Nellie's Baby RNZ Originals
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- True Crime
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Kirsty Johnston follows Sarah as she hunts for her biological mother, who turns out to have been an institutionalised mental health patient in Porirua Hospital. And that's only the start of the story.
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Trailer: Nellie's Baby
Kirsty Johnston follows Sarah as she hunts for her biological mother, who turns out to have been an institutionalised mental health patient in Porirua Hospital. And that's only the start of the story.
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E1: Email from a stranger
Out of the blue, Kirsty receives an email from a stranger titled "Investigating the possible murder of my mother". The author is Sarah, a young woman who was born to Nellie Wilson in a psychiatric hospital in the mid-1980s in Wellington and secretly adopted out.
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E2: Women and Girls
Kirsty and Sarah start investigating from opposite sides of the world. We learn what it was like to live at Porirua, and fight through red tape to get Sarah's adoption records, which reveal more about Nellie's background.
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E3: I found him!
Sarah and Kirsty call in the big guns: DNA. A strong match comes up: a woman who shares 28% of Sarah's DNA. Is it Nellie's first child? Eventually, Fran, the genealogist, suggests the match could be an aunt, and Sarah works up the courage to send a message to this mystery relative.
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E4: A trip to the asylum
The mystery relative turns out to be Sharon, her father's sister. She decides to fly to Australia to meet her newly-discovered niece. Sharon tells us how her family was extremely poor and her mother, Thelma had all her children taken from her. Gordon, Sarah's dad, was one of those kids.
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E5: My daughter, Sarah
Sarah goes to meet Gordon. We learn that he can remember Nellie, and remembers being caught with her in the bushes. Gordon tells us about his time at the asylum, and Sarah takes him on an outing where they spend time together.
Customer Reviews
Important History
Thank you for telling this important story. The sensitive subject matter is handled with respect and consideration for everyone involved.
The only thing I don‘t appreciate is the extensive usage of original recordings of phone calls. The sound quality is not great which makes it hard to understand, especially if you‘re not used to New Zealand and British accents.
So well done
This is so well done. The difficult material is handled with such grace.
Wow.
I’m in awe of Sarah’s strength and positive outlook. Nellie deserved so much better. I know that she’d be incredibly proud of her daughter. Thank you for sharing this important story in such a sensitive and professional manner.