0:00:02 > 0:00:05Families can be driven apart for all manner of reasons.
0:00:05 > 0:00:07I had no information at all about where my mum went.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10And when you do lose touch with your loved ones...
0:00:10 > 0:00:12You don't know who you are. Where have you come from?
0:00:12 > 0:00:15..finding them can take a lifetime...
0:00:15 > 0:00:18I might have a brother that's still living here.
0:00:18 > 0:00:23..especially when they could be anywhere - at home or abroad.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26And that's where the Family Finders come in.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28From international organisations...
0:00:28 > 0:00:32Hi, it's The Salvation Army Family Tracing Service.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34..to genealogy detective agencies...
0:00:34 > 0:00:37For them to say that it's changed their life,
0:00:37 > 0:00:40it makes coming to work, you 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 do you really want to put into it,
0:00:46 > 0:00:48how badly you want to solve the problem.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52They 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 > 0:01:07..learning the tricks they use to track missing relatives
0:01:07 > 0:01:08through time...
0:01:08 > 0:01:13I didn't think I'd ever find sisters, but I have.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17..and meeting the people whose lives they change along the way.
0:01:17 > 0:01:19I've been waiting to meet John my whole life.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22Since we've met, I feel part of a family again.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25You've just completed my life for me.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34In the United Kingdom, there are hundreds of organisations
0:01:34 > 0:01:38that specialise in reuniting long-lost families.
0:01:38 > 0:01:43But many people decide to turn Family Finders themselves.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47Today, we follow the story of one woman's search that turns up
0:01:47 > 0:01:50not one, but two surprising results.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54Do I want to really open this Pandora's box, really?
0:01:54 > 0:01:56THEY SQUEAL HAPPILY
0:01:56 > 0:02:00And in Weston-super-Mare, car enthusiast Nick Morgan
0:02:00 > 0:02:04is on a mission to uncover the truth about his birth family.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08And five minutes later, she rang me back and said,
0:02:08 > 0:02:10"I think you may have a sister."
0:02:10 > 0:02:12THEY LAUGH
0:02:12 > 0:02:14Lovely to meet you!
0:02:17 > 0:02:21Jean Heathcote lives in Burton upon Trent, in Staffordshire.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25She was born in 1949 and enjoyed a happy childhood,
0:02:25 > 0:02:27raised by a loving family.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31I was very, very lucky. I was spoilt rotten.
0:02:31 > 0:02:33I had fantastic parents.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37And they...they couldn't do enough for me.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40But certain characteristics seemed at odds
0:02:40 > 0:02:42with the rest of the family.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44I did look very different to my family.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47And I had a very different nature to my family as well.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49I was much more outgoing and noisy.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54It wasn't until much later that Jean realised there was more to
0:02:54 > 0:02:56these differences than she'd originally thought.
0:02:56 > 0:03:02When I was 36, I had to apply for a new passport, and it all came
0:03:02 > 0:03:07through attached together with my adopted birth certificate on there.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11Much to my surprise!
0:03:11 > 0:03:14I realised I had no blood relatives then -
0:03:14 > 0:03:18I had only my children who were my blood relatives -
0:03:18 > 0:03:24and started to research everything that I could about the family.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29From her birth certificate, returned alongside her passport,
0:03:29 > 0:03:32Jean found the name of her biological mother -
0:03:32 > 0:03:33Sheila Mary Kelly.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39She then placed an appeal on Teletext and waited for a response.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43I was going through and I found someone
0:03:43 > 0:03:46who was looking for the same person that I was.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50The message contained too many correct facts to be a coincidence.
0:03:50 > 0:03:55Someone else was searching for Jean's mum, Sheila, but she was hesitant to respond.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00"Do I want to really open this Pandora's box, really?"
0:04:00 > 0:04:03I decided that I wanted to open the box and see what happened.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07Subsequently, I had a phone call from her.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11And she said, "I've been looking for you for 25 years."
0:04:13 > 0:04:15The two women shared a mother,
0:04:15 > 0:04:19Sheila Mary Kelly, making them half-sisters.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23Unbeknownst to Jean, Marie Simmons had also been searching for Sheila.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25It was amazing. It really was.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29I thought, "At last, I've actually managed to find her."
