1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:03,320 Speaker 1: New Jersey and Amanda jam Nation. 2 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:06,760 Speaker 2: Our next guest story is unbelievable. He was adopted as 3 00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:10,040 Speaker 2: a baby into a loving family, but curiosity of his 4 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:12,720 Speaker 2: biological parents would start a journey that would uncover a 5 00:00:12,760 --> 00:00:15,720 Speaker 2: shocking truth. His parents were not just an ordinary couple. 6 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:18,439 Speaker 2: They were a Catholic priest and a nun. He has 7 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:21,080 Speaker 2: shared the story, this heart wrenching story in a new 8 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:23,120 Speaker 2: book called Tell No One, and he joins us now, 9 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:24,400 Speaker 2: Brendan Watkins. 10 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:26,319 Speaker 3: High, Brendan, Hi, how are you. 11 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:29,560 Speaker 2: So Let's start at the beginning. What did you You 12 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:31,600 Speaker 2: knew you were adopted, but what did you know of 13 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:33,000 Speaker 2: your biological parents? 14 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:39,400 Speaker 1: Well, in the olden days, so I was born in 15 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:44,680 Speaker 1: feb sixty one, you had no access to birth information. 16 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:47,680 Speaker 1: The laws were changed around the country at different stages, 17 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:51,800 Speaker 1: but in nineteen eighty four adoptees in Victoria were given 18 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:56,640 Speaker 1: access to their original birth certificates. So you know, it 19 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:00,880 Speaker 1: was the era of closed and forced adoptions, and in 20 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:05,560 Speaker 1: well the eighties, So when I was in my twenties, 21 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:12,479 Speaker 1: I was legally given access to my birth information. And 22 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:15,400 Speaker 1: it's important to note that you know, most adoptees, particularly 23 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:20,520 Speaker 1: Catholic you've sort of given this notion of gratitude you 24 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:24,080 Speaker 1: need to be you need to show gratitude to your 25 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:29,200 Speaker 1: adoptive parents in not asking too many questions, and you know, 26 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:31,960 Speaker 1: sometimes particularly to the church, not trying to find your 27 00:01:31,959 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: birth parents because it's a sign of disrespect. And so 28 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:39,760 Speaker 1: I put it off and put it off. Eventually, my 29 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:42,720 Speaker 1: partner and myself were at the stage of thinking of 30 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:47,760 Speaker 1: having kids, a family, and she found out she had 31 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 1: this sort of birth issue that or genetic issue that 32 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:54,920 Speaker 1: was making her or would make her and potentially our 33 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:59,440 Speaker 1: children allergic to anesthetics. And that sort of got me 34 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 1: over them. So I applied for my birth certificate, and 35 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:03,960 Speaker 1: I found out my mother's name. 36 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:07,280 Speaker 2: When your father wasn't mentioned on the birth certificate. 37 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:11,440 Speaker 1: No, and very very often not, the father's not there, 38 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 1: it's just the mother. So my scenario was not unusual. 39 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 1: But what was unusual about my original birth certificate was 40 00:02:20,919 --> 00:02:26,200 Speaker 1: that my mother's name wasn't the Anglo name I was anticipating, 41 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:28,639 Speaker 1: and it had her age and she was twenty seven 42 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:33,959 Speaker 1: when she surrendered me, which is a lot older than 43 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:39,560 Speaker 1: you know, the stereotypical normally it's teenagers, you know, late 44 00:02:39,639 --> 00:02:42,800 Speaker 1: teenage years. Passion gets the better of them, a child emerges, 45 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:46,280 Speaker 1: and they surrender the child. But my birth certificate just 46 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:49,360 Speaker 1: sort of posed a whole lot of additional questions. It 47 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:50,680 Speaker 1: didn't really answer anything. 48 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 3: Yeah, and particularly when you found out that your mother 49 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 3: knew of your whereabouts, was happy to hear about you, 50 00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 3: and that she loved you, but did not want, under 51 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:01,040 Speaker 3: any circumstances, any contact. 52 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:06,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's right. And you know, the Catholic Family Welfare 53 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: bureau that managed my adoption contacted her on my behalf 54 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:12,720 Speaker 1: and they got back to me and sat me down 55 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:16,240 Speaker 1: and said, we've spoken to your mother. She's alive, which 56 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:20,399 Speaker 1: was good news, but you'll never see her, you'll never 57 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:23,680 Speaker 1: talk to her, go home and forget about Maggie forever. 58 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:27,280 Speaker 1: I found it very hard to accept that, but with 59 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:32,040 Speaker 1: the news that I had, I had her name, and 60 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:35,080 Speaker 1: I knew where she was born, and given this this 61 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:40,840 Speaker 1: health issue that my partner had, so my partner, Kate, 62 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:45,720 Speaker 1: contacted a distant family member of hers, which you know, 63 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 1: suddenly became my distant family member. And it's a long story, 64 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 1: but the short version was the family member her sister 65 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:56,520 Speaker 1: in law said, oh, you mean Maggie the nun. 66 00:03:56,880 --> 00:03:59,640 Speaker 3: Yeah, and that was it an you went whoa, and 67 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 3: then that was the shock, and then you found out 68 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 3: that your dad was a priest. 69 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:09,360 Speaker 1: Yeah, well look that took essentially thirty years. 70 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:11,600 Speaker 2: Did you see you'd been ripped off? So your actual 71 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:13,920 Speaker 2: birth parents lived together and had a relationship and you 72 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:16,680 Speaker 2: weren't part of that. Yeah. 73 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:20,599 Speaker 1: Look, I found out in amongst my research that I 74 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:24,679 Speaker 1: found out that my parents were living together. So both 75 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 1: of them rejected me, both of them rejected their grandkids. 76 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:32,680 Speaker 1: You know, I didn't care that my parents were a 77 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:35,840 Speaker 1: nun and a priest. You know, every child of a 78 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:39,640 Speaker 1: priest thinks they're the only one Google child of priests. 79 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:42,120 Speaker 1: When I first did it, there was sixty eight million 80 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: here of people talking about this. This is a big thing, 81 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:50,040 Speaker 1: and the church has silenced. The churches managed, you know, 82 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:54,920 Speaker 1: with contractual NDAs or confidentiality agreements or at least implied. 83 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:59,919 Speaker 1: So you know, the stereotypical is like my mother, she's younger, 84 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:03,240 Speaker 1: much younger. She's vulnerable, she doesn't have money, she doesn't 85 00:05:03,279 --> 00:05:06,760 Speaker 1: have family to call back on, she's vulnerable. And the priest, 86 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:10,919 Speaker 1: the priest is the hands and feet of God. You know, 87 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:12,600 Speaker 1: you don't say no to that. 88 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:15,200 Speaker 3: Yeah, well, there we are, that's where're at. I've got 89 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:17,800 Speaker 3: to say that being the child of a priest, a 90 00:05:17,839 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 3: priest and a nun, there would have been a lot 91 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:22,320 Speaker 3: of rules in that house, you know, if you if you. 92 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 1: Were growing up with a lot of secrecy. 93 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:29,039 Speaker 3: And Brendan, thank you for joining us. The book. You 94 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:31,880 Speaker 3: can buy it right now. Tell no one, We're telling everyone. 95 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:35,040 Speaker 3: It's from all good bookstores. Brendan Watton, thank you for 96 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 3: joining us. 97 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:37,640 Speaker 1: Thank you, guys, thank you very much.