0:00:02 > 0:00:08Thirteen years ago, BBC cameras filmed 22 families in southeast Wales
0:00:08 > 0:00:12as they approached the magical moment of birth.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15SHE GROANS
0:00:15 > 0:00:16Breath in, feel the centre.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19Down you go. Come on. Don't shout.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22There were problematic pregnancies...
0:00:22 > 0:00:27- Which day do you want to have your baby?- Have it on a Friday, go home Saturday.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31- ..dramatic deliveries... - Get it out!
0:00:31 > 0:00:35No, you pant it out, don't push now, sweetheart, don't push.
0:00:35 > 0:00:39..and life-saving special care.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41I don't know what you're going through
0:00:41 > 0:00:46and I don't think any of the nursing staff have got a clue.
0:00:46 > 0:00:47OK? We don't.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51It was a new beginning for the parents-to-be.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55Donna, you did excellent. Well done.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59And for some, it was to change their lives forever.
0:01:02 > 0:01:08Over a decade later and what has happened to these children who grew up in a new century?
0:01:11 > 0:01:14What has become of the Welsh millennium babies?
0:01:22 > 0:01:25This time on Welsh Millennium Babies,
0:01:25 > 0:01:31we catch up with two children who've grown up with divorce in the family.
0:01:31 > 0:01:36When you're a separated family, you've got to make the most of every moment.
0:01:36 > 0:01:41I feel like it, because I've less of you than everyone else, don't I?
0:01:41 > 0:01:44It's not like the best, having your mum and dad split up.
0:01:44 > 0:01:50People say you're lucky because you get two of everything and you get two rooms, but like,
0:01:50 > 0:01:54you have to look behind that and it's not about having two rooms.
0:01:58 > 0:02:05Over eleven years ago in Newport, Julie and Ian were eagerly awaiting the birth of their third child.
0:02:10 > 0:02:15They already had two children, Nathan and Sophie, who had cerebral palsy.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19I've been so worried about giving birth.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23I'm not frightened for myself. I have quick labours - I don't feel a thing.
0:02:23 > 0:02:30But I just want a healthy baby and I read so much, I mean, and I know a Caesarean can...
0:02:30 > 0:02:32- It's not always a good thing.- No.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34Too much knowledge is sometimes a bad thing.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38Yeah. But I know a Caesarean is risky if it's not planned,
0:02:38 > 0:02:42because if it's an emergency the baby is already in distress,
0:02:42 > 0:02:49but everything I read seemed to indicate that if it was planned, it went OK for the baby and yeah,
0:02:49 > 0:02:53I'm going to be sore for a few weeks after but that's going to go away...
0:02:53 > 0:02:58- But we spoke to a lot of people... - And on Sophie, I would have been cut from my nose to my toe to prevent
0:02:58 > 0:03:01any damage, so I'm giving this baby a chance.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08After Sophie's difficult birth, Julie and Ian were adamant that
0:03:08 > 0:03:14a Caesarean delivery was the best and safest option for their new baby.
0:03:29 > 0:03:35Baby Phoebe arrived safe and sound into the world, weighing in at seven pounds.
0:03:40 > 0:03:42Hello.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44Look at that flat nose like your mother.
0:03:49 > 0:03:55Nathan and Sophie couldn't wait to get to the hospital to get a glimpse of their new sister.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57Hiya.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00Give us a kiss.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02Lovely, isn't she?
0:04:02 > 0:04:04She's tiny.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10Give us a kiss.
0:04:10 > 0:04:11- Oh.- You pinched me then.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14You're kissing Sophie.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16Why don't you kiss the baby?
0:04:16 > 0:04:18It's sucking on its own now.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23Ooh. She's going to cry at me.
0:04:25 > 0:04:30Over a decade later, and things have definitely changed in Phoebe's household.
0:04:33 > 0:04:38Phoebe and her brother Nathan live with her dad, who has remarried
0:04:38 > 0:04:42and she has a new stepmum, Jo, and three baby brothers.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56Whoa, whoa, whoa, carefully, you'll bounce into the wall doing that.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59Put it flat on the floor.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03Boys, boys, boys, jump on your mother's side!