0:04:30 > 0:04:34Marie's adoptive family were always open about her parentage.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38I always knew that I had been adopted because I was
0:04:38 > 0:04:41told at a very early age.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44I wanted to find my birth mother,
0:04:44 > 0:04:46It didn't matter to me what she was like,
0:04:46 > 0:04:52I just wanted to know her and know about her.
0:04:56 > 0:04:57Over the course of many years,
0:04:57 > 0:05:00Marie searched records and organisations
0:05:00 > 0:05:02for any trace of her biological mother,
0:05:02 > 0:05:06until finally, someone replied to one of her messages.
0:05:06 > 0:05:12I had a phone call from a lady saying that she was her sister.
0:05:13 > 0:05:18It was her mother's sister who had spotted the posting and responded.
0:05:18 > 0:05:23Unbelievable! I couldn't believe that somebody had actually replied to me. It was marvellous.
0:05:23 > 0:05:28Anyway, she chatted and told me that my mother was alive,
0:05:28 > 0:05:30but she was living in America.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32And I thought, "Well, does she want to know me?"
0:05:32 > 0:05:35And that was all I kept thinking, "Does she want to know me?"
0:05:35 > 0:05:40It had taken her 15 years to track down her mother, Sheila.
0:05:40 > 0:05:45Well, my aunt and uncle, and myself, we did go to the States...
0:05:45 > 0:05:47It wasn't what I was expecting.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50She was quite withdrawn.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54And it wasn't a particularly successful meeting at all.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56In fact, it was quite sad.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01But not long after she got back from America, Marie received another
0:06:01 > 0:06:06response to her research. It was her sister, Jean.
0:06:06 > 0:06:07It was lovely.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10It was really lovely to get that first touch with somebody who
0:06:10 > 0:06:12actually was related to you.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15That was it. It was marvellous. We've got each other.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21But Jean still had questions about her early life, so turned to
0:06:21 > 0:06:25the wealth of genealogical resources now available on the internet.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29It wasn't long before she got a response.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32I had a message from a lady called Diana Kelly,
0:06:32 > 0:06:38who said, "Hello, I'd like to ask you a few questions
0:06:38 > 0:06:40"cos I think I could be related to you."
0:06:42 > 0:06:45Jean had discovered one new sister, Marie,
0:06:45 > 0:06:48but could there be MORE relatives out there?
0:06:48 > 0:06:50Hello! Hello.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04Motor enthusiast Nick Morgan lives in Weston-super-Mare.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08I was adopted when I was three months old.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11I grew up in a very loving household. Only child.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14It was caring...
0:07:14 > 0:07:18And, yeah, I did all the things a little boy should do, I suppose.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21And I always knew that I was adopted, right from the very start.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23I mean, my parents did a great job with that.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26They told me ever since I can remember that I was adopted,
0:07:26 > 0:07:29that I was chosen, that I was special.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33Nick left home, met and married his wife, Jan,
0:07:33 > 0:07:35and in 1997 had a son.
0:07:35 > 0:07:40and it was this that inspired him to trace his family lineage.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42A conversation with a friend
0:07:42 > 0:07:43added fuel to the fire.
0:07:43 > 0:07:47I became inspired by someone that I'd met through work
0:07:47 > 0:07:51who'd actually decided that he wanted to find his birth mother.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54And I went, "Oh, OK, that's interesting. How do you do that?"
0:07:54 > 0:07:56And he said, "Well, first of all,
0:07:56 > 0:07:58"you need to get your birth certificate."
0:07:58 > 0:08:00And I said, "Well, I've got a birth certificate."
0:08:00 > 0:08:03And he said, "No, you need to get your ORIGINAL birth certificate."
0:08:03 > 0:08:06I said, "OK, yeah, fine." And he said,
0:08:06 > 0:08:09"That will give you then the details of your birth parents,
0:08:09 > 0:08:13"and then you need to contact social services once you've got that
0:08:13 > 0:08:16"certificate, and they will help you then to track that person down."
