Mom Abandons Baby in a Pram in the Rain — He Returns to Find Her at the Same Place 57 Years Later

On a dark, rainy night, a young mother left her son in a pram outside her neighbor’s house and fled without ringing the bell. Fifty-seven years later, her son, a grown-up man, set out on a mission to locate his birth mother.

Children living with adoptive parents often wonder where their birth parents are and why they left them. While some children get to meet their birth parents and ask them the questions that had disturbed them all their lives, others never get that chance.

The man in today’s story always thought about his birth mother while growing up but never got to know where she was. Yearning for the sight of his mother, he looked for her while knowing nothing about her except her name. Soon, things took an unexpected turn, taking him a step closer to meeting his long-lost mother.

THE RAINY NIGHT

A young mother, Maureen Clifford, left her son, John Hacking, in his pram outside her neighbor’s house on a rainy night. Instead of ringing the bell and talking to her neighbors, who had a friendly relationship with her, she fled and never looked back.

According to Clifford, her neighbors had said they would look after Hacking if she couldn’t. They knew she lived in a small house and had minimal resources to raise her son. She recalled:

“I was living in this room. It was just a little square, and it was a hovel. It was disgusting, that place. And I was desperate.”

Woman holding an umbrella. | Source: Unsplash

THE MOTHER’S FEARS

Clifford feared that Child Protective Services would take her son away if they saw the room she lived in. They wouldn’t allow little Hacking to live in a house where his necessities weren’t being provided.

When young Clifford left her son, she had no idea he would look for her 57 years later.

She knew the authorities would take her son to a foster home and look for a family who would want to adopt him. Clifford confessed she didn’t want her son to live in a foster home and thought leaving him outside her neighbor’s house, who she considered her son’s godparents, was better.

A concrete house. | Source: Unsplash

THE EMOTIONAL MOMENT

When an interviewer asked Clifford to recall the time she left her son in a pram, she admitted doing it but didn’t accept that she had “abandoned” her son because she felt she was leaving him at his godparents’ doorstep.

However, Clifford didn’t ring the bell and talk to her neighbors because she said she felt too emotional. She preferred going away and never looked back.

When young Clifford left her son, she had no idea he would look for her 57 years later. The mother-son duo’s story was featured in a soul-stirring episode of “Long Lost Family” after Hacking set on a mission to find his mother.

A pram on the grass. | Source: Unsplash

THE ADOPTED CHILD

While living with his adoptive parents, Hacking often wondered why his birth mother left him in the rain. Like most adopted children, Hacking wanted to meet his mother and ask her a dozen questions.

However, after his adoptive mother died, he only had one piece of information about his birth mother: her name. He looked for her name in phone books and libraries to no avail.

After his adoptive parents passed away, Hacking moved from Buxton, England, to rural Derbyshire. He lived with his adoptive grandmother and worked as a quarry worker after growing up. However, he never stopped wondering where his birth mother was.

Boy leaning on a wooden railing. | Source: Unsplash

SEARCHING FOR HIS MOTHER

The 57-year-old man approached the ITV show “Long Lost Family” to reunite with his birth mother. He gave them one clue, her name, and prayed they would soon find her.

The “Long Lost Family” team used their network to look for Hacking’s birth mother and soon came across a 77-year-old woman named “Maureen Jobson,” who lived in Sheerness, Kent.

Soon, they discovered Jobson was the same woman Hacking had always wanted to meet. She had been through many ups and downs in life and was unaware that her grown-up son would track her down.

Old woman sitting on a wooden bench. | Source: Unsplash

THE HEARTWARMING REUNION

When the documentary’s team approached her, she told them she had been married twice and her second husband had recently passed away. She also shared that she never had a child and believed it was a punishment from God for leaving her three-month-old son in the rain.

The “Long Lost Family” episode showed Hacking returning to the street where his mother left him. He looked around, trying to find his birth mother, and soon reunited with her in a pub near her house. When Clifford looked at her son for the first time in decades, she said:

“I’ve never forgotten you, darling, never. I didn’t want to hand you over, but it was a matter of having to.”

Close-up of an elderly woman’s hands. | Source: Unsplash

DREAMS DO COME TRUE

Clifford said she had always been looking forward to reuniting with her son. She had always imagined he would one day show up on her doorstep looking for her. “I’ve got everything to live for now,” the elderly mother said while talking about her son.

Meanwhile, Hacking felt “dreams do come true” because meeting his birth mother seemed impossible to him all his life. He felt reuniting with his mother had made him calmer and happier. He said:

“It’s a weight off my shoulders, all these years of trying to find my mother and it’s finally happened. I feel my life is complete now.”

Elderly woman smiling. | Source: Unsplash

FEELING GRATEFUL

After finding his long-lost birth mother, Hacking frequently talked to her on the phone. He had also met her several times after their reunion and felt nothing less than grateful for finally seeing the woman he had wished to meet all his life.

The duo’s emotional reunion aired on TV in 2021, leaving the viewers in tears. Meanwhile, Hacking and Clifford thanked the documentary’s team for helping them reunite.

What do you think about this story? Do you think Clifford did the right thing by leaving her three-month-old baby in the rain? Do you think she should have informed her neighbors before fleeing?

Enjoyed reading this story? Share it with your friends and family to tell them about Hacking’s heartwarming reunion with his birth mother.

Click here to read another story about a woman’s teenage son mysteriously vanishing without a trace. She found a boy with a similar birthmark three years later and hoped it was her son.

Anomama