Jakszyk was born in London to Peggy Curran, an Irish singer, herself fostered from the age of 14, and an American serviceman. He was placed at 18 months of age and adopted by Polish and French émigrés in London and raised in England. His mother emigrated to the USA and had another child by the same father, before marrying another man.

Jakszyk traced his birth mother a few years ago and met her in 1984, but their reunion was not successful. He has a sister and three half-brothers. His French adoptive mother was herself abandoned in an orphanage as a child by her mother.

References

Lennon, Peter. The Guardian [London], 16 December 1996, p. 5
"A Family of My Own," BBC1 TV, 4 January 2000
Stewart, Dave. "Fantastic Voyage: Jakko Jakszyk: The Road to Ballina." Available at: http://www.sospubs.co.uk/sos/1997_articles/oct97/jakko.html

Indexes

European
Uk/great Britain
20th Century
21st Century
Music and Dance
Formal, American/European-Type Adoption
Birth or Infancy
Unmarried Mother, Single Parent (Mother or Father) Unable to Cope
Others ("Strangers")
Unmarried Mother
Adoptee/Fosteree Traced Family
Contact Unsatisfactory