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Articles / I loved Jack whom I adopted aged three. Then his drug-addicted family lured ....

« Last post by RDsmum on May 21, 2025, 04:27:31 PM »

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-14732429/Jack-adopted-three-drug-family-violence-grief-CATHERINE-TAYLOR-familys-nightmare-final-unimaginable-blow.html#newcomment

I loved Jack whom I adopted aged three. Then his drug-addicted family lured him back and the violence began. Through shattering grief CATHERINE TAYLOR tells her family's nightmare and the final unimaginable blow

By HEATHER MAIN

Published: 01:45, 21 May 2025 | Updated: 01:45, 21 May 2025

Catherine Taylor does not use the swing in the front porch of her picture-perfect cottage in Yorkshire. Made for her by her teenage son Jack, it has become an almost unbearably poignant reminder of a happier time.  Catherine, a pharmacist, and her husband Henry, a self-employed builder, haven't seen Jack for almost a year.  Their bright 16-year-old whom they adopted at the age of three is living in a flat 50 miles away and working, they suspect, for a so-called County Lines drug-running gang.  Tracked down by members of his birth family, Jack was lured away from them, they say, with offers of money and cannabis, to which he quickly became addicted.  Most shocking of all, despite Catherine's pleas, she claims that not only have the authorities refused to help her get him back, but social services have actively encouraged Jack to walk away from her loving and secure home.  'It's not just sadness we're feeling, it's intense grief,' she says.

Clearly Catherine and Henry's version of events represents just one side of a highly fraught situation. Yet what they describe is every adoptive parent's worst nightmare a complete breakdown of the adoption itself and the loss of a teenage boy they remain devoted to.  Both 48, they found they were unable to have children when they married 20 years ago, and decided to forego IVF treatment in favour of adoption.  'We were desperate for a family, and we knew our love for an adopted child would be just as strong as it was for a child who was biologically ours,' explains Catherine.

Both came from stable homes and knew they could give a child a similar life in their three-bedroom house with a huge garden and good schools nearby.  In 2012 they were matched with three-year-old Jack.  'We just fell in love with him,' Catherine recalls. 'We were warned he had been very badly abused by his birth family. Social workers said it was the worst case of neglect they had ever seen.'

When a neighbour raised concerns, she was told, social workers found Jack huddled in a corner 'so motionless and detached' from what was going on around him that they couldn't even get any eye movement from him. He had learned how to physically and mentally detach from danger to the extent he was basically playing dead.  'We were prepared for it to take a long time to form a bond. But from the moment we first met Jack, at his foster carer's house, he instantly took our hands and led us to play on the trampoline.  He called us mummy and daddy on the very first day. He just wanted someone to love him.'

Jack quickly formed an especially close bond with Catherine, who gave up her job 'so I could be there for him all the time'.  'When Jack started school, he was anxious about leaving us. At the school gates at pick-up time, I'd see his eyes desperately darting around the playground, scanning to make sure I was there.  We arranged for him to have some play therapy and he soon made lots of friends but he remained very close to me. He would only go to sleep if I was holding him, or, when he got older, he'd want to take one of my jumpers to bed to cuddle up to.'

Over time Jack's anxieties calmed and, when he was six, the family was asked whether they would also like to adopt his newborn biological sister Poppy, who was removed from her family shortly after birth. They agreed.  Now the family was complete and life for Jack assumed the hectic but happy and above all, ordinary rhythms of school, playdates and holidays.  Indeed, the children enjoyed what many would describe as an idyllic upbringing, with trips to Lapland, breaks to the family's holiday home in Wales, sports clubs and, importantly, a loving family.  The couple were open with both children about the fact they were adopted but, Catherine says, neither of them ever showed much interest in finding out about their blood relations. The adoption agency had a 'letterbox' system in place, where both parties adoptive parents and biological family could send letters to each other through social services.  'I wrote a couple of times a year with vague updates, letting them know he was doing well at school, and how much he was growing. I hoped they would write too in case Jack wanted to read about them one day, but I didn't get a single letter back.  I think he used to be quite angry with them. If I tried to talk about them he would shut me down.'

It was when Jack turned 13 that the family's perfect life started to unravel. On trips into the local town, he began to hang out with a new group of friends, and though at first Catherine and Henry thought little of it, they soon discovered the boys were members of a notorious local family who had already dropped out of school. She and Henry were worried and warned Jack not to be friends with them.  Weeks later, however, they discovered Jack had secretly started vaping, after the family dog sniffed out a vape hidden in his room and chewed it to bits.  'It might seem like typical teen behaviour,' says Catherine. 'But given Jack's history, and the fact we knew he was born with addiction issues his mother had been a drug user we were concerned. We talked to him and he promised he wouldn't vape again.'

However, from that moment Jack seemed to go off the rails entirely. First he was caught stealing vapes from a local supermarket, then he began skipping school. He also took to leaving the house at night to see his new 'friends'.  'We were beside ourselves. I felt embarrassed I couldn't control the situation.  The school was increasingly worried about his behaviour and, at one point, the headteacher told us to just take Jack out of school for two weeks and go away as a family. We needed to get him away from the situation with the other boys and find the old Jack again.  And at our holiday home, it felt as though we did get him back. We went for long walks on the beach, played board games, enjoyed pub lunches it was idyllic.'

But it was not to last. Back home, Jack's behaviour now took a violent turn. 'At school, he'd kick doors in a rage or pull soap dispensers off the wall.  Sometimes he'd physically try to attack me. Henry would put himself in-between us and Jack would end up attacking him.'

Once Henry had to go to hospital after being hit over the head with a laptop.  'We were at our wits' end,' Catherine recalls. 'We begged social services for help, but they just offered music therapy.  Jack clearly needed more help than that he was dealing with deep-rooted trauma.  We talked about moving away, but my husband's business relied on local clients we couldn't afford to leave.  Eventually, we found Jack a place at a local private school, and moved him there.'

Despite initially flourishing at the new school, it wasn't long before he was hanging out with the gang again.  Now 14, Jack began to break out of home most nights, forcing Henry and Catherine to call the police to report him missing.  'At one point, we were calling the police at least once a week. Each time he disappeared, we were so worried about his safety; once, he left home for six days and we later found out he had been sleeping under a motorway bridge.'

By this time, Jack had also started smoking cannabis. 'We cut off Jack's pocket money so he wouldn't be able to buy drugs,' Catherine says. 'But then he started stealing from us: clothes, credit cards, technology, and running away in the night.  Again, I begged social services for help. But their only advice was to consider ourselves lucky he wasn't taking harder drugs. I couldn't believe my ears.'

One night, however, after the most violent outburst the family had ever witnessed, the truth came tumbling out.
After a local broadband outage, the wi-fi cut out, and Jack was unable to control his fury. Blaming his adoptive parents, he flew at Henry, leaving him with two black eyes and footprint-shaped bruises on his torso.  A neighbour called the police and Jack was arrested and temporarily placed in a children's home as an emergency measure.  'The police advised us that we needed to press charges this time. At that point, we were at the end of our tether and agreed,' says Catherine. 'Jack was charged with assault and criminal damage.'

