Introducing: World of Secrets Searching for Soldier Dad

Loading player...
We thought you might enjoy listening to the latest season of the BBC’s global investigations podcast World of Secrets: Searching for Soldier Dad.
In this first episode of the season, we meet Cathy. Cathy is 10 years old when she starts asking questions. Why don’t I have a father? The secret her mum Maggie is forced to reveal changes everything.
Years later, when lawyers and a geneticist turn up in their hometown in Kenya to take DNA samples, Maggie hopes they can help her finally learn the truth.
In this investigation, we follow as a team of lawyers and a leading geneticist travel to Kenya to help locate the British soldiers who fathered children then vanished. We witness the groundbreaking legal and scientific detective work used to find the missing dads.   
What’s at stake is more than the reputation of the British army and the UK’s post-colonial legacy. The mixed-heritage children have in some cases been ostracised by their communities and denied a chance of British citizenship since birth – something which could transform their lives.
Searching for Soldier Dad is a BBC Long Form Audio production for the BBC World Service. Listen to the full series, wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
Please note, the image being used is for illustrative purposes only and the child depicted is a model.
Presenter: Ivana Davidovic
Series Producer: Josephine Casserly
Sound design: Tom Brignell
Executive Producer: Matt Willis
Commissioning Senior Producers: Katy Davis and Anne Dixey
Commissioning Editor: Jon Manel
8 May 8PM English United Kingdom News

Other recent episodes

South Africa: what realities face those fleeing xenophobia?

Foreign nationals in South Africa are facing renewed fears following the latest wave of xenophobic attacks, which have reportedly killed nine Mozambican nationals. Ghana and Mozambique have begun evacuating some of their citizens, while other countries are considering similar moves. We hear from those fleeing the tensions and how they…
4 Jun 11AM 23 min

Nigerian teachers protest school kidnappings

Teachers in Nigeria's Oyo, Borno and Lagos states protest kidnappings of teachers and learners. And how poor sanitation puts mothers at risk of maternal sepsis in Zambia.
3 Jun 11AM 24 min

What's in Ghana's new anti-LGBTQ+ bill?

Ghana’s President John Mahama has said the recently passed anti-LGBTQ+ bill will undergo a review by the Attorney General and legal advisers at the presidency before he decides to sign it into law. The Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025, was approved by parliament last Friday. The legislation…
2 Jun 11AM 24 min

Kenyans protest proposed US Ebola facility

Protests erupted on June 1 near a military airfield in Central Kenya where the US government is planning to establish an Ebola quarantine centre for American citizens. Construction on the site was paused last week by a Kenyan court pending a hearing into a lawsuit lodged by campaigners to block…
1 Jun 11AM 24 min

Gigantomastia: Living with my oversized breasts

For many women, having larger breasts may be down to genetics. But for some, breast growth is extreme, painful and life-altering. The condition is called 'gigantomastia'. A condition that causes excessive breast tissue growth, leading to chronic pain, mobility challenges, and emotional distress. Focus on Africa podcast host Nkechi Ogbonna…
29 May 11AM 24 min