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 > 0:02:14So good 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.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51SHE CHUCKLES
0:02:52 > 0:02:56It wasn't until much later that Jean realised there was more to
0:02:56 > 0:02:58these differences than she had originally thought.
0:02:58 > 0:03:04When I was 36, I had to apply for a new passport, and it all came
0:03:04 > 0:03:09through attached together with my adopted birth certificate on there.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15Much to my surprise! So I started to do a bit of investigation.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19And I asked my sister that I grew up with, and she told me that she
0:03:19 > 0:03:23knew that I was adopted, but it had never come out in the family.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26I realised I had no blood relatives then -
0:03:26 > 0:03:30I had only my children who were my blood relatives -
0:03:30 > 0:03:36and started to research everything that I could about the family.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41From her birth certificate, returned alongside her passport,
0:03:41 > 0:03:45Jean found the name of her biological mother -
0:03:45 > 0:03:46Sheila Mary Kelly.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50We went to Somerset House, my husband and I, to try
0:03:50 > 0:03:54and trace back, cos I had Sheila's birth date on there,
0:03:54 > 0:03:57so I could kind of trace that back a little bit.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00But then it was a bit of a full stop then, really,
0:04:00 > 0:04:03cos I couldn't find any more.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07So we had to find another route to find out more information.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11You used to do a thing on teletext television,
0:04:11 > 0:04:14searching for lost loved ones, finding lost loved ones.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18And my husband actually was the one who said,
0:04:18 > 0:04:21"Look, let's do this, see what comes of it, you never know."
0:04:21 > 0:04:27So I put a thing on saying that I was searching and
0:04:27 > 0:04:30if anybody out there had any more information,
0:04:30 > 0:04:33could they get in touch with us.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37Jean waited for a response for her appeal to find her natural mother.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40I was going through and I found someone
0:04:40 > 0:04:44who was looking for the same person that I was.
0:04:44 > 0:04:49The message contained too many correct facts to be a coincidence.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53Someone else was also searching for Jean's mum, Sheila.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55I'm thinking, "Well, it's got to be the same person.
0:04:55 > 0:05:01"It has to be, it's the same birth date, but also my name
0:05:01 > 0:05:03"and date of birth on there.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06"It's got to be us. Now what do I do?
0:05:07 > 0:05:11"Do I want to really open this Pandora's box, really?"
0:05:11 > 0:05:15I decided that I wanted to open the box and see what happened.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19Subsequently, I had a phone call from her.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23And she said, "I've been looking for you for 25 years."
0:05:25 > 0:05:27The two women shared a mother,
0:05:27 > 0:05:31Sheila Mary Kelly, making them half-sisters.
0:05:31 > 0:05:36Unbeknownst to Jean, Marie Simmons had spent over a decade
0:05:36 > 0:05:39making inquiries of her own about Sheila.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43It was amazing. It really was.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46I thought, "At last, I've actually managed to find her."
0:05:47 > 0:05:51Marie was born a year before Jean.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55I was born in Liverpool in 1948.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58But her mother had her adopted,
0:05:58 > 0:06:02and she went to live with a family in Redhill, Surrey.
0:06:02 > 0:06:08My earliest memory is of a baby in a pram and me having some mice.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10And I don't know where these mice came from,
0:06:10 > 0:06:11but I had the mouse
0:06:11 > 0:06:14and I put it on the baby's face.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17And I remember being told off for doing so!
0:06:19 > 0:06:23Marie's adoptive family were always open about her parentage.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27I always knew that I had been adopted because I was
0:06:27 > 0:06:31told at a very early age, which I had no problem with at all.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34Because when you're young, you don't really understand these things.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37And as long as you are in a reasonably happy family
0:06:37 > 0:06:39environment, you don't care, do you?
0:06:39 > 0:06:42I wanted to find my birth mother,
0:06:42 > 0:06:47but I was led to believe by my adoptive family that she died.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51And it was only when I was in my mid-20s that
0:06:51 > 0:06:54I found out that she hadn't died.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56It didn't matter to me what she was like,
0:06:56 > 0:07:01I just wanted to know her and know about her.
0:07:01 > 0:07:06And I think people who are adopted need to know.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10I must have been around about 25,
0:07:10 > 0:07:1326 when I applied for my birth certificate.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17And when it came, I saw what her full name was - Sheila Mary Kelly.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20While her adoptive mother was still alive, Marie felt unable
0:07:20 > 0:07:24to search for more information about her biological mother.
0:07:24 > 0:07:29When my adoptive mother died,
0:07:29 > 0:07:33I felt that the time was right for me to start looking.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35And I just got up one morning and said,
0:07:35 > 0:07:39"I'm going to go and look for my birth mother."