0:08:16 > 0:08:21That was when I found out that I was John Francis Lowe,
0:08:21 > 0:08:25having been Nicholas John Morgan for 40-odd years.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29And then social services stepped in and gave me the red file that had
0:08:29 > 0:08:33all the details in about my birth and where I'd been, etc.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37He had a name for his birth mother - Norah Lowe.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39Once I got the file from social services,
0:08:39 > 0:08:42it then became apparent that my mother was born in Ireland.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45One of the things that I used to say to people was that it would be
0:08:45 > 0:08:47really nice to have a photo of my mum,
0:08:47 > 0:08:50but I never thought that was going to be possible.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54Nick was able to get his biological mother's birth
0:08:54 > 0:08:57certificate from the record offices in Ireland.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00So we actually then found that my birth mother had lived
0:09:00 > 0:09:05in Coventry, got married to a guy in Coventry in 1968
0:09:05 > 0:09:07and became Boulding.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10A chance encounter at a business networking event
0:09:10 > 0:09:13changed his life forever.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15I sat down next to this lady I'd never met before,
0:09:15 > 0:09:18so I asked the question, you know, "What's your name?
0:09:18 > 0:09:19"Where do you come from? What do you do?"
0:09:19 > 0:09:21And she said, "My name is Kirsty Gray.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23"I find people for various reasons,
0:09:23 > 0:09:25"whether people are looking for inheritances or
0:09:25 > 0:09:28"whether they are trying to trace their family."
0:09:28 > 0:09:32I first of all had a look to see if I could find a death for his mother
0:09:32 > 0:09:36in her married name, and I couldn't.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40So I then looked to see if potentially she'd married again.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42And she did.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45So I then had a new married name to look at
0:09:45 > 0:09:49and then managed to locate a death record.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52I e-mailed Nick to say, "When you have a quiet five minutes,
0:09:52 > 0:09:53"you might want to ring me."
0:09:53 > 0:09:57So I rang her up and she said, "I found your mum."
0:09:57 > 0:10:01I went, "Whoa!" And she went, "Hang on, she has died."
0:10:01 > 0:10:03"OK, not unexpected."
0:10:03 > 0:10:05But the story didn't end there.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09Knowing Nick was desperate to see that elusive
0:10:09 > 0:10:13photograph of his mum, Kirsty had another lead on Norah's life.
0:10:13 > 0:10:17The second married name of Norah, Nick's mum,
0:10:17 > 0:10:19was actually quite unusual.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23So once we'd found out her husband's name, we actually
0:10:23 > 0:10:28had found that he was still living and we had an address for him.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32Kirsty drafted a contact letter to Norah's widower.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35Basically, the letter is just explaining a little bit
0:10:35 > 0:10:37about who we are, but asking him to contact us.
0:10:37 > 0:10:42Kirsty sent off the letter and we had no response for over a week.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45Nick was determined not to give up his search for his long-lost
0:10:45 > 0:10:50relatives and decided to take matters into his own hands.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53Having not received a reply to the letter that we'd sent,
0:10:53 > 0:10:56I had a Friday afternoon call from Nick to say that he was
0:10:56 > 0:10:58actually travelling to Coventry the following day.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02And he said he was just going to pop by and see if he might be
0:11:02 > 0:11:05able to meet the gentleman we'd written the letter to.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08Kirsty had said, "It's not normal to go and do these things,
0:11:08 > 0:11:10"but if we're not getting any joy,
0:11:10 > 0:11:13"then I guess we don't probably have a lot of choice.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15"So see how you get on."
0:11:15 > 0:11:18So I built up my courage, rang the doorbell.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21A gentleman came to the doorbell and said, "Who are you?"
0:11:21 > 0:11:23And I said, "Well, my name's Nick Morgan.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26"You may have had a letter from Kirsty Gray."
0:11:26 > 0:11:29And he said, "Yes."
0:11:29 > 0:11:31And he invited me in.
0:11:31 > 0:11:37And then we chatted for an hour about, um...Norah,
0:11:37 > 0:11:39or Noreen as she had then become.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42Having had the conversation, I said,
0:11:42 > 0:11:45"I don't suppose that you've got a photo of Noreen?"
0:11:45 > 0:11:49And he said, "Yes, there's a photo behind you."
0:11:49 > 0:11:52So I said, "Oh, that's fantastic."
0:11:52 > 0:11:54It was just that moment of going...
0:11:54 > 0:11:58I'd finally achieved that goal that when I thought that the doors
0:11:58 > 0:12:01were closed, the wall was built and I was never going to see it.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03And there it was in front of me.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06So it was, yeah, just getting to that point and going,
0:12:06 > 0:12:08"Yeah, finally got there."
