Abandoned baby Elsa to be adopted and regularly see two siblings

A girl who was found abandoned as a newborn in a carrier bag in east London is to be adopted and will have regular contact with her two siblings as she grows up, a family court has heard.

"Elsa" was left near a footpath in Newham on 18 January 2024, before being discovered by a dog walker. Subsequent DNA tests established she was the sibling of two other babies - a boy and a girl - each found nearby in similar circumstances in 2017 and 2019.

Police say all enquiries to find the parents of the abandoned babies have now been "exhausted".

On Thursday, East London Family Court heard Elsa was thriving, that she was already living with her new family, and has a loving relationship with them.

All their adoptive parents have agreed that Elsa who is now nearly two, brother Harry, 8 and sister Roman, 6 should have regular meetings as they grow up.

The children will see photos of each other, and have playdates twice a year.

Judge Carol Atkinson said Elsa's story was "extraordinary" and it was "fundamental to her existence that she shares that story with two full siblings".

She said she had seen photos of Elsa, who was a "beautiful little girl" - "a raucous bundle of excitement and laughter".

The judge said had been told Elsa "lights up the space around her", adding that the three children's shared story was exceptional. Over ten years, between 2008–2018, only eight children were recorded as "foundlings" - those abandoned at birth - in England and Wales.

She said the siblings shared something "extraordinary", adding: "No-one they will meet in life is likely to understand what it is like to be a foundling. But they each know and understand."

The BBC has been following the hearings about baby Elsa for nearly two years.

Elsa was left in a Boots shopping bag in January 2024, when she was less than an hour old.

She was found on the coldest night of the year, so hospital staff named her after the character in the Disney film Frozen.

In June 2024, the BBC revealed she was the third child abandoned by the same mother and father. Her name and those of her siblings have now been changed.

After widespread media coverage, police stepped up their enquiries to find her parents.

Working with the National Crime Agency, officers identified several hundred houses where they believed babies' parents might have been living. They knocked on more than 100 doors, spoke to local residents and took DNA samples.

They also used the babies' DNA to try to identify relatives right across the UK, who they traced and spoke to.

But despite these efforts, police have said the parents have still not been found.

Det Supt Lewis Basford said enquiries were "exhausted" but officers would "continue to review all information and intelligence made available to us".

He urged anyone who "may be sitting on information" to contact the police.

Prof Lorraine Sherr, a psychologist who has studied abandoned children, said Thursday's hearing was a "turning point" for Elsa. She said she now had a stable and permanent home, and the "rare" possibility of early and regular contact with her siblings.

Sherr said the case marked a "true precedent" - that the courts, families, police and social services came together to support the child's best interests. She added that the "intense public and media coverage ensured that processes worked smoothly".