Gerald Mahood always knew he was adopted and for decades accepted he would never meet his biological mother. Then he found a clue to his past on a piece of paper kept in a wardrobe
erald Mahood was 60 when he discovered that this was his real name.
For decades, Mahood lived with the understanding that he would never know his biological mother. His adoptive parents discouraged questions. From time to time, he tried to explore his past, but, with no birth certificate, he hit a wall. Besides, he says, “I’ve known people who are adopted and [reconnecting] hadn’t gone well. For a long time I thought, ‘Let sleeping dogs lie’. But it kept haunting me.
“As soon as Covid restrictions were lifted, I went to Northern Ireland,” Mahood says. His daughters, 40 and 36, “came over to support me. For me, it was like heaven. This is the place my ancestors come from. The rolling countryside, the space, it’s very idyllic. Mahood has always drawn and painted, since early childhood. “It was my creative outlet, my refuge,” he says. He never felt he belonged in his adoptive family, nor at school. “Me and my pals who were secondary modern, we were really just expected to go on the shovel. We were all scratching around. Mostly it was about music and forming bands and getting high.”
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