LONG Lost Family host Nicky Campbell, who was adopted at four days old, has traced his own roots to Ireland and the IRA.
The broadcaster says he has struggled with his emotions presenting the ITVspecial `Long Last Family: Born Without A Trace', tracing the origins of abandoned children and has suffered a sense of rejection throughout his life.
Campbell discovered his mother was a Dublin Protestant, and his father had family links to the IRA, after embarking on a mission to learn about his own family past following his adoption.
The information passed on to his adoptive family was more than the "void" foundlings face when they want to know more about their origins.
Campbell describes "moments" of emotion which he tries not to reveal on screen, as he and an expert team try to find the origins of those who had been left "without a trace".
"I understand, no matter how happy your adoption is, that nagging sense of rejection that many adopted people get," he said.
"... With my adoption, I had some scant details and my parents were very forthcoming and said, if I ever wanted to know more, they would tell me as much as they could and they would help me in any tracing process.
"I knew the bare bones of it and that's so much more than any foundling would ever have any chance of doing.
"I think it's something they've lived with since age nought, and it's been a massive eyesore on their psychological landscape, on their inner life."
The programme will air on Monday February 25 at 9pm.