On several previous occasions, Catherine had tried to search Jack's social media to see who he was talking to online, but her son had always logged himself out when using the family iPad. The night of the wi-fi outage, however, he hadn't had a chance to do that and what Catherine found made her blood run cold.  'There were photos of Jack sitting smoking with a group and the names seemed familiar. Slowly, the penny dropped this was his birth family.'

In an effort to encourage transparency about a child's origins, today many are given a 'life story book' containing the first names of their blood relations. These were the names Catherine saw dotted across his social media.  Now she read through dozens of messages sent to him from his biological family, who it later transpired had found him via the boys he'd been hanging out with in town.  '"We just want you back, we'll help get you away from that b***h, your real family will look after you."

It was chilling.  'We had taken his phone away from him but in these pictures, he clearly had other phones we'd never seen before.  These were the people who had neglected him so badly as a baby, suddenly wanting him back as a teenager. I felt sick to my stomach.'

Jack was kept in the children's home while Catherine and Henry applied to drop charges against him for attacking his father so he could come back to them but before the application was processed, Jack ran away.  'We got a call saying that Jack had gone to live with his biological grandma. Social services said she was deemed an appropriate guardian because she didn't have a criminal record. Apparently she'd been sending him large amounts of money about £70 every week or so.  She was living in a flat with seven other people, all in and out of prison on drugs offences,' claims Catherine. 'And that was where Jack was staying.'

To her horror, now Jack was 16, he was legally allowed to live wherever he wanted and social services did not apparently see any harm in allowing him to stay with his biological grandmother.  It seemed to Catherine and Henry very likely that Jack was now dealing drugs himself as part of a County Lines operation, where drugs are transported from one area of the country to another.  She later discovered Jack's biological father had died of a drugs overdose and his biological mother was, at that point, in prison. Though social services told her he wouldn't be allowed contact with his birth mum, Catherine discovered he had indeed seen her when she was briefly out of prison.  'It was devastating,' she explains. 'They took my son from me and I couldn't do a thing about it.'

Worryingly, adopted children making contact with their birth families online is on the rise. Sarah Brown, a solicitor who specialises in adoption breakdown proceedings at the Adoption Legal Centre, says social media is playing a bigger role than ever.  Children are either choosing to track down their families themselves, or their biological families go looking for them.  In the cases we see, it's been a catalyst in the breakdown of the original adoption.  We are busier than ever with cases of families who are at their wits' end. Sometimes they are suicidal, or even in fear of their own lives.'

Desperate, Catherine and Henry sought legal advice and applied for mediation with their son through social services, who arranged a meeting with him.  'We sat in a room with a social worker, like a police interview. It was hideous.  I was referred to throughout as "Catherine". I wanted to scream: "I'm not Catherine, I'm his mum!"  Jack looked and sounded completely different there was no inkling of my son. He used to be quite well-spoken, but now, he looked and spoke like a gangster.  I took him a case with his favourite clothes, but he went through it pulling out the designer ones and left the rest in the bag.  He started demanding money from me he shouted that we owed him money for his bed, his bike, his PlayStation.  It took every fibre in my body to remain calm. I told him we loved him and he was welcome to come home any time.  I told him that I felt I had lost my son. "I was never your son to lose," he spat back. That hurt more than anything else.  Jack isn't just a child I'd adopted, I'm not his foster carer I love him the same way any mother would love her son.'

Almost 12 months later, Jack is still living with his birth grandmother and has had no further contact with his adoptive family.  Social workers told Catherine he was doing so well with his biological family, they have decided to close his case. And in what the Taylors regard as the final insult, should Jack ever ask to see Catherine and Henry, their visit will need to be supervised.  When Jack moved out, he made allegations that Henry had attacked him, and although they were investigated by social services and the police and they were cleared of any wrongdoing, the allegation alone means visits cannot now be made without supervision.  'We later found out through speaking to support groups that it's common for adopted children to suddenly make allegations of abuse against adoptive parents once they have made contact with a birth parent,' Catherine says.

'But of course that doesn't make it any less distressing. Neither of us would have ever laid a finger on Jack.'

Official statistics suggest that just over 3 per cent of adoptions break down but campaigners say that's an underestimate. Catherine says she was told their son 'successfully' reuniting with his birth family would not be recorded as an adoption breakdown or disruption.  'It has absolutely broken us,' she says. 'Our daughter is only ten, but she is so angry with him. She also can't understand why the family want Jack back but have no interest in her. She's grieving the loss of him, too.  The pain catches me off-guard at the most peculiar times. Recently, we went away and walked to the local pub for lunch. Poppy and Henry would always walk together and Jack and I would walk behind them that's always the way it was.  But suddenly, I realised I was walking alone Jack just isn't there any more. And my biggest fear is that he never will be. We'll never get him back.'

All names have been changed.

If you have an experience of adoption you'd like to share with readers, please email: femailreaders@dailymail.co.uk

12

Articles / Plaque to be 'reminder of the pain of forced adoption'

« Last post by Forgotten Mother on May 17, 2025, 05:07:28 PM »

httphttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1de5xy9qr4o?fbclid=IwY2xjawKVkghleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETBqY3ZuNU84NEJhdDIyMktUAR4eiqwth8afpf6w063T_2CFSsTThfdsJWmZ0mIi4uDy2M-7KDv0emiJ_iyrbg_aem_f9KfI536lYyQrdkHvJLaLg

Plaque to be 'reminder of the pain of forced adoption'

Alex Green, BBC News, South West, Tamsin Melville, BBC Spotlight

Published 10 May 2025

Victims of forced adoption have gathered in Cornwall for a public event condemning the treatment of unmarried mothers in post-war Britain.  They unveiled a plaque at Rosemundy House in St Agnes formerly a home for unmarried mothers while calling for a formal "adoption apology" from the government.  Dr Phil Frampton, who was born at the Rosemundy Mother and Baby Home in 1953, said: "We want an apology, not only for the mothers but also for their children who suffered."

Lyn Rodden, from Camborne, who was one of those forced to give up her baby, said: "It means everything that we've been recognised at last."

'Struggle for an apology'

It is estimated up to 250,000 women in Britain were forced to give up their babies in the decades after World War Two.  Campaigners also want "restorative actions" from the government, such as providing counselling and search support for mothers and those forcibly adopted.  Dr Frampton, a member of the Rosemundy Commemoration Committee, said he spent years in foster care after he was separated from his mother as a baby.  He said: "It's really pleasing to be here today, it's the start of a new chapter in the struggle for an apology for all those unmarried mothers who suffered in the post-war period."

Mr Frampton said the day was "part of a day of healing, part of a day of recognising the grief of those mothers..."