0:05:05 > 0:05:07That's better.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11I've got a little brother in hospital, called Joseph.
0:05:11 > 0:05:19I've got a dad called Ian, a stepmum called Jo, a mum called Julie, a stepdad called Derek,
0:05:19 > 0:05:24a sister called Sophie and two brothers, called Morgan and Jamie.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27- And Nathan.- Nathan!
0:05:27 > 0:05:29Nathan!
0:05:29 > 0:05:31- Guess what I bought?- What?
0:05:31 > 0:05:34- A mattress.- Mattress.
0:05:34 > 0:05:35It's only taken me ten years.
0:05:38 > 0:05:43Phoebe now lives in a large blended family.
0:05:43 > 0:05:49Her parents, Julie and Ian, separated when she was four years old.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52Obviously with the marriage split, it was quite difficult.
0:05:52 > 0:05:58I mean, the kids were obviously torn between myself and Julie.
0:05:58 > 0:06:03I think the sort of deciding factor was Nathan obviously wanted to stay with me
0:06:03 > 0:06:05and stay in Sophie's house.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09I was Sophie's main carer so he wanted to stay with Sophie.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13I mean, they were all extremely close to their sister.
0:06:13 > 0:06:19I'd even come down in the morning and Phoebe was what, four or five, and she'd be suctioning her sister.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23When you look back now, there was a lot of responsibility
0:06:23 > 0:06:26put on them kids from an early age. I think that's why...
0:06:26 > 0:06:29they aren't fazed by anything now.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31You know, obviously with
0:06:31 > 0:06:34Sophie passing three years ago, three-and-a-half-years ago,
0:06:34 > 0:06:37that was a very, very difficult time.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40You can't wait until mummy's had this baby so she can do this.
0:06:40 > 0:06:45Sophie needed lots of support during her life, with her feeding and breathing.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49She died at the age of eleven, when Phoebe was seven years old.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54She was quite little.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57She was in a wheelchair.
0:06:57 > 0:06:58She was my sister.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07- Do you miss her?- Yeah.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13I've got a picture of her, by there.
0:07:17 > 0:07:22This is Sophie and her favourite little doll, Teddy. And me by there.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24That's nice, isn't it?
0:07:24 > 0:07:27- You'll always remember her.- Yeah.
0:07:27 > 0:07:34This picture, she was in a Christmas concert at her school and she was an angel.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36That's beautiful.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40Did she enjoy that concert?
0:07:40 > 0:07:41I think so, yeah.
0:07:49 > 0:07:55At the end of the last century, Deborah and Stuart were at the Kings Church in Newport,
0:07:55 > 0:07:57praying for a safe arrival for their baby.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00# Yes, and a future that's you
0:08:00 > 0:08:03# Yes, because I feel that I knew
0:08:03 > 0:08:05# I'm not afraid of circumstances
0:08:05 > 0:08:08# In fact I already found the answer
0:08:08 > 0:08:11# God says yes, and I know... #
0:08:11 > 0:08:14Deborah had her first child, Adam, at 17.
0:08:14 > 0:08:19Now married, she believed this pregnancy was different in many ways.
0:08:19 > 0:08:25The Bible says that your body is blessed when it produces children and that the fruit of your womb
0:08:25 > 0:08:30is blessed as well, so therefore when you're actually pregnant,
0:08:30 > 0:08:35and I've had an excellent pregnancy and I believe it's because I've just taken hold of the word of God
0:08:35 > 0:08:38and just applied it to my situation.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44Nice deep breath. Come on, Deb.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47Go with this pain, don't fight it now.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49All right?
0:08:49 > 0:08:54Deborah wanted a home delivery and it was to be her husband Stuart's first taste of childbirth.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57Fill your lungs with it, Deb.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00Real deep breath.
0:09:00 > 0:09:01Breathe, Deb, go on.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03And when the time came,
0:09:03 > 0:09:08community midwife Joan Thomas was on call to deliver the baby.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10Go on, carry on breathing, right the way through.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12- I don't like it. - You don't like it, OK.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14She didn't like it last time.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18We don't get to this stage, Deb, and it not happen. It always happens.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21Go on, that's a girl.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25That's it, keep going, go on, Deb, that's lovely.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27OK.
