Nicky Campbell questions merits of interracial adoption

Long Lost Family presenter Nicky Campbell says he has come to doubt whether interracial adoption is a good idea.

For the past five years Campbell and Davina McCall have hosted the show, which seeks to bring people together with long-lost relatives – facilitating joyful reunions and heart-warming moments of reconciliation.

Campbell himself was adopted at four days old, but went on to trace his own family 29 years later.

On adoption, the 55-year-old told the Radio Times: “Since I went into working with adoption charities, I have changed my view of interracial adoption: originally, I used to think love is love, whatever colour or race the adoptive parents are.

“But when you’re adopted, there is a lot of identity crisis anyway.

“I had a big identity crisis because I had blue eyes and no one else in my family had blue eyes. So if you are adopted, plus you come from a different culture, plus you look completely different, it’s like a triple whammy.

“There are situations where that doesn’t matter, but in the long term it’s an extra layer of identity problems.”

Campbell was adopted by Frank and Sheila Campbell, but later tracked down his biological mother Stella Lackey.

When he appeared on the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are?, he chose to trace his adoptive family’s history rather than explore his biological background.

Long Lost Family airs on Wednesday at 9pm on ITV. Read the full interview in the Radio Times, out now.

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