0:00:01 > 0:00:04Families can be driven apart for all manner of reasons.
0:00:04 > 0:00:07I had no information at all about where my mum went.
0:00:07 > 0:00:09And when you do lose touch with your loved ones...
0:00:09 > 0:00:12You don't know who you are, where have you come from.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14..finding them can take a lifetime.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16I might have a brother that's
0:00:16 > 0:00:18still living here.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21Especially when they could be anywhere,
0:00:21 > 0:00:22at home or abroad.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26And that's where the Family Finders come in.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28From international organisations...
0:00:28 > 0:00:31Hi, it's the Salvation Army Family Tracing Service.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34..to genealogy detective agencies...
0:00:34 > 0:00:38For someone to say that it's changed their life, it makes coming to work,
0:00:38 > 0:00:40you know, really, really special.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42..and dedicated one-man bands...
0:00:42 > 0:00:46It's a matter of how much effort you really want to put into it,
0:00:46 > 0:00:48how badly you want to solve the problem.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52..they hunt through history to bring families back together again.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55Finding new family is wonderful.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59In this series, we follow the work of the Family Finders.
0:00:59 > 0:01:04Suddenly, you get one spark of breakthrough and there they are.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06Learning the tricks they use
0:01:06 > 0:01:08to track missing relatives through time.
0:01:08 > 0:01:13I didn't think I'd ever find my sisters, but I have.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17And meeting the people whose lives they change along the way.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20I've been waiting to meet John my whole life.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23Since we've met, I feel part of a family again.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25You just completed my life for me.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34Many families get torn apart and it can take years of detective work to
0:01:34 > 0:01:36find out why.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39Often financial difficulties can lead to relatives being
0:01:39 > 0:01:42separated. Sometimes ill health gets in the way,
0:01:42 > 0:01:44and occasionally it's the
0:01:44 > 0:01:47sheer volume of offspring that can lead to desperate measures.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51Today, we follow two such cases.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55Tony Robinson who found out late in life that he had siblings he never
0:01:55 > 0:01:57knew existed.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59And then she dropped a bombshell on me.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01She said, "What about Ian?"
0:02:01 > 0:02:05and I might have used the words I said but along the lines of,
0:02:05 > 0:02:08"Who's Ian?" She said, "Well, the other one that we had adopted."
0:02:08 > 0:02:09I said, "What other one?"
0:02:09 > 0:02:11And Lorraine Hall who grew up
0:02:11 > 0:02:13believing she was a legitimate only child
0:02:13 > 0:02:17until the funeral of a family friend revealed the shocking truth.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20And I remember saying, "No, no."
0:02:20 > 0:02:22And she said, "Get in the car.
0:02:22 > 0:02:23She was your mother."
0:02:29 > 0:02:34Tony Robinson was born in 1953 and was brought up in Carshalton, Surrey
0:02:34 > 0:02:38by his parents, Shirley and Raymond Robinson.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42Growing up, there's meself, me sister Linda, me sister Carol,
0:02:42 > 0:02:45me sister Diane, me brother Michael and then me sister Marion.
0:02:45 > 0:02:46That was the family.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51A great upbringing, just lower class, not a lot of money.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54There were six of us living in a three-bedroom house.
0:02:55 > 0:02:56When he was 12,
0:02:56 > 0:03:01a childhood illness resulted in Tony being sent away to what was known as
0:03:01 > 0:03:04an open air school in the countryside to recuperate.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08I was asthmatic so I was sent away to this health school
0:03:08 > 0:03:09down in Guildford.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11And I was there for a couple of years.
0:03:11 > 0:03:16'65 to '67 and I was boarding there.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19It was during the two years that Tony was boarding
0:03:19 > 0:03:20at the open air school
0:03:20 > 0:03:24that his parents had to make a heartbreaking decision.
0:03:24 > 0:03:29I can remember once being about 10 or 11, that sort of age,
0:03:29 > 0:03:32in the back garden. I can remember me mum and dad coming out to say,
0:03:32 > 0:03:34"We've had a boy named Stephen.
0:03:34 > 0:03:35"We've had to have him adopted."
