‘He’s Found the Answers’: Londoner in Germany Finds Birth Mother & 2 Full Brothers in Ireland
53 years after he was placed for adoption, Mark Nicholas Balls of Paderborn, Germany met his biological mother and two full brothers in Ireland. A MyHeritage DNA test he received for his 50th birthday led to the dramatic discovery that his biological parents got married a decade after he was born and adopted — and then had two more children together.
Mark Balls with his mother Phyllis O’Neill. Credit: Amanda Gaese
Mark was born in Hampstead, London, to an 18-year-old Irish mother who was forced — due to her young age and the fact that she had conceived out of wedlock — to place him for adoption. An Irish couple who lived in the city adopted Mark from an orphanage in London. The mother’s pregnancy and birth were kept a secret. Later it turned out that his adoptive mum was raised 20 minutes away from where the biological mother lived in London.
‘A question that occupied him all his life’
Mark grew up in London and enlisted in the British army in his 20s. He met his first wife, who was German, during his military service, and the pair moved to Paderborn, North Rhine, Germany, where he still lives today. He later divorced and remarried another German woman, and then divorced and remarried his current wife, who is from Thailand. He has 6 children in total from the 3 marriages.
All his life he dreamt of knowing who his biological parents were and why he was placed for adoption. However, he was wary about looking for them and put it off for years out of respect for his adoptive parents, whom he didn’t want to hurt. “He had the best adoptive parents he could have wished for,” says his daughter Amanda.
But the question of his life hovered over him all the time. His daughter Amanda says that many years ago he even went to a fortune teller, who told him that one day he would find them, and that there was a man named “James” who would be a significant figure in his life.
“Dad hoped that one day he would be able to find them, because for him it was a question that occupied him all his life and he had no answer,” says Amanda. “3 years ago he celebrated his 50th birthday. We asked him what he wished for himself. He answered that it would be cool if he could meet his biological parents, now that his adoptive parents have passed away.” So Amanda and her siblings decided to buy him a DNA kit. “My sister saw a MyHeritage ad on the train and decided to purchase the kit. Dad performed the test and the results were not significant, distant cousins. At the same time, he discovered that he is actually more Irish than British as he thought.”
The millions of people joining MyHeritage’s DNA database over the years increased the chances of finding relatives, and it was only a matter of time. 3 years after taking the test, Mark received an email from MyHeritage stating that a strong match had been found for him. He entered his account and discovered a close match with a first cousin who lives in Greece.
“We contacted the match and everything happened very quickly,” says Amanda. “Thanks to the details my father had about the place of adoption, we were able to quickly figure out who the mother was. We contacted her, and she reacted with tremendous excitement. She also hoped that one day it would happen, and it did happen.”
The brothers and mother reunited. Left to right: Jason, Phyllis, Mark, and James. Credit: Amanda Gaese
‘Dad feels more complete’
Mark’s birth mother, Phyllis, lives in Limerick County in Ireland. During their first call, she revealed some amazing information. At a young age, she told him she moved to London together with her partner. He was a musician who played in pubs in the big city and shortly after they arrived in London, she became pregnant. Only 18 years old and deeply worried about what the family would say when they heard that she had gotten pregnant out of wedlock, they decided to keep the pregnancy a secret and place the baby for adoption. But the story didn’t end there. The couple stayed together, and 15 years later they got married and had two more children. One of them answers to the name James: the name the fortune teller had mentioned to Mark years before.
Neither of Mark’s brothers have children. “So his biological mother thought she wouldn‘t be a grandmother yet,” says Amanda. “Turns out my dad has 6 kids and I have a daughter as well, so she is a grandmother and great-grandmother.”
Phyllis and Yuna, the great-granddaughter she didn’t know she had. Credit: Amanda Gaese
Unfortunately, Mark’s birth father died around a decade ago.
Mark recently traveled to Ireland with his daughters Amanda and Alison, his son Aaron, and granddaughter Yuna, who all joined him as he met his mother for the first time. Mark couldn’t hold back tears of joy, and neither could his mother and brothers. The reunion was documented by Amanda, a photographer and social media creator, and went viral on TikTok.
@amandalouiseb The most beautiful story 🥹🫶🏻💚 #pov #adoptionstory #viral
Watch more of the footage from the journey and reunion here:
During the 6 days of his stay, Mark connected with his brothers and mother, shared stories about their childhoods, and met his uncles.
The whole family together. Left to right: Jason (brother), Michael (uncle), Amanda (daughter), Yuna (granddaughter), Alison (daughter), Phyllis (mother), Mark, Mary (aunt), Joe (uncle), and James (brother). Credit: Amanda Gaese
“Dad is happier and feels more complete,” says Amanda. “It was important for him to tell his mother that she absolutely doesn’t have to feel guilty about it. He is happy that he found his family and happy that now he has found the answers.”
“It was unbelievable,” Mark told The Independent in a recent interview. “I was taken in straight away and accepted as one of the family… It was like a missing piece of a jigsaw, it felt so natural and like we had always known each other.”
When asked if he would recommend taking a MyHeritage DNA test to others in a similar situation, Mark said, “If you don’t do it — you’ll regret it. You don’t want to look back and think ‘I should have done that,’ or realize that you have left it too late.”
Many thanks to Mark and Amanda for sharing their story and these beautiful photos and videos with us. If you’ve also made an incredible discovery on MyHeritage, we’d love to hear about it! Please share it with us via this form or email us at stories@myheritage.com.
