Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
However happy your adoption is there’s a nagging sense of rejection.. I’ve had moments NEW FAMILY
TV’S Nicky Campbell on his personal trauma
NICKY CAMPBELL struggled to control his emotions as he filmed a new TV show that traces the origins of abandoned children – after being adopted at four days old.
The 57-year-old presenter has traced his roots to Ireland and the IRA – and admitted he does understand that sense of rejection some adopted people feel, despite living in a happy adoptive home.
Working on the ITV special Long Lost Family: Born Without A Trace, he said how hard it was hearing the stories of foundlings abandoned with no history or identity.
Nicky said he has “moments” of emotion on Long Lost Family, which he attempts not to reveal on screen, as he and an expert team try to find the origins of those who had been left “without a trace”.
He added: “I understand, no matter how happy your adoption is, that nagging sense of rejection that many adopted people get. It’s important to bring those feelings to it and it’s not a conscious decision to bring them or not, I think it just happens.
“It’s really difficult because we get wrapped up in the emotions; you get to know somebody and you kind of go with them on it. I’ve had my moments.”
Born in 1961, he was adopted by Scottish couple Frank and Sheila Campbell.
His biological mother, Stella Lackey, who has since passed away, was an unmarried Dublin Protestant. Although she sent Christmas cards for the first five years of his life, they had no direct contact. In 1989, Nicky decided to track her down and his biological dad Joseph in 2002 while researching his 2004 autobiography, Blue-eyed Son.
He discovered his natural father was a republican from Belfast. He also claimed that his grandad fought alongside IRA leader, Michael Collins.
Nicky – who has been with his wife, Christina for 22 years and has four daughters – insists he is still a proud Scot, despite his Irish roots.
He felt that the information passed on about his biological parents to his adoptive family is more than the “void” foundlings face when they want to know more about their origins.
Nicky said: “With my adoption, I had some scant details and my parents were very forthcoming and said, if I ever wanted to know more, they’d tell me as much as they could and would help me in any tracing process.
“I knew the bare bones of it and that’s so much more than any foundling would ever have any chance of doing.
“It’s something they’ve lived with since age nought, a massive eyesore on their psychological landscape, on their inner life. I can’t imagine what that’s like.
“I try and take my own feelings and compare them and it’s difficult, it’s completely different.”
Nicky, an ambassador for Adoption UK, has said of his childhood: “I’m incredibly grateful to my adoptive parents who selflessly provided a loving and stable family home.”
Long Lost Family will air on ITV at 9pm on Monday, February 25.
I knew the bare bones, so much more than a foundling would have NICKY CAMPBELL ON THE DETAILS HE KNEW OF PAST