Baby abandoned in plastic bag meets birth family 40 years later

A moving reunion is going viral after Jon Scarlett-Phillips met his biological family 40 years after being abandoned as a newborn.

In 1984, Jon was found in a toilet at a leisure center near Milton Keynes, UK—left in a shopping bag with his placenta still attached. Three teenage girls heard his cries and saved his life.

Now 40 and a chef, Jon appeared on Long Lost Family: Born Without a Trace to search for answers. “I’m grateful they found me,” he said. “They saved my life.”

Jon was adopted into a loving home but always wondered why his birth mother left him. After struggles in his youth, including a near-fatal overdose, his wife encouraged him to find the truth.

Through the show, Jon learned his birth mother was 20 at the time, had two daughters, and was in a bad mental state. Though she declined to meet him, his half-sisters did, sharing a message: “It’s not a no, Jon. It’s just time.”

After meeting them, Jon said, “That emptiness has disappeared completely. I’m a happy man.”