0:09:27 > 0:09:29You've got a nice head here, Deb.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31And again, push, lovely.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37- He's out.- Have you got something to wrap it in?
0:09:37 > 0:09:41- You're going to be very pleased with this.- A little girl.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43A little girl.
0:09:43 > 0:09:44BABY CRIES
0:09:54 > 0:09:56Nice delivery.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03The couple named their baby Alicia.
0:10:15 > 0:10:21Today, Lissy, as she likes to be known, is 12 years old and living in Magor.
0:10:23 > 0:10:28Her parents divorced and Gareth is now her mum Deborah's new partner.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50I was, like, late for my bus a few times last week.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55Why?
0:10:55 > 0:11:02Because sometimes I wake up late and then I have to do my hair and make-up, because, like,
0:11:02 > 0:11:09I can't stand having people seeing you without any make-up, because I feel so self-conscious.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17Last year I was a bit of a tomboy, if I'm honest.
0:11:17 > 0:11:22Like I started wearing make-up when I got to comp, but only mascara.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25But this year has sort of been like
0:11:25 > 0:11:31the year that I've decided to put a bit more on and stuff and get more
0:11:31 > 0:11:36self-conscious as I grow up and I didn't really care last year
0:11:36 > 0:11:41but I care a lot about my appearance now.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48Lissy's parents, Stuart and Deborah,
0:11:48 > 0:11:52separated when she was eight years old and they eventually divorced.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55We always got on. It wasn't that we didn't get on.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58We got on as friends, that's the thing.
0:11:58 > 0:12:04But together as a couple, we was just wrong and brought out the worst in each other.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07We were making each other really very unhappy.
0:12:09 > 0:12:14And I think we stuck at it and worked at it a lot longer than we would have done,
0:12:14 > 0:12:17particularly because of our church-going
0:12:17 > 0:12:20and faith and things like that,
0:12:20 > 0:12:23because when I got married, it was for life, as far as I was concerned.
0:12:23 > 0:12:28I didn't ever want to get divorced and I didn't, you know,
0:12:28 > 0:12:31want to be a single mum on my own or anything like that.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35I didn't want Alicia and Adam to have to go through,
0:12:35 > 0:12:38you know, being,
0:12:38 > 0:12:42well, in that kind of modern family situation, I suppose.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45You've done your hair.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48I don't want you to do my hair. You never do my hair.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52I do sometimes when you can't do it, I straighten it for you.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54- You've done it once or twice. - All right then.
0:13:00 > 0:13:06Back in Newport, Phoebe has her hands full entertaining her younger brother Jamie.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10"Little engines can do big things,"
0:13:10 > 0:13:11peeps Thomas as his whistle sings.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13Rattle along the Sodor rail,
0:13:13 > 0:13:16he knows his way around every trail.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18- What colour's that?- Blue.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20And what colour's the sky?
0:13:20 > 0:13:22Blue.
0:13:22 > 0:13:31- Well done.- And white.- I like being a big sister because I get to help things and they go to me sometimes
0:13:31 > 0:13:37and they do stuff for me and we practise reading with Morgan
0:13:37 > 0:13:39and we like drawing together
0:13:39 > 0:13:44and we teach them to write their name and we have fun.
0:13:44 > 0:13:45What are you doing, Jamie?
0:13:45 > 0:13:48Drawing a circle.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51Oh, Charming's in here.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54Recently there has been a new addition to the Hannah family.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56Oh, he's lush.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01That's little Joseph.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05Born ten weeks early and still being cared for in hospital,
0:14:05 > 0:14:09baby Joseph is the third son for Ian and his second wife, Jo.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11That's when...
0:14:11 > 0:14:14Jo put his little cloud hat on.
0:14:16 > 0:14:21I had him on 10th December and I was due yesterday, 17th February.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23He's done really well, he's piling the weight on,
0:14:23 > 0:14:28feeding more himself and coming off the oxygen, so...
0:14:32 > 0:14:37When Phoebe was nine years old her dad, Ian, married Jo.