0:03:35 > 0:03:38But at that age, I didn't know what adopted meant.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42I had no idea. And it was never discussed afterwards, ever.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46Following the death of his parents decades later,
0:03:46 > 0:03:50a chance discovery set off an incredible chain of events.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53When me mum died it was down to me.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57So, I came down, spent a few days down here sorting out paperwork.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01And I came across this Christmas card and a photo
0:04:01 > 0:04:06and a letter from West Sussex Adoption Agency, so I thought,
0:04:06 > 0:04:10"Well, what's all this about?" When I saw the name Stephen,
0:04:10 > 0:04:11I put two and two together.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14I suddenly remembered who Stephen was.
0:04:14 > 0:04:19Just a flashback of being told about 10 or 11 that they had a boy named
0:04:19 > 0:04:22Stephen adopted. So that really set me thinking, oh, what's this all about?
0:04:25 > 0:04:28Tony was intrigued by the mysterious address
0:04:28 > 0:04:30on the back of one of the envelopes.
0:04:31 > 0:04:32So what I did was,
0:04:32 > 0:04:36we wrote a letter saying who we were, what we're doing,
0:04:36 > 0:04:38why we're trying to do what we're doing
0:04:38 > 0:04:40and we sent it to that address and
0:04:40 > 0:04:43after about a month, we never got a reply back.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45And we thought, "Well, what can we do now?"
0:04:45 > 0:04:49The next step was to trawl through phone directories in an attempt to
0:04:49 > 0:04:52match a name to an address to find a contact number.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56We did find a phone number, rang it up and it wasn't...
0:04:56 > 0:04:59It was the right phone number but the wrong person.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04They didn't live there any more but they did have a number.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06I gave her my number and, blow me, I got a phone call back.
0:05:06 > 0:05:11We spoke to Jenny, which was Stephen's ex-wife at that time,
0:05:11 > 0:05:15and she just went mental in the nicest possible way
0:05:15 > 0:05:17that you could think of.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20She was screaming and jumping up and down.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22She said, "Do you realise how long he's been looking for you?"
0:05:22 > 0:05:25She said, "I'm going to have to ring him."
0:05:25 > 0:05:27Within the hour, Tony found himself on the phone
0:05:27 > 0:05:30to the brother he'd never known.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32And he said, "Hi, Tony. This is your brother, Stephen."
0:05:34 > 0:05:35And I just gave the phone to me wife.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38I just couldn't take it in for a few minutes.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41You know, she was chatting to him as if he'd known her all his life.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44You know, then I had to come back and compose meself and then we just
0:05:44 > 0:05:48spoke for hours and hours about all sorts of things.
0:05:49 > 0:05:54Following that emotional phone call, the brothers met up,
0:05:54 > 0:05:56and Tony and Stephen are now in regular contact,
0:05:56 > 0:05:58but the story didn't end there.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01And then I was speaking to me younger sister, Marion,
0:06:01 > 0:06:04and she was obviously elated and ecstatic
0:06:04 > 0:06:06and then she dropped a bombshell on me.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08She said, "Fantastic news."
0:06:08 > 0:06:10She said, "What about Ian?"
0:06:10 > 0:06:14And I might have used the words I said but along the lines of,
0:06:14 > 0:06:17"Who's Ian?" She said, "Well, the other one that we had adopted."
0:06:17 > 0:06:20I said, "What other one?" And she said, "You must've known?"
0:06:20 > 0:06:23I said, "No, I know nothing about Ian at all."
0:06:23 > 0:06:26I just didn't know. I knew nothing.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29Having just found one missing brother,
0:06:29 > 0:06:32Tony was about to start searching all over again.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43Lorraine Hall was born in 1964
0:06:43 > 0:06:49and raised in Birmingham as the only child of Pat and Ray Edwards.
0:06:49 > 0:06:57I was brought up believing that Pat and Ray were my natural parents.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59I had no reason to doubt that.
0:06:59 > 0:07:04Growing up, Lorraine spent lots of time with a family friend, Sylvia,
0:07:04 > 0:07:07who lived nearby with her 11 children.
0:07:07 > 0:07:11Sylvia was known to me as Pat's friend.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13We used to go and have visits
0:07:13 > 0:07:17and I used to go and play with Sylvia's children.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20But when Lorraine was 15,
0:07:20 > 0:07:25Sylvia died and a huge family secret was dramatically unveiled at the
0:07:25 > 0:07:27funeral, attended by Lorraine and her parents.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33I remember being asked, when the children
0:07:33 > 0:07:36were getting into the main family car, to join them.