0:12:08 > 0:12:13And Noreen's widower had more news about his mother.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16Could Nick's search for his family be about to reveal more than
0:12:16 > 0:12:18just a photo?
0:12:18 > 0:12:21He thought Noreen had had another child.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24So when I came out, I rang Kirsty and said, "He said that there's
0:12:24 > 0:12:27"another child, but I don't think there's anything in it."
0:12:27 > 0:12:30And she said, "OK, well, I'll just check it out."
0:12:30 > 0:12:33And five minutes later, she rang me back and said,
0:12:33 > 0:12:35"I think you may have a sister."
0:12:43 > 0:12:47Jean Heathcote's search for her birth mother had also
0:12:47 > 0:12:52revealed an unexpected discovery - a half sister, Marie.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55But when both sisters had made contact with their mother,
0:12:55 > 0:12:57their advances had been rejected.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01So Jean's quest for details about her early life continued.
0:13:01 > 0:13:06I had a message from a lady called Diana Kelly, who said,
0:13:06 > 0:13:10"Hello, I'd like to ask you a few questions
0:13:10 > 0:13:12"cos I think I could be related to you."
0:13:13 > 0:13:17Diana Kelly, from Bristol, had been browsing a family finding
0:13:17 > 0:13:21website in the hope of finding out about her birth mother.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25I was just going through this site, and suddenly,
0:13:25 > 0:13:27up came my mum's name, Sheila Mary Kelly.
0:13:28 > 0:13:33It turned out that Jean and Marie had yet another half-sister.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35Well, I was born in 1951 in St Mary's,
0:13:35 > 0:13:37in Paddington, London.
0:13:37 > 0:13:42Within six weeks, I was handed over to a foster family.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45Diana stayed in care until she was old enough to rent
0:13:45 > 0:13:47a flat of her own.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51Now she felt independent enough to begin to trace her family.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56You know, I wanted to know a bit of who I belonged to.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00I think you need...you want a sense of...
0:14:08 > 0:14:10..a sense of belonging, really.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17Diana applied to the General Register Office to find out
0:14:17 > 0:14:20more information about her mother.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22The only information I actually had on my mother
0:14:22 > 0:14:24was her birth certificate.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26I knew her name was Sheila Mary Kelly,
0:14:26 > 0:14:29where she was living while she was expecting me,
0:14:29 > 0:14:32her date of birth, and that was it.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35Hampered by a lack of information and self-doubt,
0:14:35 > 0:14:39Diana went through years of unsuccessful searching.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42In 2009, came a glimmer of hope
0:14:42 > 0:14:45when she was browsing a family finding website.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49I was just sat there one day, going through it,
0:14:49 > 0:14:53and my mum's name popped up on there.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56So I kept reading it,
0:14:56 > 0:14:58kept reading it, and I'm thinking,
0:14:58 > 0:14:59"Oh, well.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02"As you do, Diana, you know what you're like."
0:15:02 > 0:15:04Picked up the phone, didn't I?
0:15:04 > 0:15:06And I rang her.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10Diana had come across one of the adverts posted by Jean,
0:15:10 > 0:15:14and it seemed they shared a mother who would make them half-sisters.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20Jean told Diana that she had already found their other half-sister,
0:15:20 > 0:15:24so Diana looked her up too.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26I was on Facebook
0:15:26 > 0:15:29and a message came up asking me
0:15:29 > 0:15:33if my mother was called Sheila Mary Kelly.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37And I thought, "Well, yes." So I replied yes.
0:15:37 > 0:15:41And up popped an answer saying,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44"Well, I think that I could be your sister."
0:15:44 > 0:15:46And I thought, "Oh, my, not another one!"
0:15:47 > 0:15:49We chatted for ages.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53Yeah. And the next day. And the next day.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57I feel like I've known her all my life.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00We did meet quite quickly after we spoke on the phone,
0:16:00 > 0:16:02and it was wonderful to see her.
0:16:02 > 0:16:04Today, the three sisters -
0:16:04 > 0:16:06Jean, Marie and Diana -
0:16:06 > 0:16:09are getting together for the first time.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12For decades, they all had been searching for their shared
0:16:12 > 0:16:15mother, unaware of each other's existence.
0:16:17 > 0:16:22Sisterhood is what I aim to get from today.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26I think it's... It will be nice to have that closeness.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29I'm determined now
0:16:29 > 0:16:33because I really do need to have contact with my sisters.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35I am nervous, yeah.
