On December 23, 1966, baby Chris was found in a telephone box in Lambeth, outside of London.
Having grown up in London with only a few unverified details about his start in life, he always wondered what chain of events led him to be left: "It’s an unnatural act for a mum to give up their newborn baby… who is she and why did she end up abandoning me?"
“Who is she, why did she end up abandoning me?” – Chris#BornWithoutTrace #LongLostFamily @ThisisDavina @NickyAACampbell @ITV pic.twitter.com/TCUEUFPZ8f
— Long Lost Family (@longlostfamily) June 26, 2023
With the passing of his adoptive parents, and having raised four children himself, Chris felt ready to seek the answers to his biggest questions.
Encouraged by his children and his wife Alison, Chris took a DNA test which revealed that he had Italian and Irish heritage. However, he could progress no further as there were no close links to living relatives.
ITV's "Long Lost Family" took on Chris's case two years ago, which turned out to be "one of the most complex and far-reaching foundling cases to date."
Chris's DNA test revealed that his mother was an Irish woman, Elizabeth, who had emigrated to Maine with her US airman husband. The couple had three children, but their marriage was an unhappy one.
Elizabeth and her husband separated for a period, during which time she got pregnant by an Italian man, a cook at the restaurant where she was a waitress. She and her husband reconciled thereafter, but she and her kids were kicked out of the home after her husband learned she was pregnant with another man's child.
Pregnant and homeless, Elizabeth traveled to London with her three young children but received little support from her Irish Catholic parents.
Elizabeth ultimately gave birth to Chris and left him in a London phonebox with the hope that he would be found and live a happy life. She returned to the US and her husband with her three elder children afterward.
Sadly, Elizabeth passed away in 2008 before Chris could ever meet her. However, the "Long Lost Family" researchers were able to connect Chris with Elizabeth's other children, his half-siblings Marie and Bobby.
Monday night's episode of "Long Lost Family" features the emotional moments when Chris met Marie for the first time. The half-siblings agreed with a laugh that the situation was "a bit strange."
“Mum would be so proud of the man that he has become” – Marie @ThisisDavina @NickyAACampbell #BornWithoutTrace #LongLostFamily pic.twitter.com/yrlKRMgMjj
— Long Lost Family (@longlostfamily) June 26, 2023
Marie said she thought her mother had another child but didn't know the full story. She told Chris: "My father would've never accepted you, unfortunately.
"I believe that it broke her heart to have to leave you, but she knew what was best for you."
Chris said he didn't blame his mother for anything, and that it's a "shame" he never got to tell her how good of a life he's had.
“I had two sentences about my life…But now I can fill books after books” – Chris @ThisisDavina @NickyAACampbell @itv#BornWithoutTrace #LongLostFamily pic.twitter.com/QkCI1mS2x1
— Long Lost Family (@longlostfamily) June 26, 2023
Amazingly for Chris, the show's researchers were also able to connect him with his birth father Dominic, a 79-year-old Italian man now based in Florida. Dominic didn't know about Chris until the show connected them.
“It was exciting when I opened that door to see him standing there” – Dominic @ThisisDavina@NickyAACampbell @itv #BornWithoutTrace #LongLostFamily pic.twitter.com/H99flJxB4Y
— Long Lost Family (@longlostfamily) June 26, 2023
Speaking with ITV host Lorraine, Chris said his long-lost family has been "really open and friendly and loving.
"If the tables were turned, I just hope we would have been the same.
"It's a big thing for them, you know, someone knocking on your door after 55 years and saying 'hi dad.'
"But it's been really positive."
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