'Above the article, you ran a photo of the big-eyed little boy that my wife and I adopted a year ago,' their letter read.

'He was found, along with some clothes, milk formula and a note, in a lavatory at Kowloon Park shortly before the 1997 handover.

'We have included a recent photo of our son. We would like his birth parents to know that he is healthy, happy and much loved.

'Judging by the note they left with him, his parents were deeply pained to have to give him up and made their sacrifice out of what they thought were his best interests.

'We intend to make sure he knows that when he is old enough to understand.' The toddler, now 26 months old, was found in a wash basin in the men's lavatories at Kowloon Park swimming pool on June 28, 1997, aged seven months.

Wearing a striped blue-and-white romper suit, blue-and-white shoes and a white jacket, the baby was found with a note giving his favourite brand of milk powder and explaining that his parents were so poor they were unable to care for him.

Chuk Yuen Children's Reception Centre assistant superintendent Lau Yee-shan remembered the boy well.

'He was a healthy 7.52kg when admitted. He used to take milk and congee twice a day and he always smiled.

'He was just seven months, but he was a smart boy. He could already sit alone,' Ms Lau said.

The infant spent six months at the home before his adoptive parents, working through the Social Welfare Department's Adoption Unit, could take him home.

Only one abandoned child had been found so far this year, compared with 20 last year, 20 in 1997 and 30 in 1996, the department said.