I did not know I used to be fostered till my organic dad approached me within the park once I was 7 – just some years later, he raped me and fathered my youngster. This is why I’ve determined to inform my daughter the reality about the place she got here from…
Stace Don, now 37, from Oldham, was taken into foster care as a baby after being neglected by her parents. For seven years, she lived an idyllic life, believing her foster parents were her real parents.
But a chance encounter with her natural father, Nigel Taylor, shattered her happiness and she was later moved from her foster home, away from the family she loved.
Upset and angry that she had been lied to, and confused about her own identity, Stace spent the remainder of her childhood flipping between different homes before her father raped her and impregnated her.
Here, she tells Ann Cusack, her story…
Standing at the window, behind the safety of the curtain, I scanned the street anxiously.
‘Who are you looking for Mummy?’ asked my daughter, Kadie. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘It’s nothing,’ I smiled.
How could I tell Kadie that I was terrified of my own father finding out where we lived?

Stace Don, now 37, from Oldham, was taken into foster care as a baby after being neglected by her parents. When she was 7, she met her biological father, 10 years later he fathered her child. Stace is pictured aged 18 after giving birth

Stace is pictured as a newborn with her biological father Nigel Taylor
Because my father was her biological father too.
And weighing heavy on my heart was the knowledge that one day, when she was older, I’d have to tell her the truth.
‘Honestly, everything’s fine,’ I insisted, slipping my arm around her.
But still, I didn’t take my eyes off the window.
Until the age of 7, I’d led a perfectly normal life, living with my family in Stockport, Cheshire. And then one day, at the park, I’d met a strange man who claimed he was my father.
‘Hello Lou-Lou, I’m your dad, ‘ he said.
I was confused. Lou was my middle name so how did he know that?
As far as I knew, I’d always lived with my parents. I had three older siblings, who loved to spoil me. I had everything I’d ever wanted.
I was a member of every club at school.
At home, I had my own playroom. My childhood was pretty much perfect.
Or so I thought.

Stace moved around as a child, between foster homes and her mum and dads homes

Stace is pictured after passing her driving test has dedicated her life to helping others
But a few days after meeting the man, a social worker explained I had been taken away from my birth parents, aged two.
The family I lived with now were my foster parents.
I had a wonderful childhood with my foster family, I had a new football kit every birthday, I did Irish dancing and chess club.
I was the youngest in the family and everyone made a fuss of me.
The man from the park, Nigel Taylor, was my biological father. Numb with shock, I realised my life was about to change.
Aged 10, I was sent back to live with my biological mum and her boyfriend.
But that didn’t work out, and aged 13, she sent me to live with my father, Nigel, for the first time.
I was excited by the idea of being with my real dad; I thought it be nice to spend time with him.
But he had a nasty temper. Instead of going to school, he set me lists of household chores.

Stace is pictured now, aged 37, and has written a book about growing up with her evil father

Baby Kadie with her great grandparents. Stace has told her daughter the truth about her parentage
And if my cleaning and laundry wasn’t to standard, he hit me.
He encouraged me to smoke too and to stay up late. But one day, he beat me so hard I couldn’t walk. In desperation, I called Mum.
‘Please come and pick me up,’ I wept.
More than anything, I longed to go back to my foster family. I missed them all so much.
All through my childhood, I felt unloved. Nobody wanted me around.
Towards the end of 2006, Nigel called. By now, I was at college, studying social care.
‘Why not spend Christmas with me, Lou-Lou?’ he asked.
‘I’ve got a new partner and a baby on the way. I’ve completely changed. I’ve done anger management classes.’
At first, I wasn’t sure. Yet I wanted so much to believe him. Besides, I had nowhere else to go.
‘OK,’ I agreed eventually.
By now, Dad was living in Southend, Essex.

Stace is pictured now, and says that all through her childhood she felt unloved

Nigel Taylor, pictured, first approached Stace is a park when she was just seven

Stace is now happy living in the north of England, she is pictured with her fiance
I saved up for a return coach ticket and arrived a few days before Christmas.
As I was unpacking, Dad asked for my return ticket.
I handed it over, thinking he wanted to keep it safe. Instead, he ripped it into shreds.
I tried not to worry. But then Dad took my debit card, so I had no money.
New Year 2007 came, and it was time for me to go back home and to college.
‘You belong here,’ Dad told me.
I wasn’t locked in. Yet I felt trapped. I tried calling home.
But Dad took my phone and smashed it.
‘You can go to college here,’ he said. ‘This is your home now.’
I was expected to cook and clean.
In the evenings, Dad made me do army fitness routines.