He added: "This is not something that's just in the past, for a lot of women they lived with this, you hear women today 80, 88 years old, who are still having to live with what happened, and the children live with it, and families live with it."

Mr Frampton said it was "important" to be able to give the mothers, children, and families affected by forced adoptions "a sense of relief and release".

Another plaque is due to be unveiled by the campaigners in Kendal, Cumbria, on 23 May.

'Cried all the way home'

In September 1956, 19-year-old Lyn Rodden from Camborne, Cornwall, gave birth to her son at the Rosemundy home.  She said she was forced to get on a train and take her son to Bath to be adopted.  Ms Rodden said: "For everybody else the parents came here and took them away from here, but I had to get on a train and take my son up to Bath, and leave him in an office.  A woman just came out and said 'name' and 'I'll take the baby' and she took him into the back office, came out and said 'hurry up' she said, 'catch your train' she said, 'and back to St Agnes, you'll be there for another six weeks'.  That was it. I cried all the way home..."

Ms Rodden said she was eventually reunited with her son 50 years later when he found her.  "[It was] like the final piece of a jigsaw being fitted," she said.

She added: "To think that although slavery was abolished in the 1800s, a Dickensian way of life was gone, but not at Rosemundy.  It was still in the past, and that was it really, and it means everything that we've been recognised at last..."

A Government spokesperson said: "This abhorrent practice should never have taken place, and our deepest sympathies are with all those affected.  We take this issue extremely seriously and continue to engage with those impacted to provide support."

13

Articles / Hunt for mother who abandoned three babies in London narrows to 400 homes .....

« Last post by Forgotten Mother on May 15, 2025, 12:31:20 PM »

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14714245/Hunt-mother-abandoned-three-babies-London.html

Hunt for mother who abandoned three babies in London narrows to 400 homes as police say a fourth youngster may soon be found

By JOSE RAMOS

Published: 07:01, 15 May 2025 | Updated: 07:26, 15 May 2025

The search to find the mother who abandoned three children in London has narrowed to around 400 homes as police say they can't rule out a fourth baby being found as time goes on.  Officers have been knocking on several properties in an area in East Ham and Plaistow, in East London, as they try to find the mother of the children.  It is believed the person who abandoned them, who may or may not have been their mother, could have travelled from one of those homes.   Officers have been asking neighbours in the area for voluntary DNA samples and for anyone with information to come forward.  Harry, Roman and Elsa, were found abandoned in 2017, 2019, and 2024, respectively, within a few miles of each other, which the senior investigating officer in the case described as 'wholly unprecedented'.  Investigators have been able to establish a full DNA profile of their mother, but although hundreds of hours of CCTV have been reviewed and a £20,000 offered, she remains unidentified.  Detective Inspector Jamie Humm, the case's senior investigating officer, said the investigation had been 'comprehensive and thorough', but that police must conclude that the person who abandoned the children 'did not want to be found'.  He said: 'They've done so in places where there are no CCTV cameras, and as heavily surveilled as London is, the reality is there's going to be pockets and areas that are not covered with footage.'

He continued: 'We can't be blind to the fact that there may be a fourth (baby), and certainly the passage of time and the cycles of nine months it would take to potentially get pregnant and birth a child, mean that we cannot discount that.  'That means, again, I'm appealing to the public, because if there is another abandoned child, that child may not be as fortunate as Elsa and her siblings.  'So we really want the public to understand what we understand about the risk here, and to come forward and speak to us, because it's that one bit of information that we feel that may open this whole case.'

Elsa was found wrapped in a towel in a reusable shopping bag on January 18 last year, at the junction of Greenway and High Street South in East Ham, in sub-zero temperatures.  Roman was found in similar circumstances a short distance away, in a play area off Roman Road, Newham, in late January 2019, as freezing temperatures and snow gripped the capital.  Their brother, Harry, was found wrapped in a white blanket in Balaam Street, Plaistow, in September 2017.  All three children were abandoned in areas not covered by CCTV, and Mr Humm said he believed their mother 'is in danger'.  He said: 'In any police investigation you make your tactical decisions around hypotheses, and the hypothesis that, as senior investigating officer, I believe is most likely, is that the mother of these children is vulnerable, is in danger, and is in a position where they feel that they are unable to come forward for whatever reason.'

He said officers are treating the mother as a 'victim' and said the force is on 'standby to support her with everything she needs.'

The police investigation has been supported by a specialist team from the National Crime Agency (NCA), which includes geographical profilers and behavioural investigative advisers.  Residents of the 400 houses are under no obligation to provide DNA samples, and the NCA is helping to shape the questions that police ask people on their doorstep.  Agency investigators have also been deployed alongside Metropolitan Police officers during the house-to-house inquiries.  Noel McHugh, national senior investigating officer adviser for the South East at the NCA, said that the case was 'deeply troubling' and that it was a 'miracle' the children survived because of the conditions in which they were abandoned.  But he said that the case had some 'really unique signatures' which made it 'solvable and detectable', adding that the answer 'is in the community'.  He said: 'We need the public, and with nearly every crime the public are the ones who assist and thread that crime together in solving it. It is never the police or NCA on their own.'

Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford, strategic investigative adviser for the operation, said that the latest inquiries would provide 'a lot of information to follow' which could take 'weeks and months' to process, but that the investigation 'will never stop'.  He said: 'Police won't give up, and we will follow all the lines of inquiry we can to try and find them and answer the questions as to why.'

Family Court proceedings related to Elsa are continuing, with several hearings taking place at East London Family Court since she was found.  In June, Judge Carol Atkinson ruled that the media could report the familial link between the three children, who are black, as well as other details, following an application by the PA news agency and the BBC.  The court was previously told that Elsa's birth cannot be registered, and no final decision made as to her care, because of the ongoing investigation.  Roman and Harry not their real names have already been adopted.

14

Articles / The American musician reclaiming his lost Welsh roots

« Last post by Forgotten Mother on April 28, 2025, 06:56:29 PM »

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c98ggvrqmjdo

The American musician reclaiming his lost Welsh roots

Nicola Bryan
BBC News

Published 20 April 2025

Updated 21 April 2025

He doesn't speak Welsh and has only visited the country once but American singer-songwriter Brian Fennell has just released his third studio album using his Welsh alias.  Fennell performs under the name SYML, which means "simple" in Welsh.  Growing up in Seattle he always knew he was adopted, but it was not until he was given his adoption records at 18 that he learnt his birth parents were Welsh.

He said his artist name was a way of honouring his heritage.  "It's saying that this is where I come from on some level," he explained.

Fennell, who was previously part of indie band Barcelona, said writing his "cinematic and melancholic" music was a way to explore his feelings over being adopted.  "It's becoming easier for me to write songs that dig deep compared to speaking about [my feelings] to even my partner or my kids," he said.

"It is therapeutic to be able to pour it out."

