About this podcast
Kirsty Johnston follows Sarah as she hunts for her biological mother, who turns out to have been an institutionalised mental health patient in Porirua Hospital. And that's only the start of the story.
Episodes
- What to Listen to Next: The Sound Of My Father · 45 min · Season 1 Episode 11If you're after another podcast about the search for family members, the new RNZ podcast The Sound Of My Father is for you. When documentary maker Rita Attwood discovers a…
- What to Listen to Next: The Lodge · 39 min · Season 1 Episode 10Host of Nellie's Baby, Kirsty Johnston, introduces you to your next binge listen - RNZ podcast The Lodge. What began as a promising sanctuary for healing in one of New Zealand’s…
- Black Sheep: The story of New Zealand's Mental Institutions · 41 min · Season 1 Episode 9The last of the so-called 'lunatic asylums' closed only 20 years ago. They were founded on ideas of paternalism and social progress and survived on the basis they offered safety…
- I'd like to find a sister · 37 min · Season 1 Episode 8Kirsty tries to find out if Nellie did have another baby, and where that baby might be, but gets stuck in a kafkaesque nightmare of bureaucracy. Sarah reflects on her journey to…
- What happened to Nellie? · 48 min · Season 1 Episode 7Nellie's coronial file reveals more about her death - and her life. There are badly healed broken bones, a skin graft, evidence of a fall three days before she died in which she…
- Annemarie · 41 min · Season 1 Episode 6Kirsty and Sarah go to see Mavis, Nellie's sister, who tells them that she thinks Nellie was raped, which led to her breakdown and incarceration. Mavis tells Sarah about the day…
- My daughter, Sarah · 39 min · Season 1 Episode 5Sarah goes to meet Gordon. We learn that he can remember Nellie, and remembers being caught with her in the bushes. Gordon tells us about his time at the asylum, and Sarah takes…
- A trip to the asylum · 34 min · Season 1 Episode 4The mystery relative turns out to be Sharon, her father's sister. She decides to fly to Australia to meet her newly-discovered niece. Sharon tells us how her family was extremely…
- I found him! · 36 min · Season 1 Episode 3Sarah and Kirsty call in the big guns: DNA. A strong match comes up: a woman who shares 28% of Sarah's DNA. Is it Nellie's first child? Eventually, Fran, the genealogist…
- Women and Girls · 38 min · Season 1 Episode 2Kirsty and Sarah start investigating from opposite sides of the world. We learn what it was like to live at Porirua, and fight through red tape to get Sarah's adoption records…
- Email from a stranger · 37 min · Season 1 Episode 1Out of the blue, Kirsty receives an email from a stranger titled "Investigating the possible murder of my mother". The author is Sarah, a young woman who was born to Nellie…
- Introducing: Nellie's Baby · 3 min · Season 1Kirsty Johnston follows Sarah as she hunts for her biological mother, who turns out to have been an institutionalised mental health patient in Porirua Hospital. And that's only…
