the essential
It was while renewing his residence permit in France that Peter Scott, an Englishman living in Porte-du-Quercy since 1988, had the surprise of his life. He discovered he was an adopted child, and managed to find his family.
“Thanks to Brexit, I learned that I was an adopted child! » is still surprised by Peter Scott, who has lived in Porte-du-Quercy for 36 years. Five years ago, at the end of 2019, Brexit required him to renew his residence permit, with a list of documents to provide, in particular a complete birth certificate. At 74 years old, this joking and mischievous deadpan is going to have the shock of his life.
Having never had more than a simple birth certificate, he contacted the English civil status services to obtain the right document. He is then told that the birth certificate he has, without the names of the parents, was attributed to the adopted children. “It was a shock! No one had ever asked us anything until now, he is surprised, neither for the passport, nor for our marriage. I was amazed! “.
Thanks to a DNA test in the USA, he finds his family…
A few weeks later the correct birth certificate arrives, with the name of his biological mother. But he only has one name. And his mother died. It is then that with his wife Zoé, Peter Scott will carry out a real investigation to find his origins. He carries out a DNA test in the United States which allows him to find members of his biological family by obtaining a name which has the same DNA as him (only 4%!), that of a nephew's daughter, establish a first contact and trace the story of his life.
Born on April 24, 1945 in Haslemere, England, Peter was abandoned at birth by his mother who entrusted him to her own sister so that she could place him for adoption. She is already engaged to an engineer prisoner in Germany and does not want this child whose existence she will always hide from her partner whom she marries in July 45, upon his return from captivity. Peter was adopted on June 15, 1945 by the Scott couple, in Portsmouth. His adoptive mother is 20 years old. It's the end of the war. The husband is a sailor, often absent. “She wasn't nice,” Peter remembers, “and I didn't like her very much. No one was interested in me, I was kept aside. Fortunately there was my grandmother who took great care of me. When I was 9 years old, my parents divorced. My mother remarried and had a little girl.” Overcoming trials thanks to his optimism and joy of life, he left this unloving home at a very young age.
In the spring, his brother will join him in the Lot to celebrate his 80th birthday
After the shock of the surprise, finding his real family turned his life upside down. “I was so happy! I learned that after me, my biological mother had two girls and two boys, the oldest of whom, Graham, was born 13 months after me. In March 2022, he received at his home, in Porte-du-Quercy, his nephew Andrew, Graham's son, who lives in Ireland. Then it's Graham who will come from South Africa to meet his brother in the Lot in September 2022. Their physical resemblance is striking. “The emotion was strong, but everything happened naturally. He's like me, we look alike. He likes to joke, he's a bon vivant. It was extraordinary! “. In March 2024 Zoé and Peter will go to South Africa, near Cape Town, for three weeks. “The best vacation of my life! » Peter will say. “I’m expecting them in the spring, to celebrate my 80th birthday,” he says impatiently. What happened is so incredible.”