0:14:37 > 0:14:43A 16-year age gap didn't stop the couple creating a new family unit together.
0:14:43 > 0:14:51With Morgan, Jamie and Joseph now in the family, Jo really taking over the role as mother big-time
0:14:51 > 0:14:57in this house, which was a hell of a leap for her, I mean 21, taking on
0:14:57 > 0:15:06a disabled child, you know, damn near a teenager with Nathan and a little girl as well, that's a
0:15:06 > 0:15:10pretty impressive jump in life, an instant family, plus going out with a pensioner as well.
0:15:10 > 0:15:12That must be pretty difficult,
0:15:12 > 0:15:14you know, but
0:15:14 > 0:15:18we have our ups and downs. I think generally we're pretty solid as a family.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21I couldn't be happier.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25No, up a bit. That's OK, that's enough for now.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28Where's the sponge? What have I done with the sponge?
0:15:35 > 0:15:4112-year-old Lissy is almost a teenager and keen to put childlike things behind her.
0:15:41 > 0:15:43It's a lovely picture!
0:15:43 > 0:15:44No, no, no!
0:15:47 > 0:15:50Look, it's beautiful.
0:15:50 > 0:15:56That's when she was in Hampton Wick. She looks gorgeous, doesn't she?
0:15:56 > 0:16:01Deborah has recently become engaged to 31-year-old Gareth.
0:16:01 > 0:16:02You are still beautiful.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05- Thanks, love.- So you are planning on getting married then?
0:16:05 > 0:16:09Yeah. My ring is in the kitchen. I took it off because I was doing the dishes.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11But yeah, when we've got some money.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14I'd get married in a black bag but, you know...
0:16:14 > 0:16:22Because you've done before, I haven't but it doesn't really bother me. I love the woman and I'd
0:16:22 > 0:16:26marry her in... Greggs pasty shop - I don't know!
0:16:26 > 0:16:29Gareth as a stepdad...
0:16:29 > 0:16:32If I ever had a house party, he'd be, like...
0:16:34 > 0:16:37- getting in with the kids.- Dancing!
0:16:37 > 0:16:41All her friends think he's cool, they all want him to be their dad.
0:16:41 > 0:16:42- That's nice.- Yeah.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44But she don't.
0:16:44 > 0:16:48It's not the best having your mum and dad split up.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51People say you are lucky because you get two of everything
0:16:51 > 0:16:57and you get two rooms, but you have to look behind that.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59It's not about having two rooms.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02It's about the fact that it's hard having your mum and dad split up.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06But I take it with a pinch of salt now.
0:17:06 > 0:17:07It's not, like...
0:17:07 > 0:17:10Having to talk about it makes me upset
0:17:10 > 0:17:17but having it mentioned to me, it's not much any more.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20I'm pretty happy with my life at the moment.
0:17:26 > 0:17:32Phoebe's mum, Julie, has also remarried and lives in another town from her daughter.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35So any time they get together is special.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40- Look, a duck flying, Phoebe. - Oh, yeah!
0:17:40 > 0:17:43It's like it's got no legs.
0:17:43 > 0:17:44They've got legs.
0:17:47 > 0:17:54When you are a separated family, you've got to make the most of every moment.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58I feel like it because I have less of you than everyone else, don't I?
0:17:58 > 0:18:03When Phoebe comes up, I don't like sharing her, really.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07When we first got divorced and the children...
0:18:07 > 0:18:12It was just wiser for the children to stay where Sophie was.
0:18:12 > 0:18:18All of them to stay together, so that meant one of us was going to have less time with the children.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21Unfortunately that was me because Ian was the main carer.
0:18:21 > 0:18:27But if I was feeling low, I could ring and the kids were with me.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29I could have them at any time.
0:18:29 > 0:18:34There's never been any problems, really.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37So how does it work for you, then?
0:18:37 > 0:18:41OK. If I want to come up then I will, but if something's happening then I won't.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48For a woman,
0:18:48 > 0:18:53for their children to want to stay with their dad, it is hurtful.
0:18:53 > 0:19:00But they are not rejecting you. You come to realise that you are still there whenever they want you.
