An adopted Suffolk man spent 45 years searching for a biological family

Barker said he developed an intense desire to find out who his biological parents were.

He started by contacting social services, which led him to the Salvation Army – a Christian movement.

The Salvation Army was successful in obtaining his adoption papers, which provided some details about his mother.

He was born in Bristol and learned that he was ill at an early age.

His mother was unmarried and was pressured by hospital staff to give him up to be cared for by the Child and Adolescent Services and put up for adoption.

He was in that ministry for three and a half years, and his mother visited him once a week before he was adopted.

Although he has no memories of her and says his adoptive parents were “fun”, Barker feels deprived of his birth mother’s memories.

“For me, that means no bedtime cuddles, no bedtime stories, no Christmas, no birthdays,” he said.

“No Mother’s Day, no Father’s Day, no going on holidays, going to school or seeing a school production, nothing like that.

“This cannot be replaced.”