His latest album, Nobody Lives Here, continues his exploration of his identity as someone who has been adopted alongside other themes such as grief and mortality.  Fennell was born in the US and adopted at just three days old. His birth parents had not named him.  On receiving his adoption papers he learnt his parents who were aged 17 and 18 when he was born were second-generation Welsh immigrants.  He was also given a hand-written letter from his birth mother, which he described as "the most gutting" thing he had ever read.  "I think one of the most gutting things was the blank spaces where my name was meant to go," he said.

"It was a really sweet note sort of explaining why it wasn't the right time for her to be a mother and for my birth father to be a father.  I think I've only read it twice, it's so intense to read."

Brian Fennell is sitting on a large rock in a garden with trees concealing a house. He is wearing a green hoodie, dark trousers and a dark beanie hat.  From the moment he discovered his heritage Fennell embraced his Welshness.  "It was the first moment that I was like 'I have a bit of a country of origin'," he said.

"I sort of wrapped myself in it.  I got like a Welsh flag to hang on my wall. I was Googling 'Welsh people what do they look like? What are they?'."

He also got a Welsh tattoo that reads "echen", meaning family or tribe.  He released his eponymous debut album in 2019.  "In choosing a Welsh name syml that was a bit of an honouring, at least an honouring from my perspective, and saying that this is where I come from on some level," he said.

"And choosing a name like 'simple' was a bit of a reminder not to overcomplicate, whether it's art or relationships or thinking about where you're from and everything that comes out of that."

He visited Wales in October 2019 to play a gig at Clwb Ifor Bach in Cardiff.  "I had this comical moment when I got out of the touring van in Wales for the first time, I had this idea that I should kiss the ground or something, like I'd returned home," he laughed.

He said in reality he was met with a car park, but he loved playing to a Welsh audience.  "It was a sweet experience, the folks were welcoming of somebody with an imposter Welsh name," he laughed.

Part of his performance was a Q&A session so he got to chat to the crowd.  "I remember there being a bit of a funny moment where I just couldn't understand some of the accents," he laughed.

He was inevitably asked about his Welsh stage name.  "I was coming into it admitting, like raising a white flag 'I'm not Welsh so I'm not going to pretend to be' but also explaining why it is significant to me to have a Welsh name and it was really well-received," he said.

There are still many things Fennell does not know about his birth family and his heritage, for instance where exactly they were from in Wales.  "Back in the '80s when I was adopted, in the US many adoptions were closed and so there was very little information," he said.

"Even to this day if I wanted to learn more I would have to go and apply and get the approval of my birth parents to release that information and since I was 18 that's not sat well with me."

Also, the unknown can be scary.  The musician said all his life he has intentionally not finished TV series or books because he did not want to know the ending.  "I think I intentionally leave these big question marks," he said.

"I save myself from knowing everything because it might not be good and so I think I guard myself in ways and I'm sure it's rooted in [being adopted]."

Having his own children aged 10, eight and three has filled Fennell with gratitude for the parents who raised him as well as compassion for his birth parents.  "A big moment was when my son was born because that was the first person I've ever met that I'm blood-related to and that instantly filled so many voids that I knew about and didn't know about," he said.

It also gave him a new perspective on his own start in life.  "I have finally been able to get to a place after having three kids where I am interested in digging in a bit more," he said.

"The longer I wait obviously the smaller the chances I'll get those answers."

15

Articles / I'm adopted and it took decades to discover potentially fatal condition

« Last post by Forgotten Mother on April 26, 2025, 07:08:56 PM »

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm2j2vp6503o

I'm adopted and it took decades to discover potentially fatal condition

Bernie Allen
BBC News NI
Published 1 April 2025

A man who was adopted at birth is calling for adoptees to have better access to their medical history after he only learned he had a potentially fatal condition once he met his biological father in his 30s.  Chris Tennyson, who is 38 and lives in Belfast, met his birth father for the first time in 2019.  It was then that he became aware that he needed to be tested for malignant hyperthermia.  He subsequently tested positive for the disease.  Malignant hyperthermia - also called malignant hyperpyrexia is a rare condition in which people who are affected can experience a rapid and dangerous rise in body temperature.

What is malignant hyperthermia?

The condition, which runs in some families, can mean some anaesthetic drugs and gases can cause a rapid and dangerous rise in body temperature, according to the NHS.  Chris said that he could have had a very severe reaction to "certain anaesthetic gases that would be used for routine operations or certain pain medications".

"Had that been administered to me there is a chance I could have had a fatal reaction and died."

Chris met his birth mother in 2011 and said social workers told him he was not allowed to ask her questions about his birth father.  "With the passage of time, information did come my way which informed me of who my birth father was," he said.

"This information about the condition could have been made available to me from the year 2000 when it became discovered in my birth father's family.  I think that when social workers are facilitating contact between adopted people and birth families there should be an open conversation with all parties about the possibility of medically-inherited conditions and the potentially fatal impact of that."

Chris believes that it is a human rights issue.  "For me, there is something about the value of myself as a person," he said.

"I should have been entitled to that information about myself and there needs to be change to ensure that other adoptees have that as well.  No barriers should be put in an adoptee's way when they are asking questions about their identity because it could be life saving to have that information."

How many adoptees are there in Northern Ireland?

There is no central record of the number of adoptees living in Northern Ireland.  However, figures from the Adopted From Care in Northern Ireland report show that during the year ending 31 March 2024, 97 children were adopted from care in Northern Ireland.  Charlotte Jay, an adoptee community development officer with Adoption UK, said Chris's experience is very common.  "Adoptees face many inequalities in their lives and I think access to healthcare is one of those," she said.

"I think not knowing your medical history could literally mean life or death in some circumstances."

She said there is no law in the UK that guarantees adoptees access to historical medical records and "that needs to change".  I think it adds to the trauma.  I think having that lack of medical information can be a factor for your whole life and it's not just for adoptees ourselves but it's also for adoptees' children as well."

SDLP assembly member Matthew O'Toole, who has raised the issue at Stormont, said "it's really important" that adoptees can access full health information.  They need to be able to access the most complete information possible and so we are really keen the Department of Health does all it can to complete that process."

Disclosure

The Department of Health (DoH) said an adoption agency is required by law to obtain and keep a record of information about the child's health.  The agency also has discretion to disclose information to adopted adults seeking access to their information, taking into account the welfare and interests of the adopted person with those of any third parties whose information may be held.  The department said that efforts are being made to encourage greater disclosure of medical information known at the time of the adoption.  It added that it is working to ensure that appropriate records of care are maintained while ensuring all steps are taken to respect the privacy of the adopted person and their family.  The Southern Health and Social Care Trust also said it is committed to working with regional colleagues to continue to strengthen and improve adoption practice.

16

Articles / Couple killed adopted 6-year-old daughter and buried her in a 2-foot grave ....

