Anyone else listening to the Observer podcast Foundling and wanting to discuss?

[DorsetCafes]

Not telly but I don’t know which category it belongs to!

This is about an Observer investigative podcast called Foundling - I am desperate to discuss it with someone!! Has anyone else listened to it yet?

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/foundling-tortoise-investigates/id1590561275?i=1000755703771

I’m not a subscriber so listening week by week but it’s really interesting.

Not yet, but it looks good so thank you for the prompt. If you find the subject interesting then then you may like the book "Nobody's Child" by Kate Adie that looks at a variety of such cases. I read it years ago and it's really stayed with me.

I’m listening weekly. It’s fascinating.

Yes I subscribed just to finish the whole thing! So many questions. Without giving away who the mother was - I still don't understand how she hid the pregnancy and delivered the baby herself alongside her other responsibilities at the time.

I did think it was an interesting exploration of how these hidden secrets can cause more damage than expected. Jess was complex with her refusal to engage with her biological mother and even the podcast host seemed to be questioning her choice of going public with the story given the repercussions to so many people who had no say in the matter, especially how deeply personal it all is for each of them.

I’ve listened to all the episodes that are not subscriber-only. Really enjoyed it so far.

Jess really struggled with her feelings of abandonment and worthlessness as she could easily have died having been left at such a remote spot. However, as it was her birth mother who left her and then ‘found’ her, she was in that sense safe. There was no ‘happy ending’ as she fell out with her biological sister about their mother and then did not speak to her mother.

I really want to know more about Jennifer and how she concealed her pregnancies and coped with giving birth alone not once, but twice.

Looking forward to listening- I have a friend who is a foundling, although her circumstances are very different to this story.

It’s on Audible, Spotify, Amazon etc too. No need to pay.

i have been listening and found it fascinating. The mother was a few years older than me so I can relate to the feelings/ time. I would love to know about the mother’s family circumstances and of course how she gave birth alone.

That au pair mother of 5 sounded extraordinary. 50 au pairs over the years sounds terrible for her kids! I knew a similar woman also posh with multiple kids in a rural chaotic household: several of the kids really struggled in adulthood. It didn’t surprise me that she missed a very pregnant au pair!

I’ve got it cued up on Spotify and will be listening today as I clean the house! Will return to the thread.😀

Only the first 3 episodes but coincidentally I had seen the long lost family episode about it not long before it came out , my husband didn't know what a foundling was . I watched a doc not long ago about a woman who left at least 3 babies at various locations in Ireland, it was a cross border relationship the man was married and had a lot of kids from that marriage also.

I’ve listened to all episodes but won’t post spoilers. I do feel for Jess but like PP find it hard to see why she has broadcast her story without wanting speaking to Jennifer. It is a rollercoaster of a story though. It must be hard for someone in Jess’s situation who wants to discover their birth family and history but gets something completely different from what they expected, coupled with the feeling of abandonment and being lied to. Would be great to see what other people’s thoughts are.

Oh my, I’ve just finish episode 3 on Spotify and have signed up for a one month subscription on the Observer to finish it. Utterly gripping!

I am a Tortoise legacy subscriber so managed to listen to whole thing on the Observer app.
I found the story editing quite confusing - it jumps around a lot, presumably to add suspense and jeopardy to what seems to have been a bit of an open secret in the village. The narrator took a long time to reveal that she had actually known the birth mother and was close friends with the family, and so it can’t have been such a mystery to her. The big thing I couldn’t get my head around was that Jess kept saying she had all these questions and wanted answers and apologies but when she had the opportunity to get what she said she was looking for, she refused to take it. I hope she is doing therapy because unlike the American lady interviewed she seems consumed by her anger which is a shame because she had a brilliant adoptive family and a great young family of her own.
Like PP have said, without hearing from the birth mother the whole story feels incomplete. Why was she so scared of her parents when they were supposed to be such great people, why did she do this TWICE?, why did she never tell anyone, how did she pull it off etc etc

If she did it twice what's to say she didn't do it again .

I just finished the final episode and I found it all incredibly gripping but yes, it left me with a bunch of questions too.

1. Can’t wrap my head around Jess feeling ok to meet with her maternal grandparents and form a loving relationship when it was suggested their strictness could have led to Jennifer abandoning Jess in the first place. Did she ever ask them why they thought Jennifer did it?
2. Honestly can’t see how Derbyshire NHS trust didn’t think Jennifer was acting in a conflict of interest. There must be more to the story??
3. And yes, Jennifer did try to reach out to Jess but she declined it - but to be fair, that’s pretty much the only way she’s ever going to get answers.
4. Why did Jess reach out to Lewis and Debby’s children rather than just Lewis directly? To me, that was involving the children in something that was really their dad’s business and ultimately up to him to tell them (or not).

Obviously it’s all horrendously complex so none of my thoughts are meant to be judgements - more just me puzzling over a few things. I agree that Jess should acknowledge she is angry as in the long run, it’ll probably do her more good to realise that so she can make peace with it. Hope she’s got access to some good therapy - she’s been through a lot.

I can only get the first 3 episodes on Spotify without subscribing to the Observer. How did you manage to listen?

I started on Spotify and then subscribed for one month to the Observer to get the last 3 episodes (£5.99).

I have listened to the episodes available on Spotify and am now desperate to hear the end. Will they slowly be released free on Spotify or do I need to subscribe? I think this is second tortoise podcast I've enjoyed so may be worth it if they do good things

My guess is you’ll have to pay. A lot of podcasters are using this as a marketing strategy - they get you pulled in with a few episodes and then leave you desperate enough to subscribe. I did 1 month on the Observer site at £5.99. I think it was worth it just to enjoy listening to the final three episodes.

ok have signed up for a month for £1, will see if it's observer app is worth it

I’m too mean to subscribe but accidentally found another great podcast. I may be a bit late to the party as it’s from 2019, but blimey it’s gripping.

They’re called Who the Hell is Hamish.

Another I found after a recommendation on here a year or so ago is Bad Nanny by RTE Ireland. Completely jaw dropping and the podcaster/journalist has a great voice.

Anybody any other podcasts worth listening to please?

Do you mean true crime @22YearsAndCounting ? Assuming yes:

Sweet Bobby from Tortoise (now the Observer) is epic. https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/sweet-bobby/id1703971425

There are also loads of 1-2 episode jaw droppers on Chameleon eg https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/chameleon/id1532225667?i=1000756095243

Also very good is In The Dark from the New Yorker
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/in-the-dark/id1148175292

If you want one with a lot of episodes, DropOut about Elizabeth Holmes is good https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-dropout/id1449500734?i=1000468717858

Finally not true crime at all but will be fascinating to MNers is Nice White Parents https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/nice-white-parents/id1524080195
which annoyingly has put the last couple of eps behind a paywall since I first heard it.

Foundling has made my head spin, too. Listening as an adopted person who found their biological dad via Ancestry.) It's so well made and immersive.

I just finished ep 4 , my god what a violation of trust

Agreed @Member984815, my jaw was on the floor. What a can of worms.