The Slow Newscast Why do mothers abandon babies?
Mar 26, 2026
Katie Gunning, series producer who tracked records and stats. Lucy Greenwell, series reporter who narrated foundling stories and research. They explore why foundling tales endure. They examine faulty statistics, gaps in paperwork, recent East London cases, legal and ethical patterns, DNA triangulation limits, concealed pregnancies driven by fear and stigma, and the lifelong psychological impact on foundlings.
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No Paper Trail For Foundlings
- Foundlings lack the paperwork trail adopted children have, which makes their origins much harder to trace.
- Katie Gunning explains there's no equivalent adoption certificate or clear birth-record pathway for a baby who was simply left and never registered to parents.
Abandonment Numbers Are Masked By Flawed Records
- Official statistics on abandoned babies are unreliable because the Abandoned Children Register only logs babies whose parents were never found.
- Katie Gunning notes many abandoned babies who are later linked to parents or never found at all aren't included, making real numbers unclear.
Three Siblings Abandoned In East London
- Three full siblings were abandoned in East London across 2017, 2019 and 2024, highlighting odd patterns in modern cases.
- Lucy Greenwell points out those babies didn't appear on the government register despite wide press coverage.