0:07:39 > 0:07:45I wrote to dozens and dozens of children's societies to find
0:07:45 > 0:07:49out whether any of them had any records of a Sheila Mary Kelly,
0:07:49 > 0:07:52but with no success at all.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54It was almost as if she had disappeared
0:07:54 > 0:07:55off the face of the earth.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59Her search stopped there until, years later,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02Marie discovered the date her mum was born.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04She included it in the many messages,
0:08:04 > 0:08:07postings and adverts she put out.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10It was to one of these that someone replied.
0:08:10 > 0:08:15I had a phone call from a lady saying that she was her sister.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21It was her mother's sister who had spotted the posting and responded.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23SHE GASPS
0:08:23 > 0:08:26Which was, well, unbelievable!
0:08:26 > 0:08:30I couldn't believe that somebody had actually replied to me.
0:08:30 > 0:08:31It was marvellous.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35Anyway, she chatted and told me that my mother was alive,
0:08:35 > 0:08:37but she was living in America.
0:08:37 > 0:08:42It was such a shock after all that time. I mean, I was... By then,
0:08:42 > 0:08:46I was in my 40s or so, and I thought,
0:08:46 > 0:08:48"Well, does she want to know me?"
0:08:48 > 0:08:52And that was all I kept thinking, "Does she want to know me?"
0:08:52 > 0:08:57It had taken her 15 years to track down her mother, Sheila.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01Well, my aunt and uncle, and myself, we did go to the States,
0:09:01 > 0:09:05and got to the house and my birth mother
0:09:05 > 0:09:08was standing at the door waiting.
0:09:10 > 0:09:11And we said hello.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15It wasn't what I was expecting.
0:09:17 > 0:09:18She was quite withdrawn.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23And it wasn't a particularly successful meeting at all.
0:09:23 > 0:09:24In fact, it was quite sad.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30But not long after she got back from America, Marie received another
0:09:30 > 0:09:34message from someone who had seen one of her appeals for information.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36It was her sister, Jean.
0:09:37 > 0:09:42- We had a long chat on the phone, decided to meet up.- It was lovely.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46It was really lovely to get that first touch was somebody who
0:09:46 > 0:09:49actually was related to you.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52That was it. It was marvellous. We've got each other.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54It was just... It didn't seem real at the time, you know.
0:09:54 > 0:09:59But I can still picture her running down the path towards me.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01It was so exciting.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04She had all the paperwork that she'd found, all laid out,
0:10:04 > 0:10:05ready to show me all the pictures
0:10:05 > 0:10:08and just everything. It was lovely.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11Marie then put Jean in touch with their mother.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13I spoke to her once, but...
0:10:15 > 0:10:16..you know.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20I think she was probably not very well at the time,
0:10:20 > 0:10:22and I think she, you know,
0:10:22 > 0:10:26she just didn't want anything to do with any of her past, really. Sadly.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31Jean still had lots of questions about her early life, so turned to
0:10:31 > 0:10:35the wealth of genealogical resources now available on the internet.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39It wasn't long before she got a response.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43I had a message from a lady called Diana Kelly,
0:10:43 > 0:10:49who said, "Hello, I'd like to ask you a few questions
0:10:49 > 0:10:52"cos I think I could be related to you."
0:10:52 > 0:10:55Jean had discovered one new sister, Marie,
0:10:55 > 0:10:58but could there be more relatives out there?
0:10:58 > 0:11:00Hello! Hello.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14Motor enthusiast Nick Morgan lives in Weston-super-Mare.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18I was adopted when I was three months old.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21I grew up in a very loving household. Only child.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23It was a caring...
0:11:23 > 0:11:28And, yeah, I did all the things a little boy should do, I suppose.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31And I always knew that I was adopted, right from the very start.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33I mean, my parents did a great job with that.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36They told me ever since I can remember that I was adopted,
0:11:36 > 0:11:39that I was chosen, that I was special, that they
0:11:39 > 0:11:42had gone in and there were other babies that they could have picked,
0:11:42 > 0:11:44but they picked me.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47I never thought of my birth mother or birth father at that stage.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51It felt ungrateful, maybe, to be thinking anything else.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55These are my parents, so I had no need to find any other parents.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00Nick left home, met and married his wife, Jan,
0:12:00 > 0:12:02and in 1997 had a son.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08The day David was born, he popped out at 8lbs 12oz,
0:12:08 > 0:12:11and he lay on my lap
0:12:11 > 0:12:14and looked at me for two hours.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18We just looked at each other. Just awesome.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21Really, really mind-blowingly special.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24And I know people say when you have children, it's very different.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28But, yeah, my first and only true full-blood relative.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30So, yeah, very, very special.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34It was the birth of his son that inspired Nick to trace
0:12:34 > 0:12:36his family lineage.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40I was concerned that maybe there was something hereditary in the family.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43And a little boy growing up, you start to think,
0:12:43 > 0:12:44"Hm, I hope there's nothing there.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47"So maybe I should look at this
0:12:47 > 0:12:51"and maybe I should think about tracing my family."