« Last post by Forgotten Mother on April 26, 2025, 06:51:13 PM »

https://lawandcrime.com/crime/couple-killed-adopted-6-year-old-daughter-and-buried-her-in-a-2-foot-grave-in-their-backyard-where-she-remained-for-4-years-cops/

Couple killed adopted 6-year-old daughter and buried her in a 2-foot grave in their backyard where she remained for 4 years: Cops
David Harris
Feb 4th, 2025, 1:45 pm

Authorities in Kansas arrested a couple accused of killing their adopted 6-year-old daughter in 2020 and burying her in a makeshift grave in their backyard.

The death of Kennedy Schroer apparently went unnoticed by authorities for four years until police in Rose Hill, a town of 4,000 people southeast of Wichita, learned in September that the girl was dead, according to a press release. Now her adoptive parents, Crystina Elizabeth Schroer, 50, and Joseph Shane Schroer, 53, are behind bars.

Crystina Schroer stands accused of murder, four counts each of child abuse with torture and forgery, along with aggravated kidnapping, felony theft, Medicaid fraud and desecration of a corpse. Her husband is facing charges of child abuse with torture, felony theft, Medicaid fraud, interfering with law enforcement and liability for crimes of another.

Rose Hill Police Chief Taylor Parlier told Law&Crime the investigation began around 7:30 p.m. Sept. 10 while officers were responding to the Schroer home in the 1400 block of North Meeker Court when someone was having a mental health crisis. While there, they learned someone could be buried in the backyard. Cops went to the home early the next day and began their search.

They encountered some hurdles right away. The vegetation was so overgrown that they had to take a bush whacker to clear the way so cadaver dogs could search the area. Once completed, the dogs alerted investigators to some areas of interest.

Hours into the forensic dig, cops uncovered the remains of young girl inside a trash bag in a makeshift grave about 2 feet deep. A couple weeks later a DNA test positively identified the body as Kennedy.

Detectives learned Kennedy was born Natalie Garcia on July 14, 2014. Her birth parents relinquished their rights to the state and she was put up for adoption. The Schroers adopted her in November 2018 and changed her name. Police believe she was suffocated to death in late 2020. Her death was ruled a homicide.

“She was a beautiful child, with an infectious smile,” cops said.

Since the discovery of the body, police have spent some 2,000 hours building a case against the Schroers, working with local, state and federal law enforcement, including the FBI, Internal Revenue Service and Wichita’s Exploited and Missing Children’s Unit.

“This case was built through the development of timelines spanning more than four years, which is the primary reason for the length of the investigation,” cops wrote.

Investigators also allege that the suspect parents had been receiving Medicaid payments after Kennedy’s death. The parents had three biological children and two adopted kids. The surviving children all have been placed in custody of the state since the discovery of Kennedy’s body.

Some unanswered questions, such as why it took four years for authorities to learn a child was murdered and buried in the backyard, will be revealed once the probable cause arrest affidavit is released after the Schroers are formally charged, Parlier, the police chief, said.

Both are in the Butler County Jail without bond. They are scheduled to appear before a judge on Wednesday.

17

Articles / 'My search for my birth family blew my mind'

« Last post by Forgotten Mother on April 22, 2025, 07:08:43 PM »

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn9vyyqv39no

'My search for my birth family blew my mind'

Daisy Stephens
BBC News

Published 9 March 2025

Bryan Urbick knew he was adopted from an early age.  Brought up in Seattle by a strict Catholic couple, Mr Urbick knew very little about his birth family.  But he had a nagging feeling that he did not "fit in" and almost six decades later when settled in Goring, Oxfordshire, he decided the time had come for him to find some answers.  Mr Urbick knew he was the result of an affair, and his mother, who had three other children, put him up for adoption to save her marriage.  But attempts to contact her in Washington state, which has strict laws about contacting birth family, were unsuccessful.  "I suspect she didn't want to relive the past," the 64-year-old told BBC Radio Berkshire.

"[But it was a] tough blow to be rejected again."

His search was reignited after the death of his adoptive mother.  After the funeral, a DNA test revealed he had a lot of cousins, which allowed him to figure out his father was a man called Boyd Carter.  One of Mr Urbick's newly discovered cousins, Craig Moe, told him he had grown up with his father, whom he called Uncle Boyd.  When Mr Moe came to visit him in January 2025, the Henley Standard covered the discovery and from there, things started to snowball.  "The reporter rang and said, 'Bryan, I have the most amazing news'," said Mr Urbick.

A man had rung the newspaper saying Mr Carter had been a family friend.  The reporter put the two in touch and Mr Urbick discovered the man lived less than four miles away from him, in Whitchurch-on-Thames.  "It just blows my mind a bit that this would happen so close to us," he said.

Mr Urbick is still yet to meet the man who got in touch but said he had already learned so much about his father, who died in 2014.  He said he had discovered he was a perfectionist like him, that they both loved boats, and that their handwriting looked the same.  "And I have weird handwriting," he said.

But he said learning more about his father had been "emotional".  "I don't think he ever knew that I existed," he said.

He also learned his father had another son, who had died aged nine.  "I wish that I had been able to be a son to him as well," he said.

But despite this, Mr Urbick said finding out about his father had helped him feel connected to his birth family.  "I never fit and now I feel like, 'gosh, I fit somewhere', and that's rather exhilarating," he said.

18

Articles / Some religious orders’ refusal to contribute to mother and baby home redress....

« Last post by Forgotten Mother on April 12, 2025, 03:47:34 PM »

https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/social-affairs/2025/04/05/some-religious-orders-refusal-to-contribute-to-mother-and-baby-home-redress-shows-lack-of-compassion/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJnWqdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHvhazEu8wOoFZmSV76DPSAJX_PRrX4Gf1fSyF8RuOxv5pUjwoNHYds6kxfuC_aem_vF9LMEsr7w05ztx_KwQkZg

Some religious orders’ refusal to contribute to mother and baby home redress shows ‘lack of compassion’
Some survivors want Government to seize assets of religious orders who refuse to pay

Órla Ryan
Sat Apr 05 2025 - 06:00

The Government should consider seizing the assets of religious orders if they refuse to contribute to the mother and baby institution redress scheme, some survivors have said.  On Wednesday, The Irish Times reported that just one religious order involved in mother and baby homes has made a “serious offer” of cash to pay redress to survivors.  Negotiator Sheila Nunan has submitted a final report to Government following talks with seven Catholic bodies and the Church of Ireland. A previous offer of a financial contribution from the Sisters of Bon Secours still stands, it is understood.  Up to the end of March, almost €65 million had been paid out to more than 4,100 people under the scheme. The average payout to date is €15,400.  Survivor Terri Harrison said she is “bitterly disappointed” but not surprised by the fact religious orders have not offered to contribute.  “We really hoped it would be different this time, but there is a lack of compassion and sincerity.”