0:07:37 > 0:07:42And Pat came to me and she pointed and she directed me to get into the
0:07:42 > 0:07:44family front car and I said, "No.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46"No, I can't."
0:07:46 > 0:07:48And Pat was quite forceful.
0:07:48 > 0:07:53I remember her putting her hands on my shoulders and saying to me,
0:07:53 > 0:07:54"Come on, now, get in the car."
0:07:54 > 0:07:59And I remember standing up to Pat which I didn't do very often,
0:07:59 > 0:08:01but I remember saying, "No.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03"No." And she said, "Get in the car.
0:08:03 > 0:08:05"She was your mother."
0:08:07 > 0:08:12After 15 years of believing she was the only child of Pat and Ray,
0:08:12 > 0:08:14Lorraine was stunned by the shock revelation
0:08:14 > 0:08:17that Sylvia was, in fact, her biological mother.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20I just remember holding my head down in shame.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26Not, not being able to breathe.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29Not being able to remember anything.
0:08:30 > 0:08:31In a heartbeat,
0:08:31 > 0:08:34Lorraine discovered not only that her mother
0:08:34 > 0:08:35wasn't who she thought she was,
0:08:35 > 0:08:38but that the childhood friends she'd grown up playing with were
0:08:38 > 0:08:41actually her brothers and sisters.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44Knowing that
0:08:44 > 0:08:48I am one of 12 children, and been brought up an only child...
0:08:51 > 0:08:53I, I...
0:08:55 > 0:08:57Words, sometimes...
0:09:01 > 0:09:04The truth behind why Lorraine was the only child
0:09:04 > 0:09:07not to be raised by her birth mother remained a mystery
0:09:07 > 0:09:10and as quickly as Lorraine had discovered
0:09:10 > 0:09:13she had siblings, she lost them again.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15Until her death at the age of 46,
0:09:15 > 0:09:1911 of Sylvia's 12 children had been in her care
0:09:19 > 0:09:23but following the funeral, the children were split up.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26The eldest left home, some went into care,
0:09:26 > 0:09:30and the youngest moved away from the area with their father.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33The biggest thing for me at the time,
0:09:33 > 0:09:37and it's something I struggled all my life with,
0:09:37 > 0:09:39was the untruths.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42Maybe Pat or Ray or both of them
0:09:42 > 0:09:45could have sat me down and told me the truth,
0:09:45 > 0:09:48that Sylvia was my birth mother.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51Lorraine went on to leave home, get married
0:09:51 > 0:09:53and raise a family of her own.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56But questions about the whereabouts of her brothers and sisters and what
0:09:56 > 0:09:59had become of them plagued her.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01Didn't know what country they was in,
0:10:01 > 0:10:03didn't know what city they was in.
0:10:03 > 0:10:09Hoping, longing one day to be able to walk down the street to see them.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15Lorraine began trawling genealogy websites for any trace
0:10:15 > 0:10:18of Sylvia's 11 children.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20That many times it came up blank.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23I was searching and I still could not get nowhere
0:10:23 > 0:10:25and then this one day out of the blue...
0:10:27 > 0:10:31I had a match that popped up and it was a proper match
0:10:31 > 0:10:34and it matched the age, it matched the information
0:10:34 > 0:10:36I'd already discovered.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40It matched local location in Birmingham
0:10:40 > 0:10:44and I thought, maybe this could be it.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48But when Lorraine tried to access the details of the family tree,
0:10:48 > 0:10:52she found it was a locked, private profile and to be granted access,
0:10:52 > 0:10:57she would have to write to the administrator and introduce herself.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00The administrator passed Lorraine's e-mail on
0:11:00 > 0:11:03and a week later came a reply.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07When I saw the name popped up that I had an e-mail,
0:11:07 > 0:11:09every emotion you could ever imagine.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14I was happy, I couldn't believe it.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18I was scared. For the worries and woes and rejection.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21Maybe they don't want to know.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23Maybe they don't want to be part of your life.
0:11:23 > 0:11:28All Lorraine could do now was to sit back and wait to find out if these
0:11:28 > 0:11:31really were the siblings she was so desperate to find.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33- Do you recognise that?- Yeah.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35- I don't.- It's Mum's purse.