0:12:51 > 0:12:53A conversation with a friend
0:12:53 > 0:12:55added fuel to the fire.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58I became inspired by someone that I'd met through work
0:12:58 > 0:13:02who'd actually decided that he wanted to find his birth mother.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06And I went, "Oh, OK, that's interesting. How do you do that?"
0:13:06 > 0:13:07And he said, "Well, first of all,
0:13:07 > 0:13:09"you need to get your birth certificate."
0:13:09 > 0:13:11And I said, "Well, I've got a birth certificate."
0:13:11 > 0:13:15And he said, "No, you need to get your original birth certificate."
0:13:15 > 0:13:17I said, "OK, yeah, fine." And he said,
0:13:17 > 0:13:21"That will give you then the details of your birth parents,
0:13:21 > 0:13:24"and then you need to contact social services once you've got that
0:13:24 > 0:13:29"certificate, and they will help you then to track that person down."
0:13:29 > 0:13:32That was when I found out that I was John Francis Lowe,
0:13:32 > 0:13:36having been Nicholas John Morgan for 40-odd years.
0:13:36 > 0:13:41And then social services stepped in and gave me the red file that had
0:13:41 > 0:13:45all the details in about my birth and where I'd been, etc.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49He had a name for his birth mother - Norah Lowe.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51Once I got the file from social services,
0:13:51 > 0:13:54it then became apparent that my mother was born in Ireland.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58And so, from having been English for 44 years, all of a sudden,
0:13:58 > 0:14:01I had some Irish blood in me!
0:14:01 > 0:14:06And so, at that point then, we decided to start to explore
0:14:06 > 0:14:11the possibilities of finding my mother and finding my roots.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14One of the things that I used to say to people was that it would be
0:14:14 > 0:14:15really nice to have a photo of my mum,
0:14:15 > 0:14:18but I never thought that was going to be possible.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22Nick was able to get his biological mother's birth
0:14:22 > 0:14:26certificate from the record offices in Ireland.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29So we actually then found that my birth mother had lived
0:14:29 > 0:14:34in Coventry, got married to a guy in Coventry in 1968
0:14:34 > 0:14:36and became Boulding.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38And then he'd passed away in '69.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41But after that, we could find no record.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43Nick's search ground to a halt...
0:14:45 > 0:14:48..until a chance encounter at a business networking event
0:14:48 > 0:14:50changed his life forever.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53I sat down next to this lady I'd never met before,
0:14:53 > 0:14:55so I asked the question, you know, "What's your name?
0:14:55 > 0:14:57"Where do you come from? What do you do?"
0:14:57 > 0:14:59And she said, "My name is Kirsty Gray.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01"I find people for various reasons,
0:15:01 > 0:15:03"whether people are looking for inheritances or
0:15:03 > 0:15:06"whether they are trying to trace their family,
0:15:06 > 0:15:08"and I've got 100% success rate in finding people."
0:15:08 > 0:15:11And I said, "Oh, that's interesting. I'm going to spoil your record."
0:15:11 > 0:15:14Nick had been searching for well over 15 years,
0:15:14 > 0:15:17trying to find out more about his birth mother, so I think he thought
0:15:17 > 0:15:20that because he'd failed, there was no information out there.
0:15:20 > 0:15:25I first of all had a look to see if I could find a death for his mother
0:15:25 > 0:15:28in her married name, and I couldn't.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33So I then looked to see if potentially she had married again.
0:15:33 > 0:15:35And she did.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38So I then had a new married name to look at
0:15:38 > 0:15:43and then managed to locate a death record. She died in 1992.
0:15:43 > 0:15:47And it links with her date and place of birth, which we knew
0:15:47 > 0:15:50from the birth certificate that Nick had was the 28th of October 1919
0:15:50 > 0:15:52in Ireland.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55I e-mailed Nick to say, "When you have a quiet five minutes,
0:15:55 > 0:15:57"you might want to ring me."
0:15:57 > 0:16:00So I rang her up and she said, "I found your mum."
0:16:00 > 0:16:04I went, "Whoa!" And she went, "Hang on, she has died."
0:16:04 > 0:16:06"OK, not unexpected."