All mothers who spent time in an institution are entitled to a payment, which increases based on length of stay. However, it is estimated that about 24,000 survivors are excluded from the scheme, including those who spent fewer than six months in an institution as a child.  There have been repeated calls to extend the scheme to include all survivors, but, Ms Harney said, this “doesn’t appear to be a priority” for the Government.  A number of survivors are taking legal action against the State over their exclusion from the scheme.  Those who do apply for redress must sign a waiver confirming they will not take future legal action against the State related to their time in an institution. Ms Harney said signing this waiver is “a huge thing” and has put some people off applying.  “Many people who went for the redress have done so because of necessity; literally, they need the money. Otherwise, I think there would have been a lot less applying.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Children said such a waiver “is a common feature of ex gratia schemes”. Accepting compensation via a redress scheme is “less burdensome” than taking a court case, the spokesperson said.  When asked about the suggestion that religious orders’ assets should be seized if they refuse to contribute to redress, the spokesperson said Minister for Children and Equality Norma Foley “will shortly brief Government on the negotiations report” before Government considers its recommendations and “any next steps”.

19

Articles / The dark true story behind Disney+ series Good American Family: Couple ....

« Last post by Forgotten Mother on April 08, 2025, 04:24:25 PM »

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-14579387/dark-true-story-disney-good-american-family-natalia-grace.html

The dark true story behind Disney+ series Good American Family: Couple adopted a Ukrainian orphan before accusing her of being a 'sociopath'

    Good American Family on Disney+ is inspired by Natalia Grace's story
    READ MORE: Natalia Grace's third adoptive parents claim she is 'ready to go to hell with gasoline panties on'

By ELEANOR DYE

Published: 17:07, 7 April 2025 | Updated: 14:20, 8 April 2025

When Kristine and Michael Barnett decided to adopt a six-year-old girl in 2010 in the hope of expanding their family after years of struggles, they felt nothing but 'overwhelming love' for their new daughter.  Ukrainian orphan Natalia Grace had already been adopted once before just two years previously but the parents had subsequently rescinded their rights, citing her 'disruptive' behaviour.  Drawn in by the need to 'help another person in the world', Kristine and Michael still decided to raise Natalia who has a rare form of dwarfism called Diastrophic Dysplasia as their own, alongside their three biological sons in New Hampshire.   The following years saw a shocking breakdown in the relationship with Kristine and Michael accusing her of being a 'sociopath masquerading as a child' and lying about her real age even claiming she tried to kill them. After seeking advice from a family physician, they fought to have her birth date changed from 2003 to 1989, claiming she was an adult when they adopted her.  Natalia has denied all accusations against her and the couple were charged with neglect after moving to Canada and allegedly dumping her at an apartment in Lafayette. They were eventually acquitted of the charges.  Natalia's unique story has now inspired Disney+ series Good American Family, which premieres in the UK on Wednesday starring Ellen Pompeo, Mark Duplass and Imogen Faith Reed.  For years, Natalia was defended by Bishop Antwon and Cynthia Mans, who eventually became her third set of adoptive parents in June 2023.  But speaking in a rare interview with PEOPLE Magazine in January, Natalia, now 21, revealed that the relationship had soured as shared an update on her situation.  She said: 'It's a blessing to be alive today because looking back at my 7-year-old self, I should have been dead.  Learning everything that I have about how to live with my dwarfism it's been a great experience. I love it. I mean, of course, I still miss my siblings and everything. But I love it. I feel free.'

In January 2024, she wrote on a GoFundMe page, revealing she'd moved out and was trying to raise money for spinal surgery.  I recently moved out and I'm saving money to get my own house so I can have a personal place of my own,' she wrote. 'I am wanting to start my own photography business to create a fun and awesome way to have fun and do what I love which is taking pictures and creating memories for myself and other people!'

She also explained that the spinal surgery she wants to have done isn't covered by her medical insurance and costs 'in excess of $500,000.  I have a type of dwarfism called Diastrophic Dysplasia a form of dwarfism that has many serious issues which often require surgery,' she wrote. 'The first treatment I need is to have my spine corrected as if I leave it too long it could lead to paralysis and incontinence.'

In her interview with People Magazine, Natalia said she is now living with friends in New York, is learning to drive and is studying for her GED in the hope of becoming a teacher.  She's also in a serious long-term relationship with her boyfriend Neil, from the UK, whom she met on Facebook while living with the Manses.  Natalia was born with a bone growth disorder named spondyloepimetaphyseal dysplasia, which causes short stature, skeletal abnormalities and problems with vision.  Her first adoption from Ukraine was in 2008 by Dyan and Gary Ciccone but just two years later, they relinquished their parental rights, citing her behaviour as the reason.  The Barnetts, experienced foster parents who ran a children's day care from their Westfield, Indiana home, collected the curly-haired youngster from Florida in May 2010.  Natalia's birth certificate said she was born in 2003 but her parents began to doubt her age and said she began displaying threatening behaviour towards them and their three biological sons, Jacob, Wesley and Ethan.  Kristine Barnett even gave an interview with the Daily Mail in 2019, alleging that Natalia had terrorised them 'for years' and accused her of threatening to stab them in their sleep, pushing her towards an electric fence and pouring bleach in her coffee.  She also alleged that Natalia was far older than her six years of age, claiming she had pubic hair and had started her periods, while using an advanced vocabulary.   The movie 'Orphan' is exactly what happened,' she said, referring to the 2009 thriller where a youngster tries to murder her family when it's revealed she's actually 33. 

'She would make statements and draw pictures saying she wanted to kill family members, roll them up in a blanket and put them in the backyard.  She was standing over people in the middle of the night. You couldn't go to sleep. We had to hide all the sharp objects.  I saw her putting chemicals, bleach, Windex something like that, in my coffee and I asked her, what are you doing? She said, "I am trying to poison you."  The media is painting me to be a child abuser but there is no child here,' said Barnett.

'Natalia was a woman. She had periods. She had adult teeth. She never grew a single inch, which would happen even with a child with dwarfism.  The doctors all confirmed she was suffering a severe psychological illness only diagnosed in adults.  She was jumping out of moving cars. She was smearing blood on mirrors. She was doing things you could never imagine a little child doing.'

The Barnett family had believed she was a six year old child when they picked her up from Florida in 2010.  'I always wanted to have a larger family and I had very severe complications in my pregnancies and was unable to have more children,' Barnett explained.

'I also at that time had a very privileged life. I felt that if I had the ability to help another person in the world then I wanted to do it.'

She hadn't enquired after finding out her previous adoptive parents had given her up for undisclosed reasons, feeling that she wanted to do a good deed.  But her suspicions were raised when they took Natalia on a family beach day and she ran into the ocean, despite saying she couldn't walk. Barnett grew more alarmed when she saw the little girl naked for the first time.  'I was giving her a bath and I noticed that she had full pubic hair. I was so shocked. I had just been told she was a six year old and it was very apparent she wasn't,' she added.

