Marianvale mother and baby home: Siblings re-united in Derry

The unknown man was Billy Scampton.

He was born at Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry in 1962.

Shortly after his birth he was brought to Marianvale mother and baby home with his mum – Moya Beckett from Omagh.

She was 17 when she gave birth out of wedlock and was forced by her family to give her baby boy up for adoption.

Billy was soon transferred from Marianvale to Nazareth House in Fahan, County Donegal.

He was adopted by Ben and Vera Scampton from Derry, and was raised in a loving and nurturing home.

It was only after the deaths of his adoptive parents that Billy began searching for his birth mother.

He quickly drew a blank when he discovered she had moved abroad shortly after he was born.

Then last year, an old friend spotted Shannon’s post on Facebook and began to connect the dots.

Billy told BBC News NI: “I sent a message to her asking what she knew about her mother’s time in Ireland, and she told me that her mother had given birth to a baby boy and was forced to give him up for adoption in 1962 before she was sent to Canada.

“And I sent a message to Shannon saying, ‘Shannon, I am your mammy’s little boy.”