0:16:06 > 0:16:10And she died in the same week of the same month of the same year
0:16:10 > 0:16:13as my adopted dad, in November 1992.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17But the story didn't end there.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19Knowing Nick was desperate to see that elusive
0:16:19 > 0:16:23photograph of his mum, Kirsty had another lead on Norah's life.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28The second married name of Norah, Nick's mum,
0:16:28 > 0:16:30was actually quite unusual.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34So once we'd found out her husband's name, we actually
0:16:34 > 0:16:39had found that he was still living and we had an address for him.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42I was very shocked to find that he was alive
0:16:42 > 0:16:45and was still living at the same address
0:16:45 > 0:16:47that they'd been living at before.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50So maybe there was some more information to be gleaned.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52So then I was excited.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56Kirsty drafted a contact letter to Norah's widower.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58Basically, the letter is just explaining a little
0:16:58 > 0:17:01bit about who we are, but asking him to contact us.
0:17:01 > 0:17:06Kirsty sent off the letter and we had no response for over a week.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08And I don't do waiting very well.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13When starting a search for a long-lost family member,
0:17:13 > 0:17:16it's impossible to predict just how long it will take or even if
0:17:16 > 0:17:18it will be successful.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20And if you reach a dead end,
0:17:20 > 0:17:23it may need something extra to get the search back on the road.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27Whenever you hit a brick wall in your search,
0:17:27 > 0:17:28it's important that you think outside
0:17:28 > 0:17:31the normal research box.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34Think about extended family.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36Put together a proper family tree for that person.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38If you can't find the person you're looking for,
0:17:38 > 0:17:42look for brothers, look for sisters, look for cousins, aunts, uncles.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45If you can find somebody in the family who knows where that
0:17:45 > 0:17:49person is, then that is going to solve your mystery for you.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53Nick was determined not to give up his search for his long-lost
0:17:53 > 0:17:57relatives and decided to take matters into his own hands.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00Having not received a reply to the letter that we'd sent,
0:18:00 > 0:18:03I had a Friday afternoon call from Nick to say that he was
0:18:03 > 0:18:06actually travelling to Coventry the following day.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10And he said he was just going to pop by and see if he might be
0:18:10 > 0:18:12able to meet the gentleman we'd written the letter to.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15Kirsty had said, "It's not normal to go and do these things,
0:18:15 > 0:18:18"but if we're not getting any joy,
0:18:18 > 0:18:21"then I guess we don't probably have a lot of choice.
0:18:21 > 0:18:23"So see how you get on."
0:18:23 > 0:18:26So I built up my courage, rang the doorbell.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28A gentleman came to the doorbell and said, "Who are you?"
0:18:28 > 0:18:31And I said, "Well, my name's Nick Morgan.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33"You may have had a letter from Kirsty Gray."
0:18:33 > 0:18:36And he said, "Yes."
0:18:36 > 0:18:38And he invited me in.
0:18:38 > 0:18:44And then we chatted for an hour about Norah,
0:18:44 > 0:18:46or Noreen as she had then become.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49Having had the conversation, I said,
0:18:49 > 0:18:53"I don't suppose that you've got a photo of Noreen?"
0:18:53 > 0:18:57And he said, "Yes, there's a photo behind you."
0:18:57 > 0:19:00So I said, "Oh, that's fantastic."
0:19:00 > 0:19:02It was just that moment of going,
0:19:02 > 0:19:06I finally achieved that goal that when I thought that the doors
0:19:06 > 0:19:09were closed, the wall was built and I was never going to see it.
0:19:09 > 0:19:10And there it was in front of me.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13So it was, yeah, just getting to that point and going,
0:19:13 > 0:19:16"Yeah, finally got there."
0:19:16 > 0:19:20And Noreen's widower had more news about his mother.
0:19:20 > 0:19:24Could Nick's search for his family be about to reveal more than
0:19:24 > 0:19:25just a photo?
0:19:25 > 0:19:28He thought Noreen had had another child.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31So when I came out, I rang Kirsty and said, "He said that there's
0:19:31 > 0:19:35"another child, but I don't think there's anything in it."
0:19:35 > 0:19:37And she said, "OK, well, I'll just check it out."
0:19:37 > 0:19:41And five minutes later, she rang me back and said,
0:19:41 > 0:19:42"I think you may have a sister."
0:19:51 > 0:19:54Jean Heathcote's search for her birth mother had also
0:19:54 > 0:19:59revealed an unexpected discovery - a half sister, Marie.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02But when both sisters had made contact with their mother,
0:20:02 > 0:20:05their advances had been rejected.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08So Jean's quest for details about her early life continued.
0:20:08 > 0:20:14I had a message from a lady called Diana Kelly, who said,
0:20:14 > 0:20:17"Hello, I'd like to ask you a few questions
0:20:17 > 0:20:20"cos I think I could be related to you."