She also said Natalia shunned toys and dolls, sought the company of teenager girls and used vocabulary beyond her age. She also believed Natalia had started her period after finding bloody clothing in the trash.  She sought the help of a family physician who ordered bone density tests to confirm her age, with results suggesting she was at least 14.  By 2011 Barnett said that Natalia was smearing bodily fluid on walls, making death threats and hearing voices as her mental health broke down.  In June of 2012 the Barnetts successfully applied to Marion County Superior Court in Indianapolis, Indiana to have Natalia's age 'corrected' so she could receive the appropriate psychiatric treatment for an adult.  In documents seen by DailyMailTV, Judge Gerald S. Zore accepted the couple's allegations were 'true' and revised Natalia's date of birth to September 4, 1989 changing her age from eight to 22.  At this stage, Barnett points out, Natalia was considered an adult by the state of Indiana and was legally responsible for herself.  Even so, Barnett says she and her husband rented an apartment for Natalia when she was discharged from secure psychiatric care in August 2012 and placed under the supervision of state healthcare provider, Aspire Indiana.  They further helped her get a social security number, apply for benefits, food stamps and an ID.  When Natalia caused problems at the property and was evicted they stepped in again to prevent her from being homeless, renting a new apartment for her in Lafayette, Tippecanoe County.  Barnett said she was communicating daily with Natalia and even came up with a plan for Natalia to enroll in college to get her high school diploma and study cosmetology.  After moving to Canada, they cut off all contact with Natalia. Initially, local child safety authorities received a report of an abandoned child in an apartment which was soon discarded due to the change in her birth date.  Natalia has long maintained that she was just a child when her parents left her. In 2023, after years of medical testing and DNA analysis, her original birth date was restored to 2003.  Police say the girl was left to fend for herself for three years despite having a rare form of dwarfism that means she is 3ft tall and has problems walking.  Years later, in 2019, Kristine and Michael, who had since divorced, were charged with neglect.  Three weeks before Kristine Barnett's trial was due to start, her charges were dismissed, citing 'insufficient evidence', while Michael was also acquitted of any charges.  That year, Michael gave an interview with Good Morning America, accusing Natalia of 'violence' towards the family and said she was intent on killing them.  He said: 'We were told by doctors, This person is a sociopath. This person is a con artist. You are all in danger.'

He said she would place clear thumbtacks on the stairs in a bid to cause the family pain.  'She attempted to kill my wife for a second time, this time by trying to pull her into an electric fence,' Michael explained.

Natalia appeared on Dr Phil in 2019 speaking about the accusations from her parents. Through tears, she said: 'It's not true at all.'

Dr Phil queried: 'You say you're 16 are you a 33-year-old scam artist?'

'No, no, no. I promise you I'm not.' Natalia said. 

Natalia befriended Antwon and Cynthia Mans in Canada, who helped her fight to rectify her situation between 2014 and 2017 by applying for guardianship.  The Mans family initiated the adoption process of Natalia in 2016, which meant they would have to prove she was a minor and restore her original birth date.  They were able to legally adopt her in 2023 after years of fighting by her side and describing her as a 'genuine and loving young lady.' Natalia joined their strict religious lifestyle, living with her ten new siblings.  But in 2024, when her docuseries had aired, relations had soured.  In The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: The Final Chapter, neighbours and friends claimed they'd witnessed the Manses whipping Natalia with her belt and assaulting her.  Natalia told People that Antwon had taken her phone away after finding explicit texts on her phone to her boyfriend Neil.  In her docuseries, producers asked her to comment on the allegations against the Manses, but she declined.   'Something ain't right with Natalia,' Antwon said in a call to the producers of the show, per People Magazine. 'This girl is tweaking. I feel like she's the enemy in the house.  Natalia is stabbing her family in the back, over a complete lie!' Cynthia added.

Antwon also seemed to suggest that Natalia may have a romantic interest.  'She's got this dude online,' he said. 'He turned her against us. She's ready to go to hell with gasoline panties on.'

The Mans family said they were 'done' with Natalia in a previous documentary that aired in January 2024.  Natalia managed to 'flee' the Manses in 2023 after reaching out to her friends Nicole DePaul and her husband Vince, who had previously tried to adopt her in 2009.  She has lived with them ever since - and though they've admitted there's been 'ups and downs', they say she's never been violent. They did, however, admit that they'd once found her secretly recording them in their home.  Natalia's story is now inspiring Disney's new miniseries though some events shown have been dramatised.  Ellen Pompeo, who plays Kristine, told Variety: 'We're coming up with our own version of what this story could have been, so this isn't sort of a beat-for-beat of what their experience was.  It's really what we do here, I guess, in Hollywood. We make entertainment that hopefully provokes thought, and we take a set of circumstances and put our spin on it.  This compelling drama is inspired by the disturbing stories surrounding a Midwestern couple who adopts a girl with a rare form of dwarfism, a description of the show reads.  But as they begin to raise her alongside their three biological children, mystery emerges around her age and background, and they slowly start to suspect she may not be who she says she is.   As they defend their family from the daughter they've grown to believe is a threat, she fights her own battle to confront her past and what her future holds, in a showdown that ultimately plays out in the tabloids and the courtroom.'

Good American Family is premiering on Disney+ in the UK from April 9. 

20

Articles / Meghan Markle 'disrupted' Sentebale polo game by turning up at short notice ....

« Last post by Forgotten Mother on March 30, 2025, 05:48:50 PM »

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14551875/meghan-markle-sentebale-charity-polo-game-disrupted-prince-harry.html#newcomment

Meghan Markle 'disrupted' Sentebale polo game by turning up at short notice with 'very famous friend' before Prince Harry 'demanded' charity's chair issue public statement defending her

    READ MORE: Harry lost venue because duke 'wanted to bring Netflix camera crew'
    READ MORE: Prince Harry's charity head reveals what really happened during awkward moment with Meghan at the polo

By KATHERINE LAWTON

Published: 11:32, 30 March 2025 | Updated: 16:26, 30 March 2025

Meghan Markle caused 'disruption' after turning up to a charity event at short notice and bringing her 'very famous friend' Serena Williams, the chair of Harry's charity has claimed.  In a bombshell new interview, Sentebale chair Dr Sophie Chandauka made several damaging claims against the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, calling their brand 'toxic' and accusing Harry of 'harassment and bullying at scale' a claim that is denied.  Dr Chandauka claims that, prior to a charity Polo event in 2024, Meghan confirmed she would not be attending before showing up with the tennis legend.  Allegedly, Meghan then caused chaos on stage as she appeared to ask Dr Chandauka not to pose next to Harry as he celebrated the Royal Salute Polo Challenge in Florida.  The charity chairman, who was stood on the Duke's right, was asked twice by Meghan to move to her left side away from Harry, as he kept his arm around his wife.  Others therefore had to shuffle around them to find a place, with Dr Chandauka awkwardly having to duck under the trophy to get into the position Meghan was asking her to stand in.  Speaking to Sky News' Trevor Phillips, Dr Chandauka recalled the events of the chaotic event, telling him: 'We would have been really excited had we known ahead of time [Meghan was coming], but we didn't.  And so the choreography went badly on stage because we had too many people on stage.  The international press captured this, and there was a lot of talk about the Duchess and the choreography on stage and whether she should have been there and her treatment of me.   Prince Harry asked me to issue some sort of a statement in support of the Duchess, and I said I wouldn't.   Not because I didn't care about the Duchess, but because I knew what would happen if I did so, number one. And number two, because we cannot be an extension of the Sussexes.'

Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams said Meghan's unexpected appearance at the event 'caused confusion', describing the incident between the Duchess and Dr Chavunduka onstage as 'awkward'.  'Meghan was not expected at a polo match in 2024 and this caused confusion which was symptomatic of the chaos which Dr Chavunduka claims the charity had descended into,' he told MailOnline.

'She refused to issue a statement in support of Meghan, there had been an awkward incident between them.'

Mr Fitzwilliams added: 'The ferocious feud that has split Sentebale, which Prince Harry co-founded in memory of his beloved mother, Princess Diana, will be a bitter blow to him, as he now has no link with a charity that he has been involved with since 2006, when he co-founded it.'

The expert also said the accusations of 'bullying against' Harry claims the Duke's representatives have strongly denied echo previous accusations of bullying against his wife Meghan also strongly denied. 'Harry has been accused of 'bullying and harassment'. There are echoes here of the allegations against Meghan which appeared in the Times before the infamous interview they gave on Oprah, which she strongly denied,' Mr Fitzwilliams said.

'However they have recently surfaced in The Hollywood Reporter and Vanity Fair. They will surely adversely affect the Sussexes image.'

Last week, Prince Harry announced that he and several trustees had quit Sentebale, the charity he set up with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in 2006, amid a boardroom battle within the organisation.  Dr Chandauka, who has been chairwoman of Sentebale since 2023, accused the duke of being 'involved' in a 'cover-up' of an investigation about bullying, harassment and misogyny at the organisation and said the 'toxicity' of his 'brand' had impacted the charity.   A source close to the former trustees of the Sentebale charity described Dr Chandauka's claims that she was bullied and harassed, briefed against by Prince Harry, or that the Sussex machine was 'unleashed on her' as 'completely baseless'.  Dr Chandauka also claimed that before the event, an opportunity for Sentebale to do a charity Polo Challenge in Miami was ruined when Harry insisted on bringing his Netflix camera crew along.  'About a month before the event was about to take place, Prince Harry called the team and said, 'I'm doing a Netflix show, and I would love to bring a camera crew so that I can include some footage in this show,'' she said.

'And so the team called me and told me, 'Oh, Prince Harry's made this request, so we're doing the things'.   I said, you can't be doing the things without seeking consent from the property owners, the sponsors, all the guests. Nobody signed up to being on a Netflix show.'

She added: 'We come up with draft agreements and of course, the venue owner says this is now a commercial undertaking.  So here are my terms. We couldn't afford it. So now we lost the venue.'

In an astonishing message to Harry the chairman also said: 'The team is resolved that Sentebale will live on, with or without you.'

Harry's two-month trip to the kingdom of Lesotho during his gap year aged 19 inspired him to establish the charity two years later in honour of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.  The young duke came face-to-face with Aids orphans, met other traumatised young people and visited herd boys living a harsh existence looking after cattle in remote mountain areas.  MailOnline has contacted the Sussexes for comment.

The downfall of Sentebale: A timeline

2006: Prince Harry founds Sentebale in honour of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.  The charity was founded to help people in southern Africa living with HIV and Aids.

January 2020: Harry and Meghan announce on Instagram their decision to 'step back' as senior members of the British royal family, and split their time between the United Kingdom and North America.  In damning claims today, Sentebale chairman Dr Sophie Chandauka said the charity lose key sponsors when Harry left Britain.  'There was quite a significant correlation between the time the organisation started to see a departure of major organisations and Prince Harry's departure from the UK itself,' she said.

April 2024: Meghan's 'awkward' encounter with Dr Chandauka onstage at a charity polo event after the Duchess turned up at short notice and asked the charity chairman to move away from Harry.

Early 2025: This year, a dispute arose between Dr Chandauka and the board of trustees.  The dispute resulted in the board asking her to resign as chair.

March 26, 2025: Harry's resignation from Sentebale came this week amid allegations of bullying, harassment, sexism and racism made by Dr Chandauka claims that are strongly denied.

What did Dr Sophie Chandauka say about Prince Harry? The damning allegations African charity boss has made against the Duke...

Prince Harry found himself embroiled in a bitter row when he resigned from his own charity Sentebale. Today the chair has hit back with claims of 'harassment and bullying at scale'.  These are the damning allegations in full:

*  Sentabale lost key sponsors when Harry left Britain

'There was quite a significant correlation between the time the organisation started to see a departure of major organisations and Prince Harry's departure from the UK itself,' Dr Chandauka said. 

*  Others at Sentabale refused to address this issue, suggesting it was an 'uncomfortable' discussion to have with Harry in the room

'Then when you discuss with the senior executive team and ask why there isn't a conversation about this, the answer is it's really difficult to have this conversation because the instruction was it's an uncomfortable conversation to have with Prince Harry in the room,' she said.

*  Donors walked out because of Harry's reputation

Interviewer Trevor Phillips said: 'Before we come to that, let me just get this to be absolutely clear here. You're saying Sophie, number one, that, what you discovered was essentially donors were walking because of the Prince's reputation.'

Dr Chandauka replied: 'Yes.'

*  Harry appointed people to the board with no discussion and without talking to Dr Chandauka about it

The charity chairman said: 'Prince Harry decides, on this specific occasion, that he wants to appoint an individual to the board, with immediate effect, without having talked to me. It's not on the agenda and somehow everybody's just supposed to tolerate that.'

*  A venue for charity Polo match for Sentebale was lost because Harry wanted to bring Netflix camera crew

'Prince Harry called the team and said, 'I'm doing a Netflix show, and I would love to bring a camera crew so that I can include some footage in this show.' And so the team called me and told me, 'Oh, Prince Harry's made this request, so we're doing the things'.  I said, you can't be doing the things without seeking consent from the property owners, the sponsors, all the guests. Nobody signed up to being on a Netflix show.  And so we have this discussion about the need to talk to everybody. We come up with draft agreements and of course, the venue owner says this is now a commercial undertaking. So here are my terms. We couldn't afford it. So now we lost the venue.'

*  Harry interfered in an investigation into Dr Chandauka's complaints of bullying and misogyny

'It was me who was the problem because I put a whistleblower complaint about the bullying, the harassment and the misogyny and Prince Harry interfered in the investigation of that.'