A legal blog but also a heart-warming true story about Colin’s journey to find the identity of his biological father and correct his birth certificate.
Colin was born in 1960. Colin’s mother was married at the time of his birth. Colin’s mother’s husband was named as father on Colin’s original birth certificate.
Colin remembers when he was around six years old, his mother stopped a couple (unknown to Colin) in the street, pointed to Colin and said to the woman “this is your brother’s son” meaning this woman was his aunt. There was a short conversation, and the couple went off in a hurry.
Colin’s true biological father was later confirmed to him by his mother when he was 10 years old. Colin learned that his biological father was an Italian farm worker on a neighbouring farm with whom his mother had had an affair.
Throughout Colin’s life he often wondered where his father was, what his life was like, and what it would be like to meet him.
In 1980, when Colin was 20 years old, he started looking for his biological father. Colin had some information and therefore travelled to the Italian Mission in Peterborough, being the area his father had lived in the 1960s. It was soon clear they could not place who Colin was trying to find.
Over the years Colin kept trying to find his biological father by contacting local Italian societies to check their records but always failed. Colin had limited resources, not much knowledge and at the time there was no internet. Busy with his own family and children, Colin put the search for his father on hold.
In 2022, when Colin was 62, Colin’s daughter’s husband had a DNA test through an on-line DNA / family tree website, for his work as a biology teacher. At the time there was a special offer, so Colin’s daughter also had a DNA test. It was no surprise to Colin’s daughter when her results showed that she was 25% Sicilian. The test also linked Colin’s daughter to Colin’s half-sister in Australia. Finally, Colin had the contact details of a biological relative so that he could resume his search.
Eventually, and through social media, Colin and his half-sister made contact and Colin learned that as well as a half-sister he also has three half-brothers, all living in Australia.
Colin discovered that his family moved to Australia in 1974 and unfortunately his father had died in March 2021. Whilst Colin was sad he never got to meet his father, he was delighted to have finally found his paternal family. They are now in touch and see each other regularly.
The final piece of the jigsaw for Colin was to have his birth certificate amended to correctly reflect the name of his biological father. Therefore, Colin instructed Greene & Greene in October 2023 to assist him in getting his birth certificate amended. Colin wanted closure to officially recognise his heritage for himself and his wider family as well as for future generations.
At a Court hearing in March 2024, Colin was finally granted the much sought after Declaration of Parentage to allow him to have his birth certificate amended.
Colin said “I am very relieved and pleased. Thank you for all your help I am in no doubt without your services this would not have been such a smooth process. I have since met up with all my Sicilian siblings living in Australia and we all plan to meet up as much as possible in the future. We all get along like we have always known each other. Thanks again”.
Emma Alfieri, is a Legal Director in our family team. Emma has successfully assisted clients in similar situations, recently provided insights on amending adult birth certificates to reflect a biological father’s name in an article you can read here. Contact Emma directly on emmaalfieri@greene-greene.com or call 01284 717459.
Below is a photo of Colin (left) with his half brothers and sisters on a recent family visit to Australia.