0:20:21 > 0:20:24Diana Kelly, from Bristol, had been browsing a family finding
0:20:24 > 0:20:28website in the hope of finding out about her birth mother.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32I was just going through this site, and suddenly,
0:20:32 > 0:20:35up came my mum's name, Sheila Mary Kelly.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38And on top, the name was Jean Heathcote.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40With all my mum's details.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42She was doing a search as well.
0:20:42 > 0:20:47It turned out that Jean Annemarie had yet another half-sister.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50Well, I was born in 1951 in St Mary's,
0:20:50 > 0:20:52in Paddington, London.
0:20:52 > 0:20:57Within six weeks, I was handed over to a foster family.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00As she grew older, Diana began to guess that her foster parents
0:21:00 > 0:21:03weren't her parents by birth.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07It wasn't until I was about eight or nine that suddenly
0:21:07 > 0:21:09I thought about it.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12I questioned why my name was different.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14And my foster dad said to me,
0:21:14 > 0:21:18"You know, you don't want to know your mum, she's not a nice lady."
0:21:18 > 0:21:20I always remember those words.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25As one of the many foster children in the 1960s and early '70s,
0:21:25 > 0:21:29Diana was affected by a change in the way the state approached
0:21:29 > 0:21:31placing children in care.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34Local authorities began to favour putting children in foster homes
0:21:34 > 0:21:37rather than with adoptive parents.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41Fostering is viewed as a temporary measure with the hope that the
0:21:41 > 0:21:43child will be placed back in their birth parents' care,
0:21:43 > 0:21:45should circumstances change.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50- READS:- And they all lived together happily ever after.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54This shift was coupled with a general decline in the numbers
0:21:54 > 0:21:57of children of unwed mothers being placed in care.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00Since the late-1960s, there was a huge decline
0:22:00 > 0:22:02in the number of babies adopted in the UK.
0:22:02 > 0:22:03There are various factors for this -
0:22:03 > 0:22:06one being increased knowledge of contraception,
0:22:06 > 0:22:10another the Abortion Act that was brought in which meant that a woman
0:22:10 > 0:22:13had a viable alternative to ending a pregnancy,
0:22:13 > 0:22:14and also, really,
0:22:14 > 0:22:17the fact that they could bring the child up themselves
0:22:17 > 0:22:19because there was less of a social stigma by that period.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26But fostering didn't always work, as in Diana's case.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30As she grew older, she repeatedly ran away from her foster family.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33In the end, they put me into a home.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35It was all right. I ran away from there.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37SHE LAUGHS
0:22:37 > 0:22:40Diana stayed in care until she was old enough to rent
0:22:40 > 0:22:42a flat of her own.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45Now she felt independent enough to begin to trace her family.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50I think I started my search when I was about 20.
0:22:50 > 0:22:5121.
0:22:51 > 0:22:55You know, I wanted to know a bit of who I belonged to.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59I think you need...you want a sense of...
0:23:07 > 0:23:09..a sense of belonging, really.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16Diana applied to the General Register Office to find out
0:23:16 > 0:23:18more information about her mother.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21The only information I actually had on my mother
0:23:21 > 0:23:22was her birth certificate.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25I knew her name was Sheila Mary Kelly,
0:23:25 > 0:23:28where she was living while she was expecting me,
0:23:28 > 0:23:30her date of birth, and that was it.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34Hampered by a lack of information and self-doubt,
0:23:34 > 0:23:37Diana went through years of unsuccessful searching.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40In 2009, came a glimmer of hope
0:23:40 > 0:23:43when she was browsing a family finding website.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47My first breakthrough, really, was...
0:23:47 > 0:23:49I think it was called Missing You.
0:23:50 > 0:23:55And I was just sat there one day, going through it,
0:23:55 > 0:23:58and my mum's name popped up on there.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01So I kept reading it,
0:24:01 > 0:24:03kept reading it, and I'm thinking,
0:24:03 > 0:24:05"Oh, well.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07"As you do, Diana, you know what you're like."
0:24:07 > 0:24:10Picked up the phone, didn't I?
0:24:10 > 0:24:12And I rang her.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15Diana had come across one of the adverts posted by Jean,
0:24:15 > 0:24:19and it seemed they shared a mother who would make them half-sisters.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24It took me a while to actually realise that she was related
0:24:24 > 0:24:28to us and to actually, in some ways, come to terms with that.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34Jean told Diana that she had already found their other half-sister,
0:24:34 > 0:24:37so Diana looked her up too.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40Sat in the kitchen and up came Marie.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42I was on Facebook
0:24:42 > 0:24:46and a message came up asking me
0:24:46 > 0:24:50if my mother was called Sheila Mary Kelly.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54And I thought, "Well, yes." So I replied yes.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58And up popped an answer saying,
0:24:58 > 0:25:00"Well, I think that I could be your sister."
0:25:00 > 0:25:03And I thought, "Oh, my, not another one!"
