Man who was abandoned in telephone box at six days old finally finds out why his mom left him

After decades of wondering, a man who was abandoned in a phone box when he was just six days old has found out why his mom left him.

It was two days before Christmas, on 23 December 1966, when baby Chris Mason was discovered in a phone box in Lambeth, England.

There was nothing with the young boy to identify him, so it wasn't until he was older and took a DNA test that Mason learned he had Italian and Irish heritage.

His search for answers about his family went cold until he took part in the show Long Lost Family: Born Without A Trace, where genetic genealogy and DNA technology were used to help Mason find the answers he'd spent so long looking for.

“It’s an unnatural act for a mum to give up their newborn baby… Who is she and why did she end up abandoning me?" he questioned.

ITV

The science used on the show determined that Mason's mother was a woman named Elizabeth, who had emigrated with her American airman husband to Maine, US.

They welcomed three children, but shared an unhappy marriage and decided to separate.

It was during this separation, while Elizabeth was working as a waitress, that she had an affair with an Italian cook and became pregnant with Mason.

Her husband kicked her out of the house, so the pregnant woman travelled to London with her three children, hoping to find support from her Irish Catholic parents.

Unfortunately, they did not offer her the care she needed and after Mason was born, Elizabeth decided to leave him in a phone box with the hope that he would be found, and go on to have a happy life.

From Wall To Wall Productions

After the programme tracked down Elizabeth's other children, her daughter Marie was able to give Mason the explanation he needed.

“She was desperate," Marie said. "I believe she had no choice in the matter… She loved us and I believe she loved him and she left him to save him.”

Sadly, Mason was not able to reunite with his birth mom as she passed away in 2008. She had struggled with alcoholism, having turned to drink to help cope with the guilt of abandoning her child.

Mason was, however, able to meet her two surviving children and his half-siblings, Marie and her brother Bobby.

He also learned his birth father Dominic is still alive.

Now 79, Dominic said: “I wish I’d have known.”

Though he missed the chance to meet his mother, Mason, who is now a husband and father himself, was able to sympathise with her situation.

“It must have been horrendous for my mom," he said. "I’ve always been more worried for her. I didn’t blame her for anything. It’s a shame I didn’t get the chance to tell her that.

“I would have had a violent, hard life in the States. Elizabeth did what she did for me.”

Topics: Life, Science, Film and TV

Emily Brown

Emily Brown is UNILAD Editorial Lead at LADbible Group. She first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route - before graduating with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University. Emily joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features. She went on to become Community Desk Lead, commissioning and writing human interest stories from across the globe, before moving to the role of Editorial Lead. Emily now works alongside the UNILAD Editor to ensure the page delivers accurate, interesting and high quality content.