This paper describes some features of the behaviour in analysis of a young psychotic adopted boy who had been abandoned by his natural mother when he was only a few days old. Though his subsequent development had been heavily clouded by a number of horrifying and tragic events, this boy seemed to be hanging on to some kind of memory of the sensuous qualities of his primary object and searched frantically for them in all the women that he met. Yet their smell, voice and taste never quite seemed to match that of the original object which he had irretrievably lost.

Recent research on early kin recognition appears to throw some light upon the behaviour of this young boy in analysis. Current research on kin recognition relevant to the understanding of this particular case is reported and discussed. Some reflections of a more general nature regarding the possible development of kin recognition and early precursors of attachment both pre- and peri-natally, as well as on adoption in general, are discussed at the end.