0:19:00 > 0:19:07It is hard in the beginning, it is really, really hard, but you've just got to learn to adapt, haven't you?
0:19:15 > 0:19:18Since Lissy's parents split up, telecommunications worker Stuart
0:19:18 > 0:19:21has his daughter to stay over two nights a week.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27- Sorry? - When are you going to make pasta?
0:19:27 > 0:19:30When am I going to make pasta? I don't know, maybe tomorrow.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32When you are not here.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36- With a pasta maker machine. - Yeah, my pasta maker, yeah.
0:19:36 > 0:19:41I don't know, I've got some flour, we can do some on the weekend if you like.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44- All right. - We can do some tagliatelle.
0:19:46 > 0:19:53Lissy is Stuart's only child, and he is aware of the effects that divorce have had on the family.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56I tried to put myself in Alicia's shoes.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58I think your mum and dad are your rock in your life.
0:19:58 > 0:20:04They are your life until you get into your...
0:20:04 > 0:20:12late teens, I guess. Yeah, to have that blown apart must have been really hard.
0:20:12 > 0:20:16I grew up in a... my mum and dad are still together.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18I can only imagine what it was like.
0:20:18 > 0:20:23She didn't really show it to us that she was upset but I got quite down about it.
0:20:23 > 0:20:29But I think there are so many other children that both through the same thing.
0:20:29 > 0:20:34I guess a third of Alicia's class in school were going through the same thing.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37I thought, well,
0:20:37 > 0:20:40it's not as if she was the only child in the class.
0:20:40 > 0:20:45I'm sure she will tell you that she could be happier, I guess.
0:20:45 > 0:20:50That's the way... life is. It doesn't always go the way you want.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59Birth doesn't always go to plan either.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02And at the Royal Gwent Hospital, Phoebe's new baby brother
0:21:02 > 0:21:06has needed special care for the last three months.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12Hello.
0:21:12 > 0:21:13There he is.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16- Go and see a brother. Gave him a big kiss.- He's standing!
0:21:23 > 0:21:24I'm really excited.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28Now the family will be complete now.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31Living as one rather than living between doors and
0:21:31 > 0:21:36feeling guilty if you are spending half your time at the hospital and half your time at home.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40You spread yourself around too many people and you're spread thin.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43It's quite hard then because you feel anxious.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47Worrying about the boys and worrying about him, worrying about Phoebe.
0:21:47 > 0:21:54It'll be nice coming home because we can just sit with him, like we are now, talking...
0:21:54 > 0:21:56We won't have to
0:21:56 > 0:21:58go anywhere.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01Not go anywhere, but he'll be able to come out with us.
0:22:01 > 0:22:03- Living between doors.- Yeah.
0:22:05 > 0:22:10And we'll be able to walk around with him because Jo hasn't been able to do much
0:22:10 > 0:22:13in the hospital. It will be better.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17- Do you like being a big sister? - Yeah, it's nice.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21What did you prefer, being a little sister or a big sister?
0:22:23 > 0:22:25Little sister.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28I like little sister because I didn't have to do anything.
0:22:28 > 0:22:33Big sister you have to look after him, because they are lovely.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35That's a good thing though, isn't it?
0:22:35 > 0:22:37Yeah.
0:22:37 > 0:22:38Quite heavy.
0:22:42 > 0:22:49After 101 days on the unit, Phoebe and the family can now take her new baby brother Joseph home.
0:23:00 > 0:23:07At Caldicot Castle back in 1998, Deborah was heavily pregnant and working as a singing waitress.
0:23:11 > 0:23:17# I love him but every day I'm learning
0:23:17 > 0:23:20# All my life
0:23:20 > 0:23:24# I've only been pretending
0:23:24 > 0:23:29# Without me his world will go on turning
0:23:29 > 0:23:32# A world that's full of happiness that I have never known... #
0:23:37 > 0:23:39That's when my mum was singing on live TV.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43I don't hear that often any more, but she's really good.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48She hasn't been singing that much recently.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52She hasn't been doing any work to do with that.
0:23:52 > 0:23:58Me and my dad went to see one of the shows she was doing in Newport.
