THE WITNESS

Growing up, even as a child, I always had to look after myself.

I didn’t have a great start to life and I was in and out of care. I had four brothers, but I didn’t really know any of them.

Five years younger than me, I remember my half-brother Stephen as a little baby, but that’s about it.

When he was just a toddler, he was adopted by former Conservative MP Nigel Waterson and his wife, Barbara.

I didn’t hear from him again as he lost touch with his birth family.

We all moved on and as soon as I could, I started working and looking after myself. I built a life for myself.

But then, out of nowhere, in 2010, I received a Facebook message