0:25:03 > 0:25:04SHE LAUGHS
0:25:04 > 0:25:06We chatted for ages.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10Yeah. And the next day. And the next day.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12I feel like I've known her all my life.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17We did meet quite quickly after we spoke on the phone,
0:25:17 > 0:25:19and it was wonderful to see her.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22And it will be wonderful to see her again.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24Well, Marie and Jean had met each other.
0:25:26 > 0:25:28I've only met Marie, so...
0:25:29 > 0:25:34Jean and Diana are meeting for the very first time, and I know,
0:25:34 > 0:25:36having spoken to both of them,
0:25:36 > 0:25:39that they are both absolutely terrified
0:25:39 > 0:25:41of what's going to happen.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44I said, "Look, I'll bring a big box of tissues, you'll be fine."
0:25:44 > 0:25:48Today, the three sisters - Jean, Marie and Diana -
0:25:48 > 0:25:51are getting together for the first time.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54For decades, they all had been searching for their shared
0:25:54 > 0:25:57mother, unaware of each other's existence.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02The sisters are hoping this meeting will cement a stronger
0:26:02 > 0:26:04bond for the future.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08Sisterhood is what I aim to get from today.
0:26:08 > 0:26:13I think it's... It will be nice to have that closeness.
0:26:13 > 0:26:15I'm determined now
0:26:15 > 0:26:20because I really do need to have contact with my sisters.
0:26:20 > 0:26:21I am nervous, yeah.
0:26:24 > 0:26:25And excited.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33- Hello.- Hello, you!
0:26:33 > 0:26:37THEY SQUEAL HAPPILY
0:26:37 > 0:26:39It's lovely! It's wonderful.
0:26:39 > 0:26:43- Have a seat, darling.- Thank you. - All right?- Yeah. You all right?
0:26:43 > 0:26:45Yeah, I'm fine, thank you.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48- You look good.- Do I?- Yeah, you've got a different colour hair.- Yeah.
0:26:48 > 0:26:53- Yeah. You look great. - Yes.- Don't cry.
0:26:53 > 0:26:55- THEY GIGGLE - Don't cry.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59- How long is it since we've seen each other?- Way overdue.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01Way, way overdue for both of us.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05But I think it would be nice to actually be able to
0:27:05 > 0:27:07- include Diana as well now.- Yes.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10It will just be more like a sisterhood, getting together.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13- Yes, yeah.- It's a good thing.
0:27:13 > 0:27:18- I mean, I was trying to work out when she finally...- Well, me first.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22- And then me.- Then you.- Yeah. - Then her.- Right.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26So... I mean, I still want to know who my dad is. Do we know?
0:27:26 > 0:27:29- No.- No. I guess we've got the same father.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31I don't think so.
0:27:31 > 0:27:32We can always hope.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35Well, we could, couldn't we? Yes, you know.
0:27:35 > 0:27:36Yeah.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42Finally, the sister who was most recently found, Diana.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44She'll be here any minute.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55Oh, my goodness me!
0:27:55 > 0:27:58Hello! Hello!
0:27:58 > 0:28:01Good to see you. And this is your sister.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03I know!
0:28:03 > 0:28:07- Are you all right? - Don't cry, darling.
0:28:07 > 0:28:09Aw.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12Aw. Don't cry.
0:28:14 > 0:28:18This is fabulous. Come on, darling, come and sit down. Come on.
0:28:18 > 0:28:20Oh! Girls together.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25- Nice to see you.- And you too. - At last.- At last. I know.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28- You all right?- Yeah.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33- You can see the family similarity between you two.- Yeah, you can.
0:28:33 > 0:28:40- Can you?- Yeah.- I can see there's a similarity between us as well.- Yeah.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43I've got so much stuff here to show you...
0:28:43 > 0:28:45- Fantastic.- ..you won't believe it.
0:28:45 > 0:28:47- Cos I don't have anything. - She's got nothing at all.
0:28:47 > 0:28:52- Anything at all. All I got is one photograph of Mum.- Yeah.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56Are you ready for this, girls? Go on, then.
0:28:56 > 0:28:58Our whole life is in a box.
0:28:58 > 0:29:00Right, this is Mother.
0:29:00 > 0:29:02She was quite attractive, wasn't she?
0:29:02 > 0:29:05Yeah, she was quite a glamorous lady, wasn't she?
0:29:05 > 0:29:07And here she is with a baby.
0:29:07 > 0:29:10- Now... - THEY LAUGH
0:29:10 > 0:29:14It's A baby girl. Now, who it is, I haven't got a clue.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17- Look at her hair! - I know, she had fantastic hair.
0:29:17 > 0:29:19Amazing. Amazing.