0:23:58 > 0:24:00It was really good.
0:24:00 > 0:24:08I had tears in my eyes because it was so long since I'd heard my mum sing. She was amazing.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10That's lovely. So you are proud of your mum?
0:24:10 > 0:24:14Yeah. But she is embarrassing.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17I want sound as well as action. Ahh. Let's hear ahh...
0:24:19 > 0:24:24Deborah used her talent to qualify as a performing arts lecturer.
0:24:24 > 0:24:30That was a definite noisy in-breath there, Ryan.
0:24:30 > 0:24:36As a voice teacher, she trains the performing artists of the future at Newport University.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39Nee-ee-ee!
0:24:39 > 0:24:43Pumpkin head!
0:24:43 > 0:24:45OK, off you all go.
0:24:45 > 0:24:50And juggling motherhood and work has been a constant challenge.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53Pumpkin head.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57I stayed at home until she was six, so she was used to me being around.
0:24:57 > 0:25:04I always worked part-time, but full-time work and things like that...
0:25:04 > 0:25:10I know it was very, very tough on her last year, but again you've got to go where the work is.
0:25:10 > 0:25:15I know that she works. I've only just started to appreciate that.
0:25:15 > 0:25:22But I didn't actually know how much it costs and stuff.
0:25:24 > 0:25:31But I've learned that she does it for me and my brother and my mum's boyfriend.
0:25:31 > 0:25:35I've learned she does it to put food on the table.
0:25:35 > 0:25:40She's trying, and she tries hard to look for jobs as well.
0:25:45 > 0:25:51In the last decade, nearly 70,000 marriages in Wales ended in divorce.
0:25:51 > 0:25:59For the millennium babies, like Lissy and Phoebe, their future is growing up in blended family units.
0:26:00 > 0:26:02She's drawing a picture of me.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06They've all turned out really well.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09Considering what they've been through, they could have been
0:26:09 > 0:26:12extremely unruly kids.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16Please don't, just turn it over.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20Phoebe is doing exceptionally well in school and is well liked as well.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23Every time she has her school reports it's always,
0:26:23 > 0:26:26really sorry to see Phoebe going into the next class,
0:26:26 > 0:26:29we'll miss her. It's nice to hear that.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33I've never really had any bad reports about any of the kids.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36You can do tricks.
0:26:36 > 0:26:42I hope for my future to be either an art teacher or I would like to be
0:26:42 > 0:26:47one of them people who design art for the cars and then spray it.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50I want to get a nice job because if you think about
0:26:50 > 0:26:54having a child first then you might not be able to provide for the child
0:26:54 > 0:26:57if you haven't got a good and steady job.
0:26:59 > 0:27:05If you are not educated and don't get a good job and you have a baby, it's not going to be much use.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14Lissy is lucky to have access to both of her parents,
0:27:14 > 0:27:17which is not always the case in family separation.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21I know that...
0:27:21 > 0:27:23a lot of guys go through...
0:27:23 > 0:27:25the same as I have.
0:27:25 > 0:27:30Families split up and a lot of men lose contact with their kids.
0:27:30 > 0:27:35I just could not imagine that. That's just unthinkable in my eyes.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40I want to do something fun with my life.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44In order to do that I guess I have to get a job, but
0:27:44 > 0:27:49I wouldn't really want to just sit in the office all day like my dad.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51It's not me.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53The ones of the landscape were crap.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56Yeah, it's the close-up ones that are good, aren't they?
0:27:56 > 0:27:58- Do I what?- Swear very often.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01Did I say crap? Is crap a swear word?
0:28:03 > 0:28:06- Is it?- Well, yeah, it's not very nice, is it?- Oh...
0:28:11 > 0:28:14Next time on Welsh Millennium Babies...
0:28:15 > 0:28:18Tom makes his first public speech.
0:28:18 > 0:28:25I'm going to be talking about when we raised money and how we raised money for the charity, um...
0:28:27 > 0:28:28ShelterBox.
0:28:28 > 0:28:33And Joseph shows off his musical talent.
0:28:33 > 0:28:35Well done, Joe.
0:28:46 > 0:28:48Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd