A former British soldier living in Germany has had his 50th birthday wish come true after being reunited with his biological mother in Ireland.

Mark Balls, now 53, was adopted as a baby and was “raised well” by his adoptive parents in London.

He was told by his adoptive father that he was adopted when he was 10-years-old – but, out of respect for the man and woman who raised him, he chose not to pursue his biological family until after his adoptive parents had died.

Mr Balls, who has six children and now lives in Paderborn in Germany, said that while he knew some information about his biological mother, he could only “get so far”.

In the run up to his 50th birthday, his daughters asked him what he would like.

He said: “I told them how far I got with my search and that maybe – because they’re a bit more media savvy than I am – I asked if they could find out more?”

They conducted their own research but were unsuccessful.

His daughter Amanda then decided to give him a gift of a MyHeritage DNA test which would ultimately set him on a path that would finally see him connect with his Irish family.

“The way I understood it is that if I do the DNA test and there’s other people with a close DNA match to me, they might have information on where my mother would be.”

The mystery was not immediately solved but the results provided Mr Balls with a path to follow.

“I got the results and there were a couple of close connections. So I sent a few emails to people who unfortunately couldn’t help me.

“Time went by and there was a new match, with someone who had done a test and had a 10% match with me.

“I sent her a message and told her I was looking for my birth mother and it turned out her dad’s name was Condon – the same surname as my birth mother’s maiden name – and that he had a sister called Phyllis.”

Through a complicated chain of messages involving his newly discovered cousin in Greece as well as other relatives in Australia and Reading, Mr Balls eventually received an email to say that Phyllis O’Neill was his mother – and that he had two blood brothers in Limerick, Ireland.

“I was in work when I checked my emails. I got all choked up.”

Mr Balls’ mother was 18 and living in Hampstead, London when she gave birth to him

You can read more in an article in the LimerickLive web site at: https://bit.ly/3LLXR8h.