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A woman who was put into foster care and adopted after being born in prison was left shocked when she finally reunited with her biological father and he presented her with a 'very special' photo.
Tiegan Boyens, 20, was raised by mums Maggie, 54, and Anne, 57, in York and always knew she was adopted, but didn't know much about her birth parents.
But, after years of wondering, Tiegan was given a phone number for her biological father Jay, 47, when she turned 18 and she didn't hesitate to get in touch, and welcome him back into her life.
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“Growing up, I would think about him," she said. "At school, we’d all be making cards for Father’s Day or I’d see my friends with their dads and it would make me miss him.
“At 18, I got his phone number through family. He knew I would be in contact but I think he was surprised by how quickly I messaged him.”
Just minutes after getting his phone number in October 2020, Tiegan sent a text introducing herself to her dad, and over the next two months, they slowly got to know each other.
“At first, we sent text messages back and forth daily before organising a phone call in December 2020.
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“We decided to talk over our PlayStations so that we could play video games together if we were struggling to talk.
“But in the end, there was no awkwardness and we didn’t need to play any games – it was like we had never been out of each other’s lives.”
The two had to hold off on meeting face-to-face thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, but eventually in September 2021, they finally arranged to meet.
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"My mum, Maggie, had barely pulled the car to a stop and I was jumping out of the back," she recalled.
"I ran over to him and threw my arms round him. I don’t have any memories of him from childhood so to actually spend time with him in person was nice because I got to see his mannerisms and quirks.
"The first thing he said was, ‘Hello Tigger’, a nickname he’d given me as a baby.”
As if the whole experience wasn't enough of a shock to the system, Tiegan was left speechless when her dad produced a sonogram photo of her in the womb, that he had always kept and treasured.
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“Most adopted people don’t have baby photos, let alone ultrasound pics, so it’s very special to me.
“It’s like a piece in a puzzle of who I am. He kept hold of it all these years and has now given it to me.”
After being born in prison, Tiegan spent her first five months with her mum in a mother and baby prison unit before being moved to live with her dad.
"He did the best he could but it was tough for him. I was moved into foster care when I was two," she explained.
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“I don’t have an earliest memory of being adopted. It was a very traumatic time so I think my brain has shut down those memories, but I’ve always known I was adopted and it was always an open discussion with my adoptive mums."
Now, Tiegan, who has also had contact with her birth mum, is supporting the national adoption campaign, You Can Adopt, to highlight the importance for adopted people of knowing where they came from and feeling connected to their past.
“I think it’s important to be told you’re adopted from the very beginning. My mums knew they weren’t just adopting me, they were adopting my whole history and family as well.
“There are still struggles, you’ll never get every piece of information but there were four years of my life before I was adopted, and that’s still part of my story.”
Ali Condon