0:29:19 > 0:29:24- That's 1947, that one, we think. - Got to be your father.
0:29:24 > 0:29:26- You think so?- I think so.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29Yeah. OK. Well, I think he's a very handsome man, actually.
0:29:29 > 0:29:32- Yeah, I'm quite happy with that. - Got nice eyes.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35- This is her on her wedding day. - Which one?
0:29:35 > 0:29:38- She only had one.- Oh, right.
0:29:38 > 0:29:40And how do you feel about seeing
0:29:40 > 0:29:42these photographs of your mum, girls?
0:29:42 > 0:29:46- Well...- Well...- Such a dainty little thing.- She was a stunner.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49- To be fair.- An absolute stunner.
0:29:49 > 0:29:51It's incredible, isn't it?
0:29:51 > 0:29:54These three sisters may never know much about their mother
0:29:54 > 0:29:57and the truth behind their adoptions, but it
0:29:57 > 0:30:01seems their relationship is reward enough for having found each other.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04Well, girls, together after all this time.
0:30:04 > 0:30:06- Well, it's about time, I think. - I know, but amazing.
0:30:06 > 0:30:10- Absolutely amazing.- I don't think... As you said earlier, I don't think
0:30:10 > 0:30:12- without the internet... - It would never have happened.
0:30:12 > 0:30:13No, it wouldn't have happened.
0:30:13 > 0:30:17I'm just glad that we've actually done it now while we're still here.
0:30:17 > 0:30:18- Well, that's...- We're still able.
0:30:18 > 0:30:21Yeah! Or just about able.
0:30:21 > 0:30:23THEY LAUGH
0:30:23 > 0:30:25Today is a day I never thought would happen.
0:30:27 > 0:30:29I never ever thought it would happen.
0:30:31 > 0:30:33And I am so happy.
0:30:33 > 0:30:37It's taken me over 20 years to get to this stage, you know?
0:30:37 > 0:30:39- Just... - SHE SIGHS
0:30:39 > 0:30:43..the relief to see those two together, it's fantastic.
0:30:43 > 0:30:45It's been amazing. It's been truly amazing.
0:30:45 > 0:30:47I've loved every minute of it.
0:30:47 > 0:30:52And I think that we will again spend some time together.
0:30:52 > 0:30:53Fair bit, I hope.
0:30:53 > 0:30:55Part of it is closure, I think,
0:30:55 > 0:30:59knowing that you are part of...someone.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12Nick Morgan's search for his birth mother had also produced
0:31:12 > 0:31:14a remarkable result.
0:31:14 > 0:31:18Family finder Kirsty Gray had discovered he too had a sister.
0:31:18 > 0:31:23She said, "There's a girl called Deborah Marie Lowe,
0:31:23 > 0:31:30"born in Coventry to a Norah Margaret Lowe in 1958."
0:31:30 > 0:31:32And then she said, "She was adopted.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35"And therefore, I can't find out any more."
0:31:35 > 0:31:40Desperate to trace his sister, Nick returned to visit his mum
0:31:40 > 0:31:42Noreen's widower, who, in the interim,
0:31:42 > 0:31:44had remembered more details.
0:31:46 > 0:31:52He was able to tell me exactly what her surname was,
0:31:52 > 0:31:55which was now Wright, and approximately where she lived,
0:31:55 > 0:31:58which was on the outskirts of Coventry.
0:31:58 > 0:32:00I was absolutely astounded.
0:32:00 > 0:32:03The fact that there was a person out there,
0:32:03 > 0:32:07having been an only child for so long, for...
0:32:07 > 0:32:10I couldn't believe that there was anyone that actually existed.
0:32:10 > 0:32:11I was shocked,
0:32:11 > 0:32:15just shocked to the point of not knowing almost what to do next.
0:32:15 > 0:32:21Kirsty, the Family Finder, was called into action again.
0:32:21 > 0:32:24She did the records, got the...went on the computer and said,
0:32:24 > 0:32:27"Yeah, I've got the address and I've got a telephone number.
0:32:27 > 0:32:29"Do you want to ring her now?" I went, "Oh, no!
0:32:29 > 0:32:31"No. Whoa, that's too fast.
0:32:31 > 0:32:33"That's all too fast."
0:32:33 > 0:32:35So I said, "We need to write."
0:32:35 > 0:32:38So over the course of that week, we composed a letter which
0:32:38 > 0:32:41we felt would get her attention but wouldn't scare her off too much.
0:32:41 > 0:32:43I didn't want to be rejected again.
0:32:43 > 0:32:45But I was really, really excited about the thought that
0:32:45 > 0:32:46I might find somebody.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52In Coventry, an unsuspecting Deborah Wright was about to
0:32:52 > 0:32:55have her world turned upside down.
