Born in Edinburgh in 1963, Roy grew up an only child and always knew he was adopted, or as his adoptive mother, Mollie, would tell him, “chosen”. Whilst loved unconditionally by Mollie and her husband Peter, the stigma of being an adopted teenager in 1970s Scotland resulted in Roy being bullied and spat on in school.
At sixteen, he left Mollie a note asking if she had any information about his blood parents. She supplied a form his birth mother had filled in at the adoption agency that gave some details but omitted others, including his father’s name.
Roy became a father himself in his mid-forties, his newborn son being the first blood relation he had consciously laid eyes on. In his early fifties, having had his full adoption papers opened, Roy discovered his mother had made a Transatlantic trip to give birth to him before swiftly returning to her home in Toronto, keeping her pregnancy a lifelong secret. Within a few months, he had found the identity of his father and traveled to Canada, meeting close family on both sides he’d never known he had.
Roy has since published a series of poems, Be My Baby, and released a CD, Songs from Be My Baby, relating to his adoption and experiences of neurodiversity which further marked him out as "different" at school and continue to impact his life. Writing and performing help him feel closer to both sets of parents and to understanding himself.
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