0:16:37 > 0:16:38And excited.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47- Hello.- Hello, you!
0:16:47 > 0:16:49THEY SQUEAL HAPPILY
0:16:50 > 0:16:53It's lovely! It's wonderful.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56- Have a seat, darling.- Thank you. - All right?- Yeah. You all right?
0:16:56 > 0:16:58Yeah, I'm fine, thank you.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02- How long is it since we've seen each other?- Way overdue.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04Way, way overdue for both of us.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08But I think it would be nice to actually be able to
0:17:08 > 0:17:10- include Diana as well now.- Yes.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15Finally, the sister who was most recently found, Diana.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21Oh, my goodness me!
0:17:21 > 0:17:24Hello! Hello!
0:17:24 > 0:17:28Good to see you. And this is your sister.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30I know!
0:17:30 > 0:17:34- Are you all right? - Don't cry, darling.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36Aw.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39Aw. Don't cry.
0:17:40 > 0:17:45This is fabulous. Come on, darling, come and sit down. Come on.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48Oh! Girls together.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52- Nice to see you.- And you too. - At last.- At last. I know.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56Are you all right? Oh, dear.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01I've got so much stuff here to show you...
0:18:01 > 0:18:02Fantastic.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04This is Mother.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06She was quite attractive, wasn't she?
0:18:06 > 0:18:09Yeah, she was quite a glamorous lady, wasn't she?
0:18:09 > 0:18:11And here she is with a baby.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14- Now... - THEY LAUGH
0:18:14 > 0:18:18- It's- a- baby girl. Now, who it is, I haven't got a clue.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21- Look at her hair! - I know, she had fantastic hair.
0:18:21 > 0:18:22Amazing. Amazing.
0:18:23 > 0:18:28- That's 1947, that one, we think. - Got to be your father.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30- You think so?- I think so.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33Yeah. OK. Well, I think he's a very handsome man, actually.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36- Yeah, I'm quite happy with that. - Got nice eyes.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39- This is her on her wedding day. - Which one?
0:18:39 > 0:18:42- She only had one.- Oh, right.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44And how do you feel about seeing
0:18:44 > 0:18:47these photographs of your mum, girls?
0:18:47 > 0:18:50- Well...- Well...- Such a dainty little thing.- She was a stunner.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53- To be fair.- An absolute stunner.
0:18:53 > 0:18:54It's incredible, isn't it?
0:18:55 > 0:18:58These three sisters may never know much about their mother
0:18:58 > 0:19:01and the truth behind their adoptions, but it
0:19:01 > 0:19:05seems their relationship is reward enough for having found each other.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08Well, girls, together after all this time.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10- Well, it's about time, I think. - I know, but amazing.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12Absolutely amazing.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14Today is a day I never thought would happen.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18I never ever thought it would happen.
0:19:20 > 0:19:21And I am so happy.
0:19:21 > 0:19:26It's taken me over 20 years to get to this stage, you know?
0:19:26 > 0:19:28- Just... - SHE SIGHS
0:19:28 > 0:19:32..the relief to see those two together, it's fantastic.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34It's been amazing. It's been truly amazing.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36I've loved every minute of it.
0:19:36 > 0:19:37Part of it is closure, I think,
0:19:37 > 0:19:41knowing that you are part of...someone.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54Nick Morgan's search for his birth mother had also produced
0:19:54 > 0:19:56a remarkable result.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00Family finder Kirsty Gray had discovered he too had a sister.
0:20:00 > 0:20:05She said, "There's a girl called Deborah Marie Lowe,
0:20:05 > 0:20:07"born in Coventry."
0:20:07 > 0:20:09And then she said, "She was adopted.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12"And therefore, I can't find out any more."
0:20:12 > 0:20:17Desperate to trace his sister, Nick returned to visit his mum
0:20:17 > 0:20:19Noreen's widower, who, in the interim,
0:20:19 > 0:20:21had remembered more details.
0:20:23 > 0:20:29He was able to tell me exactly what her surname was,
0:20:29 > 0:20:32which was now Wright, and approximately where she lived,
0:20:32 > 0:20:35which was on the outskirts of Coventry.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37I was absolutely astounded.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40The fact that there was a person out there,
0:20:40 > 0:20:44having been an only child for so long, for...
