Briton applies for French residency card and finds he was adopted - and has siblings

Retiree Peter Scott had the surprise of his life after sending in documents for a French carte de séjour: the paperwork showed he was adopted and has two half-brothers and two half-sisters.

Mr Scott, 79, who is originally from Portsmouth, says he had no idea that he was adopted.

He has lived in France since 1988 and ran a number of gîtes with Zoë - his wife of 56 years - in Porte-du-Quercy, Lot, until they retired.

The couple have a daughter who lives near Lyon and has three children.

“We used to come on holiday to the Dordogne, with our daughter Nicola. A friend who lived in Bordeaux suggested we might like the Lot even more. So a couple of years later we bought an old farmhouse with outbuildings in the Lot and renovated them into gîtes,” said Mr Scott.

Brexit meant that he had to send in paperwork for a Withdrawal Agreement carte de séjour in 2019. He previously had an optional EU residency card. 

Read more: What documents do I need for a visa application to travel to France?

“I never felt the need to apply for nationality but after Brexit we were obliged to apply for a Brexit carte de séjour and the prefecture said that my birth certificate details were too basic and they required the full birth certificate.

 "I applied for the birth certificate in England and was told that I was adopted. The birth and adoption certificates were forwarded, which included details of my birth mother. 

 “At first I couldn’t believe it, but decided it would be a good idea to pursue it further, so I went onto a heritage site where they offer to do a DNA test in the USA. It was then that we found someone with a 4% match with my DNA and made the first contact with my long lost family.”

A 4% genetic match is within the typical range for cousins, which can fall between 4% and 23%. 

Siblings typically share between 38% and 61% of their DNA, and parents, 50% with their child.

The 4% match meant that he had found a member of his extended family.

A family reunited

After discovering the match, Mr Scott soon learned more about his long-lost family. 

Mr Scott’s biological mother has passed away, but he learned that she had two daughters and two sons, the eldest of whom, who is called Graham, was born 13 months after him. Mr Scott has a different father.

The 4% genetic match had been made with the daughter of his half-brother Graham's son, Andrew, that is, his nephew’s daughter.

In March 2022, he invited Graham's son, Andrew, who lives in Ireland, to visit him in Porte-du-Quercy. Then in September 2022, Graham flew from his home in South Africa to visit Mr Scott in Lot. 

“It was very emotional, but it all felt so natural when we met. We look very much alike, with the same personality,” he said.

In March this year Mr Scott and his wife travelled to South Africa to spend three weeks with Graham and his family near Cape Town.

“It was the best holiday of my life. Now I'm expecting them to come here next spring to celebrate my 80th birthday,” he said.

He hopes one day to meet the rest of the family.