0:11:35 > 0:11:36Mum's purse.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43In Surrey, Tony Robinson had successfully tracked down
0:11:43 > 0:11:46his brother, Stephen, who had been adopted as a baby
0:11:46 > 0:11:49but his sense of achievement was short-lived
0:11:49 > 0:11:52when his sister dropped a bombshell.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54While Tony had been away at boarding school,
0:11:54 > 0:11:58there had been another baby boy also adopted out of the family.
0:11:58 > 0:12:03My sisters assumed that I knew that Ian had been born.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06I was away. I was away from home. I knew nothing about it.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08They just assumed I knew and it was just never...like Stephen,
0:12:08 > 0:12:11it was never discussed. But I knew nothing.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16With the small amount of information his sisters had given him,
0:12:16 > 0:12:19Tony began looking for his second brother.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22His first port of call was the Family Records Centre.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26So I went through the records and found Ian Robinson
0:12:26 > 0:12:29on the 5th or the 6th of December 1967.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33So I found his birth certificate.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36Having uncovered his brother's full name and a date of birth,
0:12:36 > 0:12:40Tony's next step was to visit his local adoption agency
0:12:40 > 0:12:42to try and find a current contact detail for Ian.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45They said they would do what they could
0:12:45 > 0:12:47and they came back after a meeting
0:12:47 > 0:12:50and they said, "We've done some digging for you,
0:12:50 > 0:12:53"we've discovered he's changed his name.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55"But we're not allowed to tell you what his name is."
0:12:55 > 0:12:57So, I wasn't happy.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02And I said, "Well, how the hell am I going to find him?"
0:13:02 > 0:13:04He said, "It's down to him."
0:13:04 > 0:13:06"If he wants to find you, he'll find you."
0:13:06 > 0:13:10It looked like Tony's search had hit a brick wall.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15I was going through every emotion possible - elation, frustration.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17But little did Tony know
0:13:17 > 0:13:20he wasn't the only one who was looking for a lost brother.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23I was sitting on me laptop just using social media.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25and I saw this message appear.
0:13:25 > 0:13:30Um... And I read it, and I thought, "What's this all about?"
0:13:30 > 0:13:33It was a name that I never knew. Wasn't friends with anybody.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35And his name suddenly appeared.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39And it was saying along the lines of, "Hi, my name is Martin.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44"I've been told from an early age I've been adopted,
0:13:44 > 0:13:45"and my family name was Robinson.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47"My parents was this name and that name.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49"I've got my siblings with all the names."
0:13:49 > 0:13:52He said, "I'm just trying to find out if you're my older brother."
0:13:54 > 0:13:57It turned out that Ian had changed his name to Martin
0:13:57 > 0:13:58some years earlier.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02Tony had found his second missing brother
0:14:02 > 0:14:05or rather, his little brother had found him.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07A flurry of e-mails followed.
0:14:08 > 0:14:13It was emotional even though we were on the end of a phone, it was still,
0:14:13 > 0:14:15like, "I'm talking to me brother",
0:14:15 > 0:14:20you know, this is someone I know absolutely nothing about
0:14:20 > 0:14:22but it was my brother.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25During the course of that week, I spoke to him
0:14:25 > 0:14:27every day for hours and hours,
0:14:27 > 0:14:29just talking about everything and nothing.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31Just to hear his voice.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35Martin had been adopted when he was seven months old.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38I always knew I was adopted from a very early age.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41I always knew that my name was Ian Robinson
0:14:41 > 0:14:44and I was the youngest of eight.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47Only really when me mum passed away that...
0:14:49 > 0:14:50..there was a...
0:14:50 > 0:14:52a stirring, shall we say.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55I think, because, out of respect,
0:14:55 > 0:14:59when my parents were still alive, they were my parents.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03But when his mum died she left him some paperwork
0:15:03 > 0:15:06and it contained some intriguing information.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11It's basically a history of my family
0:15:11 > 0:15:14that was given to my mum and dad when I was adopted.
0:15:14 > 0:15:19It tells me the years that me brothers and sisters were born in.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22It also hints as to why I was adopted
0:15:22 > 0:15:26and it also explains in it as well that
0:15:26 > 0:15:29the next one above me, Stephen, was also adopted.
0:15:29 > 0:15:30It says in here,
0:15:30 > 0:15:34my mother feels the strain of coping with such a large family
0:15:34 > 0:15:35on limited income.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38So straightaway you can tell that it was financial.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41It explains that what happened with Stephen
0:15:41 > 0:15:44also happened with me for the same reasons.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46Martin decided to apply to the authorities
0:15:46 > 0:15:50for details of his birth family.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52Done it online and made the application.
