Abbott reunited with lost son
By PIERS AKERMAN
February 21, 2005
FEDERAL Health Minister Tony Abbott and Kathy Donnelly, his girlfriend from his student years, have been reunited with the son they gave up for adoption 27 years ago.
Mr Abbott and Mrs Donnelly, who went on to marry other partners and have families of their own, have embraced their son Daniel and his adoptive parents and have introduced him to their families.
In an extraordinary coincidence, the young man has been working as a sound engineer with the ABC in the Canberra press gallery and has stood beside his father as Mr Abbott has been interviewed, but neither suspected they had any connection.
"Thank you for having me,'' Daniel movingly told his natural mother and father when he first met them early in the new year.
Mr Abbott and Mrs Donnelly, who were raised as Catholics, decided against abortion although they believed they were too young for marriage when their son was conceived.
Mr Abbott has been an active anti-abortion campaigner throughout his parliamentary career and has not dissuaded those from either side of politics who have recently sought to obtain the fullest information on the number of abortions carried out annually in Australia.
According to sources close to the family, Daniel had become increasingly curious about the identities of his natural parents in recent years and had contacted the Catholic Adoption Agency which handled his placement with a Sydney couple.
Just before Christmas the agency notified Mrs Donnelly, who has four other children, that her son was seeking to contact her. She asked that her details be given to him immediately and Daniel wrote to her, his letter reaching her on Christmas Eve.
Mr Abbott, who has three other children, received the news via voice mail on Boxing Day.
Both Mrs Donnelly and Mr Abbott were overwhelmed by the surprise contact with their son and hastened to make him feel welcome in their families' lives.
"This is an absolutely gorgeous story from whoa to go," Mrs Donnelly, who now lives with her engineer husband in Port Hedland in Western Australia, told The Daily Telegraph.
"When I met him, I knew I bore him, he looks exactly like me."
Mrs Donnelly flew to Sydney to meet Daniel in mid-January.
Daniel was invited to her parents' home with Mr Abbott.
Mr Abbott later invited Daniel to his home for a family barbecue at which his children met their half-brother and two of his sisters met their niece.
Daniel is currently on holiday in the United Kingdom and could not be contacted last night.
The Daily Telegraph has been aware of Daniel's reunion with his natural parents since January but chose to give the young man, Mrs Donnelly, Mr Abbott and their families, some privacy while they explored the sensitive new relationship.
Senior staff at the ABC's Australian Story also became aware of Daniel's relationship with Mr Abbott in recent weeks but agreed to give him and Mrs Donnelly and their families some breathing space in which to get used to each other.
The Bulletin magazine, which started to chase the story two weeks ago, held off publishing anything for a week after Mr Abbott asked them for time for all the parties to prepare for the expected publicity storm.
In return for the week's grace, both he and Mrs Donnelly gave written accounts of their experiences to be published in the edition, which is due out Wednesday.
In a brief article, Mrs Donnelly has written movingly of the experiences of a young mother relinquishing her child and gives a voice to other mothers who have shared that experience.
Mr Abbott writes emotionally of the exciting reunion and of beginning to develop a relationship with the young man who is his son.
Just before Daniel left for the UK last week, father and son dined together at a steak house in the Canberra suburb of Manuka.
Mrs Donnelly is a well-known West Australian artist who has been extremely active promoting the visual arts in the iron ore port.
With another artist, Rosalind Dann, she created a walk depicting a century of federation in Port Hedland with scenes representing local industries, events and developments.
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