0:20:44 > 0:20:47I couldn't believe that there was anyone that actually existed.
0:20:47 > 0:20:48I was shocked,
0:20:48 > 0:20:52just shocked to the point of not knowing almost what to do next.
0:20:52 > 0:20:58Kirsty, the Family Finder, was called into action again.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01She did the records, got the...went on the computer and said,
0:21:01 > 0:21:03"Yeah, I've got the address."
0:21:03 > 0:21:06So over the course of that week, we composed a letter which
0:21:06 > 0:21:08we felt would get her attention.
0:21:08 > 0:21:09I didn't want to be rejected again.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11But I was really, really excited about the thought that
0:21:11 > 0:21:13I might find somebody.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19In Coventry, an unsuspecting Deborah Wright was about to
0:21:19 > 0:21:21have her world turned upside down.
0:21:23 > 0:21:28It was July 5th and I emptied the postbox and there was a letter.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32And then the first thing that I spotted in bold
0:21:32 > 0:21:35was my natural mother's name.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37Deborah got in touch with Kirsty.
0:21:37 > 0:21:42She said, "I'm working for a client who's trying to trace you."
0:21:42 > 0:21:44And I went, "Me?"
0:21:44 > 0:21:47And she said, "Yes, you've got a brother."
0:21:48 > 0:21:51And I just said, "No, I haven't got a brother, I think
0:21:51 > 0:21:55"you've got the wrong person because I'm an only child."
0:21:56 > 0:22:01Deborah was born in 1958 to Norah Lowe,
0:22:01 > 0:22:05but as an unmarried mother, Norah felt unable to care for her.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09She then knew that she couldn't look after me, so she advertised me
0:22:09 > 0:22:11in the local newspaper
0:22:11 > 0:22:15and my adoptive parents answered the advert.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18Deborah was fostered by Mr and Mrs Priest,
0:22:18 > 0:22:21who nurtured and cared for her.
0:22:21 > 0:22:23When I was 14, I met Denis.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27And then when I was 17, we knew that we wanted to get married.
0:22:27 > 0:22:29Even at that early age, I think that we
0:22:29 > 0:22:31knew we were right for each other.
0:22:31 > 0:22:35So I wanted my name in church to be said Deborah Priest.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39Desperate to use her beloved parents' name
0:22:39 > 0:22:42on her wedding day, she needed them to legally adopt her.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46But that involved getting back in touch with her birth mother
0:22:46 > 0:22:48so that she could sign the papers.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51The social worker managed to trace Norah,
0:22:51 > 0:22:53who was living in Coventry,
0:22:53 > 0:22:56and Norah said that she would like to meet me.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00And so the social worker returned to tell me this
0:23:00 > 0:23:04and asked me if I would like to meet Norah, which I di...
0:23:04 > 0:23:06I wasn't interested in.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10What Deborah did agree to was swapping photos.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13It was the first time she'd seen an image of her birth mother.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17I do regret that I didn't meet Norah at 17.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21When she was 39, after the death of her adoptive mother, Deborah
0:23:21 > 0:23:24decided she wanted to trace Norah,
0:23:24 > 0:23:26so a friend of Deborah's offered to help.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30And it wasn't long before she found a record of Norah,
0:23:30 > 0:23:32but she had died five years previously.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38I grieved for Norah the same as I grieved my adoptive mum.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40It really, really upset me.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42And I couldn't understand those feelings
0:23:42 > 0:23:44because I had never known her.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47But it was because I knew then that I had no chance of ever,
0:23:47 > 0:23:48ever seeing her.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51I was told by the social worker that there weren't any other children,
0:23:51 > 0:23:54Norah had only ever had me, at 39.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57But that all changed
0:23:57 > 0:24:00when Deborah was contacted by a Family Finder called Kirsty Gray.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03She said, "You have got a brother."
0:24:03 > 0:24:08And I was just shell-shocked. I couldn't speak, I was so shocked.
0:24:08 > 0:24:13Because it was everything I'd ever wanted. But it was like a dream.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16Nick and Deborah couldn't wait to meet.