0:15:53 > 0:15:59And put a request in for the adoption papers and family records.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02All in all, I think it took about eight months.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09Today, Martin, Ian and another of his new-found siblings,
0:16:09 > 0:16:10Diane, are meeting up.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15Their other adopted brother Stephen would have loved to have joined them
0:16:15 > 0:16:18but his daughter is about to have a baby any day.
0:16:20 > 0:16:22- Are you nervous?- Yeah.- Are you?
0:16:26 > 0:16:30- Hiya, bro.- Hiya. - Come on in.- How are you?
0:16:31 > 0:16:35- Long time no see.- I know, it's good, isn't it, to see you again?
0:16:38 > 0:16:40- How you doing, young man? Nice to see you.- All right.
0:16:40 > 0:16:41Nice to see you again.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46With over 40 years of family life to catch up on,
0:16:46 > 0:16:48the siblings are keen to fill each other in
0:16:48 > 0:16:50on the time they were apart.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54And they're starting by swapping some treasured family snaps.
0:16:54 > 0:16:58Now that is the earliest one that I've actually got of myself.
0:16:58 > 0:16:59- Now...- Pick you out.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03..pick me out and that. Yeah, there's a football team at school.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05- It's that one.- Yeah. - You're the goalkeeper.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07- The goalkeeper.- Obviously runs in the family, then.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10I was a goalkeeper. Smallest player there, but I was a goalkeeper.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14Same here. I'm virtually the smallest one there.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16- That there.- Oh, that's old. - It is.- They're really old.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19That is us all on holiday at Butlins.
0:17:19 > 0:17:20But that's Nan and grandad,
0:17:20 > 0:17:23and I don't even remember them being on holiday with us.
0:17:23 > 0:17:24- That's Dad's mum and dad.- All right.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27And, obviously, Dad must have taken the picture.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31We all had long hair and before we went away Dad made us all wear short
0:17:31 > 0:17:35- back and sides.- You know, the old pudding-basin.- Yeah, I remember.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38I cried my eyes out. I really did.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40Now that I'm actually seeing some of the pictures,
0:17:40 > 0:17:44I can actually get the feel of what it was like as a Robinson family.
0:17:44 > 0:17:48And I do actually regret not being part of it,
0:17:48 > 0:17:53but, obviously, that wasn't my choice at the time.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57And obviously, not being involved, there's so much, like,
0:17:57 > 0:17:59history that you've got,
0:17:59 > 0:18:03but it's nice, it's really nice, to see the pictures.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07- I'm glad you're with us now. - Oh, yeah, definitely.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10And they're all looking forward to yet another new addition
0:18:10 > 0:18:12to the family.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14- I haven't heard from Stephen. He's not a grandad yet.- No?
0:18:14 > 0:18:17I'm still waiting. I said, it don't matter if it's one
0:18:17 > 0:18:18in the afternoon, or three in the morning,
0:18:18 > 0:18:21- you need to let me know straightaway.- Is he excited?
0:18:21 > 0:18:24Extremely. Yeah, he's like a cat on a hot tin roof at the moment.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26- Yeah.- He's really excited.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29This was actually something that I never expected was going to happen
0:18:29 > 0:18:35because I had my own family and so this was the last thing on my mind.
0:18:35 > 0:18:37But now it's happened,
0:18:37 > 0:18:39it's nice because they're so welcoming
0:18:39 > 0:18:41and I feel as though that I've been
0:18:41 > 0:18:45part of the family for a lot longer than I actually have.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49Now Martin has come back into our lives, we will never let him go.
0:18:49 > 0:18:50He's part of our family.
0:18:51 > 0:18:52Always will be.
0:18:54 > 0:18:59It had to become my mission in life to somehow get us all together as a
0:18:59 > 0:19:01family. That was it.
0:19:01 > 0:19:06It just has to be. You know, and now it's happened, it's, well,
0:19:06 > 0:19:09we're just starting out again now and
0:19:09 > 0:19:11we just can't wait to keep it going.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23In Birmingham, Lorraine Hall was trying to track down siblings
0:19:23 > 0:19:25years after the shock discovery, at 15,
0:19:25 > 0:19:28that the woman she thought was a family friend
0:19:28 > 0:19:31was actually her biological mother.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34When a family finding website threw up a match,
0:19:34 > 0:19:38Lorraine contacted the genealogist involved.
