The Foundling

The True Story of a Kidnapping, a Family Secret, and My Search for the Real Me

By: Paul Joseph Fronczak, Alex Tresniowski, Paul Joseph Fronczak - introduction

Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne

This is the inspiring and “page-turning” (Booklist) true story of a man who discovered that he had been kidnapped as a baby—and how his quest to find out who he really is upturned the genealogy industry, his own family, and set in motion the second longest cold case in US history.

In 1964, a woman pretending to be a nurse kidnapped an infant boy named Paul Fronczak from a Chicago hospital.

Two years later, police found a boy abandoned outside a variety store in New Jersey. The FBI tracked down Dora Fronczak, the kidnapped infant’s mother, and she identified the abandoned boy as her son. The family spent the next fifty years believing they were whole again—but Paul was always unsure about his true identity.

Then, four years ago—spurred on by the birth of his first child, Emma Faith—Paul took a DNA test. The test revealed that he was definitely not Paul Fronczak. From that moment on, Paul has been on a tireless mission to find the man whose life he’s been living—and to discover who abandoned him, and why.

Poignant and inspiring, The Foundling is a story about a child lost and a faith found, about the permanence of families and the bloodlines that define you, and about the emotional toll of both losing your identity and rediscovering who you truly are.

Excellent true story that keeps you guessing!

Great listen! Few newer autobiographies have this much mystery and suspense. The book kept you guessing and then searching online for the latest updates (epilogue was written in 2015).

A true story that’s easy to get into.

It’s slow, almost monotonous but good for background listening while doing other things. It’s easy to keep up while concentrating on a task. Good for drifting off to sleep. If this were fiction it would be very boring but it makes a difference that it’s true. I found it interesting. I’m glad I bought it.

The Universal Questions about Identity Many Face, Distilled by an Extreme Individual Example

Worth reading. The truth outs and then we reckon. It is possible to be compelled to know, afraid to learn, very hurt and willing to go forward.

Great, Great book!

A rollercoaster of emotions. At times sooo very heartbreaking...then the moments of light, shown bright!

Fascinating Mystery

Although this is a biography, quite a bit of the story is a true crime mystery. A baby is abducted from the hospital at one day old and three years later the mother is gven a boy and told "this is your son". But is it really? There was no DNA or other definitive proof available at the time. Paul always felt like he was an alien, he didn't belong. So as an adult, he set out to find out the answers to his question, "Am I the kidnapped baby? and if I'm not, then who am I and where is the baby?"

The story is about a man who is trying to find out who he really is. I didn't Google his name or look for any of the news shows that featured him before listening to this story. I didn't want to know how the story ended before I even heard how it started. I found the whole story well written and fascinating.

And if you are at all interested in genealogy and finding your family members, this book talks a lot about the process and gives some insight as to how sites like 23andMe work.

I loved the story, it was worth every penny.