Maisie Lillywhite
BBC News, West of England
Nicky Price
BBC Radio Gloucestershire
Published 18 June 2024
The broadcaster has written a book, "Finding Margaret", about tracing his birth mother
Broadcaster Andrew Pierce said meeting his birth mother 45 years after she gave him up for adoption was "cathartic, but hard".
The GB News presenter was left at an orphanage in Cheltenham when he was just five weeks old, and was put up for adoption aged three.
He decided to track down his birth mother, the late Margaret Connolly, in the Noughties, and eventually found her in Birmingham.
Despite Mrs Connolly refusing to see Pierce again after their first meeting - when she only "talked about herself" - the journalist said it was "mission accomplished".
Pierce has written about his upbringing in a book called "Finding Margaret" that was released in May.
He was adopted by a "lovely couple", Betty and George Pierce, who gave him a "very happy" childhood in Swindon.
Pierce said he had considered tracking down his birth mother for decades before finally biting the bullet "due to fears he was running out of time".
'Highly unusual'
"As I got older and closer to my 50th, I would think, 'Is she thinking about me on every birthday?'" Pierce, now in his 60s, told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.
"I delayed [finding her] because I agonised over my mum, who'd adopted me, because I didn't want to do anything she could construe as she'd let me down, that she hadn't given me enough love.
"When I did track her down, I found all sorts of surprises."
Pierce initially assumed his birth mother had been in her late teens when he was born. He later found out she gave birth to him weeks before her 35th birthday - something considered "highly unusual" in 1961.
Pierce is best-known for being the editor of the Daily Mail, a GB News presenter and appearing on Good Morning Britain
The journey to finding Mrs Connolly was not easy, as she gave him no middle name when she put Pierce up for adoption.
Neither could she be traced through her address at the time, as the nursing accommodation she was living in had "long gone".
But Pierce's friend, journalist and Loose Women panellist, Jane Moore, managed to track his birth mother down through her farming roots.
Mrs Connolly was born into an Irish farming family and Moore found her through a sheep association in County Mayo.
'Denied' her identity
After discovering his birth mother was living in Birmingham, Pierce got in touch with social services for advice on the best way of approaching her.
He eventually sent a "friendly female face" to her door, while he waited in a taxi around the corner, so she did not feel overwhelmed.
When initially approached by Pierce's friend, Amanda Platell, Mrs Connolly "emphatically denied" it was her.
Moore instructed the pair to go back 45 minutes later and Pierce's birth mother told Ms Platell she had been "praying" he would return, and then confirmed she was his mother.
"It was an extraordinary moment," Pierce said.
"We arranged to meet in BHS. She put her best scarf on, she radiated Irish warmth.
"But the funny thing is, in that hour together, she did not ask me a single question."
Pierce said his birth mother did not ask "about me, my life, my adoptive parents".
"She talked a lot about her life with her husband and her children, who are my half-siblings, but [her husband] is of no relevance to me," Pierce said.
"I just thought, 'Why is she not talking about me or asking anything? Is it too painful for her?"
Pierce asked her a series of questions about the orphanage, his birth father, how she visited him, and she answered each with: "I can't remember".
'She hadn't asked'
"She smiled a lot, she held my hand and said she was so happy that I was okay but she didn't ask me what I did for a living," Pierce said.
"Amanda was with me but cleared off as soon as we got to BHS. When she came back, she said 'Margaret, you must be so proud to know your son is a successful journalist.
"Margaret said, 'Is he now?'. She hadn't asked and I hadn't told her."
She kissed Pierce on the lips and told him he had "made her life". When Pierce asked if she would like to meet again, she agreed, saying she might be able to give him "answers".
Pierce enjoyed a "lovely" upbringing with his adoptive parents in Swindon
But Pierce was stood up by his birth mother every time he subsequently arranged to meet her. He eventually ended up seeing her again when she was admitted to a care home.
She died in 2021, aged 94.
Pierce travelled to Ireland to uncover more about Mrs Connolly while writing his book, and found she had an "incredibly poor background". He also discovered where his birth father was allegedly from.
"It's been an extraordinary journey, and quite cathartic and interesting," he said.
"I started this because I thought, 'I want to know what she looks like', 'I want to know if she's okay', 'I want her to know I'm fine'.
"So, in that respect, mission accomplished."
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