0:19:38 > 0:19:40It turned out that he had been researching the family
0:19:40 > 0:19:44for his friend who lived 300 miles away in Scotland.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48Her name was Donna, and she was one of Sylvia's daughters.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52Lorraine had found one of the 11 siblings she'd been searching for.
0:19:52 > 0:19:56Very happy to send her an e-mail.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59And she took a couple of days to reply back.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02I think she was so, sort of, shocked.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06Donna was the youngest of Sylvia's children.
0:20:06 > 0:20:11I was born in 1975 in Birmingham, the last of well, at the time,
0:20:11 > 0:20:14there were only 11 children that my mum had.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18Knew about or knew of my half brothers and sisters
0:20:18 > 0:20:21cos two or three of them, sort of, lived with us, on and off,
0:20:21 > 0:20:23in the first sort of few years.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28After Sylvia died, Donna's father took her,
0:20:28 > 0:20:31her sister and her brother to live in Great Yarmouth
0:20:31 > 0:20:35and they lost touch with the rest of the family.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39I don't know what happened. We just lost touch and I think, you know,
0:20:39 > 0:20:41the Christmas cards eventually stopped,
0:20:41 > 0:20:43and that's sadly what happened.
0:20:43 > 0:20:45The communication line faded away.
0:20:47 > 0:20:48Then, years later,
0:20:48 > 0:20:52a health scare prompted Donna to pick up the search.
0:20:52 > 0:20:57I'd had breast cancer at 26 and
0:20:57 > 0:21:00we went to the family history clinic and, of course,
0:21:00 > 0:21:03they were interested to know, well, let's have a look at your,
0:21:03 > 0:21:06you know, maternal side and see if it's genetic from that.
0:21:07 > 0:21:12I then had to try and remember their details that would be nice to find
0:21:12 > 0:21:14and even to warn them.
0:21:14 > 0:21:19Certainly if the cancer was genetic from Mum's side.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22Donna's diagnosis now gave extra impetus
0:21:22 > 0:21:24to her search to trace her relatives.
0:21:24 > 0:21:29I can remember trawling through the Friends Reunited school
0:21:29 > 0:21:31list trying to sort of have a rough guess. OK, well,
0:21:31 > 0:21:33they would have gone to school.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36I know roughly where we lived so they would have gone to school
0:21:36 > 0:21:38around there. They, you know...
0:21:38 > 0:21:41but going through and then no names were obviously coming up.
0:21:42 > 0:21:44Struggling, Donna turned to a friend,
0:21:44 > 0:21:48an amateur genealogist for help and he began to build
0:21:48 > 0:21:50an online family tree for her.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54My friend had put on one of the forums
0:21:54 > 0:21:58looking for information about my mum and her husband.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01Lorraine had seen that.
0:22:01 > 0:22:03I think her heart must have skipped a beat and she went,
0:22:03 > 0:22:05"That's my mum."
0:22:06 > 0:22:11Lorraine and Donna were soon exchanging a flood of e-mails.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14"Sorry it's taken a few days to reply,
0:22:14 > 0:22:18"to be honest, I did not know where to start.
0:22:18 > 0:22:19"I suppose I've been in shock.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23"Having this contact has always been my secret ambition.
0:22:23 > 0:22:24"And a dream.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27"And I longed deep down but I thought it would never happen.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33"I'm so looking forward to hearing back from you. Thank you."
0:22:36 > 0:22:39The sisters arrange to meet.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42I got there. I was on the steps early.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45I'm always late, but for that I was early.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49And then all of a sudden, I saw this little person...
0:22:49 > 0:22:54..and straight away, looking into her eyes, I could see it was Donna.
0:22:54 > 0:22:56It was like meeting a very old friend for the fir...
0:22:56 > 0:22:59you know, again after a number of years
0:22:59 > 0:23:00when you haven't got to see them.
0:23:00 > 0:23:05I just remember walking round with this silly grin on my face watching
0:23:05 > 0:23:09every movement, watching her walking around.
0:23:09 > 0:23:11But the story didn't end there.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15Donna's research was homing in on another of the siblings.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17An older sister called Belinda.