0:24:16 > 0:24:20From having only found out 24 hours earlier that she had a brother,
0:24:20 > 0:24:23and now 24 hours after that, she was actually going to meet me.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25She walked towards me, I walked towards her,
0:24:25 > 0:24:28and we hugged and then we went and sat down
0:24:28 > 0:24:32for about an hour and a half and did 60 years' worth of life.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34- We got on so well, didn't we? - Yeah, we did.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36- As well as can be.- Yeah.
0:24:36 > 0:24:38It was great. It was a great meeting.
0:24:40 > 0:24:45Since July 2015, the siblings have only met once more.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50So today, Nick is going back to Coventry to spend the day
0:24:50 > 0:24:52with his sister and her family.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55Deborah's children, Daniel and Gemma,
0:24:55 > 0:24:57have never met their uncle Nick.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01Never ever considered that Mum would ever have any siblings.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04It just didn't seem like a possibility.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06I know that Mum's always wanted a big brother,
0:25:06 > 0:25:08so it's perfect that this has happened.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12I think it feels like quite a big moment now!
0:25:13 > 0:25:16Yeah, I'm really happy that we've got an uncle.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18And a whole other family.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20Really excited to meet uncle Nick. Yeah, really am.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22I'm going to give him a big hug.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28And I feel very excited that I'm going to finally meet them,
0:25:28 > 0:25:31having spoken about them and talked about them for so long.
0:25:31 > 0:25:35It really finishes off the circle. It's...
0:25:35 > 0:25:39Meeting Gemma and Daniel are the final parts of the puzzle.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42Five months after meeting Deborah for the first time,
0:25:42 > 0:25:46Nick has arrived at her home to meet the rest of his family.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54- Hello, nice to meet you. - Long time no see.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59Lovely to see you.
0:25:59 > 0:26:00At last, uncle Nick!
0:26:00 > 0:26:02This is Gemma.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07- NICK:- Lovely to meet you! Hello.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10- Let's... Oh, yes. - This is Daniel.- Uncle Nick.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16Lovely to s... Lovely to meet you. How are you doing?
0:26:16 > 0:26:19Great to see you again.
0:26:20 > 0:26:24- Has it been worth waiting for? - Do you think we're alike?
0:26:24 > 0:26:26I think you have quite similar eyes. I can see it.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28- DANIEL:- I can definitely see it.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32'It was just really, really lovely to see him and meet him.'
0:26:32 > 0:26:37- Give him a big hug, both of us. - It was like meeting Mum again.
0:26:37 > 0:26:38It was really strange.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42- It didn't feel...- It felt like we'd known him for years.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44- It didn't feel forced, did it? - No, not at all.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46Did you expect me to be small and petite?
0:26:46 > 0:26:49- I expected you to be smaller, yeah.- Smaller.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52- I expected you to be bigger.- Yeah! - THEY LAUGH
0:26:52 > 0:26:54Yeah, we got rid of the big sister...
0:26:54 > 0:26:57big brother little sister thing, didn't we, quite quickly?
0:26:57 > 0:26:59Straight to older and younger.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02Older!
0:27:03 > 0:27:07It's really nice to see the rapport that uncle Nick and Mum have got.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10You know, that kind of good banter.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13- Yeah, you can just tell they're brother and sister, can't you?- Yeah.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16And his expressions are a lot like Mum's as well, which obviously...
0:27:16 > 0:27:20- He's got twinkly eyes, and Mum's got twinkly eyes.- Really similar.
0:27:20 > 0:27:21- Yeah.- Just the way they smile as well.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24- Our lives have changed for the better.- They have.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27It's a new family, but we still live our own lives,
0:27:27 > 0:27:29the lives that we've lived for all the time. Now we've just got
0:27:29 > 0:27:32an additional bit on the top, it's like having the cream.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34Yeah, like you say, you're just a little bit of cream.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36- Yeah.- On the top.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38THEY LAUGH
0:27:38 > 0:27:41Having been an only child for 60 years,
0:27:41 > 0:27:44and my son David's an only child and my mate across the road,
0:27:44 > 0:27:47Andy, is an only child, so we're part of the only child club.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49And I'm not any more. I'm out.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51It's brought joy to our lives, hasn't it?
0:27:51 > 0:27:53I've got all these years to look forward to,
0:27:53 > 0:27:55to keep having the banter.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58- Keep having fun together. - Keep practising my jokes.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01- And having fun together with our families.- Having fun together, yeah.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03- Cheers.- To all the family.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05It's fantastic, yeah.