thought about her. She said: "I think probably that was a lot of the guilt that she carried around. At the end she told this story about this little girl who she envisioned standing on a hill. She said her name was Rachel. Maybe she had a premonition about you."
Rachel said after meeting her sister: "I've got somebody in my life who's always going to be there. We might be thousands of miles apart, but she's always going to be there I just know it."
What else happened on Long Lost Family?
Stephen Reid was reunited with his brother and sister after being left at an illegal foster home as a baby.
McCall admitted that Stephen's case was one of the most unusual they had ever dealt with on Long Lost Family, as when he tried to trace his birth family he found out he had been removed from an unlicensed foster mother, with no official documentation as to who his birth mother had been.
He said: "It's hard enough knowing I was abandoned, but it's harder knowing all I know about my birth mother comes from an unreliable source, a dodgy foster mother."
But with the help of DNA, McCall and Campbell found out he had a half brother and sister Graham and Debra, living in Essex where he also grew up with a foster family.
Stephen said looking at a picture of his late mother: "Everyone wants to know where they come from. Everyone that loves me will be happy for me. I know I'm crying but I'm happy, it's a relief."
Stephen's mother, who was called Jean had died, as well as his half-brother Paul. But he was reunited with his half-brother and sister Graham and Debra. He said: "I felt a bit more that I belonged somewhere at long last. I've actually found what I've been searching for for 60 years. I do belong somewhere and I've got an identity."
Read more: Long Lost Family
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