0:23:18 > 0:23:23I think I might have found Belinda through finding her ex-husband's
0:23:23 > 0:23:24account first.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28It's a bit convoluted way round it but there, again,
0:23:28 > 0:23:31then looking and going,
0:23:31 > 0:23:34"Is that them?" And then,
0:23:34 > 0:23:38you go back and have a look at the family photos
0:23:38 > 0:23:39and think, "Yeah, it is."
0:23:39 > 0:23:42Donna sent a message and waited for a reply.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46I sent a message back straightaway, "Yes, it's me."
0:23:46 > 0:23:48It's Belinda.
0:23:48 > 0:23:49Yeah, it's me.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52So, I thought, "God, Donna's found me."
0:23:52 > 0:23:54How bizarre is that?
0:23:56 > 0:24:00Donna passed Belinda's details onto Lorraine and once in touch,
0:24:00 > 0:24:03they quickly made an astonishing discovery.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08I couldn't believe it.
0:24:08 > 0:24:13Belinda and me had been living less than a mile apart since I had moved
0:24:13 > 0:24:16back to Birmingham three years previously.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19Maybe we had walked past each other on the street.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22Maybe we had been in the same supermarket queue.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26She said, "Shall we meet? Can we meet? Can we meet?"
0:24:26 > 0:24:28I said, "Yeah, yeah, fine. No problem."
0:24:28 > 0:24:31I saw her standing there and I thought...
0:24:32 > 0:24:35The emotions, it was, like, whoa.
0:24:35 > 0:24:36Wow, that's my sister.
0:24:36 > 0:24:42So I broke into a run and we had a massive hug and we were crying and,
0:24:42 > 0:24:44like, "Oh, my God."
0:24:44 > 0:24:46I just fell into her arms.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50I think we stood there for about five, ten minutes, just hugging.
0:24:51 > 0:24:52It had been so long.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55It had been over 40-odd years since I'd seen Belinda.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00And there's so many coincidences
0:25:00 > 0:25:01with Lorraine.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04She only lives down the road from me.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08We'd been so close and yet so far.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15Today is a special day.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18Separated for decades, Donna is on her way
0:25:18 > 0:25:21to meet the older sisters she's missed out on for so many years.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24This morning, we're actually heading to Belinda's house,
0:25:24 > 0:25:25which is the first time I've
0:25:25 > 0:25:29been there, actually, so to meet her and Lorraine.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32So quite excited about that, actually.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45- Hello.- Hello.
0:25:47 > 0:25:48- Hiya.- Hiya.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58And Donna's brought something with sentimental value to show to her sisters.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02I've got one other thing that I've brought down that I thought would be
0:26:02 > 0:26:03interesting to show you.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05What's that?
0:26:07 > 0:26:08Do you recognise that?
0:26:08 > 0:26:09- Yeah.- I don't.
0:26:09 > 0:26:10It was Mum's purse.
0:26:10 > 0:26:12Mum's purse.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14I've had it for years.
0:26:15 > 0:26:17Along with the purse, Donna's brought along
0:26:17 > 0:26:20their mother's favourite pieces of jewellery which she inherited.
0:26:21 > 0:26:26Wow. I haven't seen that in absolutely years.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29How long has it been since you've seen these, then?
0:26:29 > 0:26:32Obviously must be 35 years or more.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34More than that. More than that.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36Do you want any of them?
0:26:36 > 0:26:39- Could I have that?- Of course you can.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41- You're more than welcome to it. - Thank you.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44You'll actually have something of Mum's.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47Thank you for that. I will treasure that.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52I will. It's the only thing I've got of my mum's.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54- Have you not got anything?- No.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58Nothing. That is really nice, to have something of my mum.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03The sisters have planned a trip to the local crematorium where their
0:27:03 > 0:27:06mother's funeral was held all those years ago.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10Here, Sylvia's name has been entered into the book of remembrance.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16- Are you OK?- Yeah, yeah, it's just sad, isn't it?
0:27:17 > 0:27:18It is sad.
0:27:20 > 0:27:25The three of us here today has meant so much.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27I think today's closure.
0:27:27 > 0:27:31- What I needed.- Closure and reopening the next chapter.
0:27:34 > 0:27:39All three sisters are now in regular contact and for the first time,
0:27:42 > 0:27:47Today has been such an emotional journey.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49It's been something
0:27:49 > 0:27:55I've waited a very long time for and to share it today with my sisters...
0:27:58 > 0:28:01..I think it will change me.