Stace was so inspired that she wrote a book: ‘My Girl’ which was published in January 2025.
If I paused for a rest, he punched me in the stomach.
And then, it got worse. On a drive one day, he sexually assaulted me.
It became a regular pattern. He’d creep up on me, whilst I was at the sink, and kiss the back of my neck.
I pleaded with him to stop. But every time I protested, he’d lose his temper.
‘You want me to be nice, don’t you?’ he asked. ‘This is part of it.’
He took me to the local pub and told everyone I was his girlfriend.
One afternoon, he made me try on suits in a department store, claiming we were starting a business, and I needed to look smart.
He was a fantasist. He didn’t even have a job, never mind a business.
I was repulsed, yet too afraid to stand up to him. One night, as I sobbed in my bedroom, he threw packets of pills at me.
‘Here,’ he said. ‘Do us all a favour and take an overdose.’
On the eve of my 18th birthday, in April 2007, Dad flew into a rage over nothing.
He threw me onto the sofa, and I thought he was going to hit me.
Instead, he forced himself on me.
Afterwards, I lay there for hours, unable to move. He had all but destroyed me.
The next morning, he acted as though nothing had happened.
In June, I missed a period. I could barely believe it when the pregnancy test was positive.
Only now, did I realise what he had done to me.
Yet, with a new life inside me came new purpose. I had not been able to protect myself. But I was determined to protect my baby.

On the eve of her 18th birthday, Stace’s father violently raped her and got her pregnant


Stace is pictured as a baby (left) and now (right)
‘You have to get rid of it,’ Dad demanded.
‘No!’ I protested. ‘I’m having this baby, and you can’t stop me.’
In the end, Dad agreed this was the best solution, as long as I promised never to tell anyone he was the father.
He concocted a story about me meeting a boyfriend at Southend Air Show.
‘Let’s call him John Carson,’ Dad decided.
‘After the footballers John Terry and Scott Carson.’
I also had to promise that, after the baby was born, I’d return to live with him, in the showhouse.
Knowing it would never happen, I nodded and agreed, desperate to escape.
I moved back in with my mother and my baby girl, Kadie, was born in February 2008.
From the moment I held her, I was overcome with love. She was absolutely perfect.
I realised it didn’t matter where she had come from. She was mine.
I settled down to life as a single mum and tried to block out the memories of the past.

Stace is now happy with her father behind bars
But I was constantly worried that Nigel might track me down.
When Kadie was two, I decided I couldn’t stay silent any longer.
I had always feared that Nigel would kill me if I spoke out. But I realised I had no choice.
I went to the police and DNA tests proved he was Kadie’s father.
Nigel Taylor was jailed for seven years in April 2011 at Basildon Crown Court after admitting sexual activity with a child family member.
He was ordered to sign the sexual offenders’ register and ordered to stay away from us. A charge of rape was left to lie on file.
It was a comfort to know other children were safe. Yet for me, the trauma went on.
‘I’m going to start a blog,’ I announced. ‘It might help to write everything down. And it might help others too.’
On New Years Day 2021, I posted the first chapter of: ‘The Life of Stace Don’.
The next day, my phone buzzed with messages of praise and support. I felt so humbled.
Over the next few months, I gathered support from all around the world.
One morning, I woke up to find I had over a thousand new followers in the US.
I received messages from right across Europe, and as far away as Australia.
I progressed from writing on social media to having my own website and posting on Linktree too.
Each time I wrote, I shared a different chapter of my life.
Sometimes, my focus was emotional and psychological, looking at how to cope with feelings of shame and despair.
Other times, I concentrated on practical issues; how to navigate the court system, access counselling services, approach the issue of anonymity.
The response, every time, was beyond my dreams. People said I had given them the courage to report their abuse to the police. One said I had saved her life.
I was so inspired that I wrote a book: ‘My Girl’ which was published in January 2025.
As Kadie has grown up, I’ve told her about her biological father.
I’ve been honest because I have lived with lies and deceit all my life and I want it to stop right here.
In her early teens she wanted to meet him, to see him for herself.
But she now understands it isn’t safe. She and I have an incredible bond.
At the worst time of my life, she was the best gift ever.
This story contains details of sexual abuse. If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this story, you can contact Rape Crisis online or on 0808 500 2222