'Baby Elsa' and two other babies abandoned in London are siblings

A newborn baby who was found by a dog walker in east London in January is the third child to have been abandoned by the same unidentified parents, a court has heard.

The baby girl was discovered near Newham's high street, wrapped in a towel inside a shopping bag in freezing temperatures. Hospital staff gave her the name "Elsa" after the snow queen in Disney's "Frozen".

DNA tests have since linked the child to two siblings, a boy and a girl, who were also found abandoned in Newham in 2017 and 2019 respectively. "Harry" was discovered in a park on Balaam Street, while "Roman" was abandoned two years later in a playground on Roman Road.

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An expert told the East London Family Court that genetic analysis had given "extremely strong scientific support for the view that Baby Elsa was 'a full sibling' of the other two babies", the BBC reported.

The court gave the BBC and PA Media permission to report the sibling connection between the three children, and also that they are black. The news outlets argued that further reporting on the case could help authorities to find the children's parents.

"Abandonment of a baby in this country is a very, very unusual event," said Judge Carol Atkinson. She ruled in favour of the BBC and PA Media's argument that the DNA link between the three siblings was of considerable public interest, a contention that was not supported by the local authority and the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service.

The ruling "follows efforts to increase transparency in the family court system", said The Independent.

The court has heard that Elsa, who is currently in foster care, is "doing well", said the BBC. Her siblings have both been adopted and given new names by their families.