A third abandoned baby belonging to the same parents has been discovered in London, and investigations are ongoing.
The child, referred to as "Baby Elsa," is a sibling to two other infants left in similar circumstances in 2017 and 2019, the BBC reports.
Presented to the East London Family Court, the DNA evidence established that Baby Elsa is the full sibling of the other two abandoned children.
Despite multiple appeals by the Metropolitan Police, the parents have not been identified.
The BBC and PA Media received special court permission to report the sibling link and disclose that the children are Black.
Judge Carol Atkinson noted the rarity of such abandonment cases in modern Britain.
An expert testified in court, stating the genetic findings offer substantial evidence that Baby Elsa is a full sibling of the other two babies.
The older children, named Harry and Roman, have been adopted, while Baby Elsa remains in foster care.
Elsa was discovered by a dog walker in January, wrapped in a towel inside a bag, on the coldest night of the year.
Similar to Elsa, Harry and Roman were also found shortly after birth, wrapped in blankets and left in the same area of London.
Family Court documents revealed that Baby Elsa still had her umbilical cord attached, with doctors estimating she was born only an hour before being found.
Although she was extremely cold, Elsa was described as crying and responsive and is now reportedly doing well.
The court confirmed that the children, whose names have since been changed, will be informed they are full siblings and plans are in place for them to have some form of contact as they grow older.
However, the reporting of the sibling link was not supported by the local authority or England's Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass).
The Metropolitan Police deferred the decision to the court, expressing concerns about inadvertently encouraging struggling mothers to abandon unwanted babies in public spaces.
The East London Family Court is part of a transparency pilot extended to nearly half the family courts in England and Wales, facilitating media reporting on such cases.
The BBC and PA Media argued that publicizing the sibling link could assist authorities in locating the children’s parents and refocus attention on the children’s mother.
Judge Carol Atkinson, the most senior judge in the East London Family Court, concurred.
She added that the siblings' relationship is in the public's interest and restricting reporting would hinder public awareness and open justice.
Clinical psychologist Dr Jo Mueller whose has conducted research on abandoned infants told The Mirror: "If a baby was born in a hospital, there would be a record. If parents are known to social services, if a mother's known to be pregnant, there would be a follow-up there.
"It's really quite difficult to have carried a baby to term, giving birth and then to abandon it without anybody knowing about any of these things, that is really, really unusual and really dangerous."
She went on to say: "It's quite likely that these mothers are traumatized, marginalized, and potentially suffering from mental health difficulties.
"Potentially these people may be refugees, people who've got unstable housing situations. They may be worried about coming into contact with services because of the repercussions of that, if they aren't here legally, potentially."
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