Are you my mum?

She was adopted by a loving couple, and is now a happily-married 49-year-old grandmother.

But there is an enormous gap in her life - and today she is appealing through The Northern Echo to the woman who left her all those years ago to get in touch.

Two-day-old Jane Doe was discovered in Darlington in July 1951.

Wearing a night-dress and wrapped in a blanket, she was found by a passer-by on his way to work.

She was dubbed "Jane Doe" by the nurses who cared for her, because no one knew who her parents were.

Despite newspaper appeals by doctors and the police, her mother never came forward.

Today, Jane has a new name and a family of her own. She does not want to reveal her new identity at this stage.

Jane always knew she had been adopted, but she had no idea of her beginnings in the world, until earlier this year.

All she knew about her first few days of life was that she had been found in Brinkburn Road, Darlington, on July 26, 1951.

She said: "I knew I had been adopted, by a lovely couple, and I had a wonderful childhood and family.

"In April this year I looked at my original birth certificate for the first time, and I saw it said I had been found abandoned, and that my mother and father were unknown. It was a real shock.

"Then I started thinking about why my mother would have abandoned me.

"I have a strong feeling she was very young, and was in trouble, and felt she had no other choice. I am not angry with her at all - it was a different age then."

After making inquiries, The Northern Echo was able to tell Jane more details of her first few days.

A report in our then sister paper, The Northern Despatch, on the day Jane was found revealed that she had been discovered by Jack Ewan, of 187 Woodland Road.

Despite attempts to trace Mr Ewan, whose name may have been spelt Ewin or Ewen, we have been unable to find him or any of his relatives.

He had found the baby, described as "clean, well developed and wearing a nightdress and binder" in the phone box at around 6am as he passed the junction of Brinkburn Road and Major Street. She was crying.

She was taken to Greenbank Maternity Hospital in Darlington, which has since been demolished, before being taken into foster care, and later being adopted.

Jane said: "I would obviously love to find my mother, before it is too late, as I realise she will be getting older.

"But I would also love to find the man who found me, or his family, to thank them. If it wasn't for him, anything could have happened to me.

"I would also like to find a woman who is named on my birth certificate as someone who was 'in charge of' me. She was called Kathleen Jones, and she lived at 149 Greenbank Road.

"To find the nurses who cared for me at the hospital would be fantastic too.

"I feel I am missing some of my history, and I would really like to find these people.

"It was all brought home to me recently when I discovered a lump in my breast, and went to the doctor about it.

"He asked if there was a family history of breast cancer, and I had to say I didn't know.

"I feel there is something missing, because there is so much I don't know about myself, and my birth family."

One reason Jane wants to at least speak to her mother is to let her know that she is well and has had a happy life.

Jane said: "I do not feel any anger or bitterness towards my mother.

"I am happy, healthy and I have had a good life. I feel compassion for her.

"I keep thinking that she might have been trying to make contact with me, but I left the area years ago.

"I know she must have had very good reasons for doing what she did, and it would not have been an easy decision for her.

"To find her would help give me a better sense of my identity, and I would like to know things like do I take after my mum or my dad?

"I just want to find her before it is too late."

Anyone who can help Jane find the people she so desperately wants to meet should contact The Northern Echo newsdesk on (01325) 505065 or send an email to dturnbull@nen.co.uk