0:32:56 > 0:33:02It was July the 5th and I emptied the postbox and there was a letter.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05And then the first thing that I spotted in bold
0:33:05 > 0:33:08was my natural mother's name.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11So I was intrigued by this letter.
0:33:11 > 0:33:14Deborah got in touch with Kirsty.
0:33:14 > 0:33:20She said, "Well, actually, I'm not trying to trace
0:33:20 > 0:33:21"relatives of Norah,
0:33:21 > 0:33:26"I'm working for a client who's trying to trace you."
0:33:26 > 0:33:28And I went, "Me?"
0:33:28 > 0:33:32And she said, "Yes, you've got a brother."
0:33:32 > 0:33:35And I just said, "No, I haven't got a brother, I think
0:33:35 > 0:33:38"you've got the wrong person because I'm an only child."
0:33:40 > 0:33:44Deborah was born in 1958 to Norah Lowe,
0:33:44 > 0:33:48but as an unmarried mother, Norah felt unable to care for her.
0:33:49 > 0:33:53She then knew that she couldn't look after me, so she advertised me
0:33:53 > 0:33:55in the local newspaper
0:33:55 > 0:33:59and my adoptive parents answered the advert.
0:33:59 > 0:34:02Deborah was fostered by Mr and Mrs Priest,
0:34:02 > 0:34:04who nurtured and cared for her.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07When I was 14, I met Denis.
0:34:07 > 0:34:11And then when I was 17, we knew that we wanted to get married.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13Even at that early age, I think that we
0:34:13 > 0:34:15knew we were right for each other.
0:34:15 > 0:34:20So I wanted my name in church to be said Deborah Priest.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23Desperate to use her beloved parents' name
0:34:23 > 0:34:26on her wedding day, she needed them to legally adopt her.
0:34:26 > 0:34:30But that involved getting back in touch with her birth mother
0:34:30 > 0:34:33so that she could sign the papers.
0:34:33 > 0:34:35The social worker managed to trace Norah,
0:34:35 > 0:34:37who was living in Coventry,
0:34:37 > 0:34:40and Norah said that she would like to meet me.
0:34:40 > 0:34:45And so the social worker returned to tell me this
0:34:45 > 0:34:48and asked me if I would like to meet Norah, which I di...
0:34:48 > 0:34:49I wasn't interested in.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52One, at the time, I didn't think that
0:34:52 > 0:34:54I really wanted to meet her, but also,
0:34:54 > 0:34:57I knew what it would do to Mum and Dad if I did go to meet her.
0:34:57 > 0:34:59It's a sign of loyalty, I think, really,
0:34:59 > 0:35:03for what their parents had certainly done for Deb
0:35:03 > 0:35:06over their lifetime and her lifetime, of course.
0:35:06 > 0:35:10What Deborah did agree to was swapping photos.
0:35:10 > 0:35:14It was the first time she'd seen an image of her birth mother.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17I do regret that I didn't meet Norah at 17 because,
0:35:17 > 0:35:20with her being 39 when she had me,
0:35:20 > 0:35:23obviously she was moving on in years.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26And when I was finally ready to meet her, it was too late.
0:35:26 > 0:35:30When she was 39, after the death of her adoptive mother, Deborah
0:35:30 > 0:35:35decided she wanted to trace Norah, so put an advert in a local paper.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37So it turned around, really.
0:35:37 > 0:35:40I was advertised by Norah in a paper
0:35:40 > 0:35:44and then I tried to advertise to get Norah back.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47A friend of Deborah's offered help in the search.
0:35:47 > 0:35:50And it wasn't long before she found a record of Norah,
0:35:50 > 0:35:53but she had died five years previously.
0:35:54 > 0:35:59I grieved for Norah the same as I grieved my adoptive mum.
0:35:59 > 0:36:00It really, really upset me.
0:36:00 > 0:36:02And I couldn't understand those feelings
0:36:02 > 0:36:04because I had never known her.
0:36:04 > 0:36:07But it was because I knew then that I had no chance of ever,
0:36:07 > 0:36:13ever seeing her and asking the questions that I wanted answered.
0:36:13 > 0:36:15So I was very, very sad.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18I was told by the social worker that there weren't any other children,
0:36:18 > 0:36:21Norah had only ever had me, at 39.
0:36:21 > 0:36:26So then, you know, searching for siblings, I thought,
0:36:26 > 0:36:28was impossible, really,
0:36:28 > 0:36:30that she wouldn't have had any other children.
0:36:30 > 0:36:31But that all changed
0:36:31 > 0:36:35when Deborah was contacted by a Family Finder called Kirsty Gray.
0:36:36 > 0:36:38She said, "You have got a brother."
0:36:38 > 0:36:43And I was just shell-shocked. I couldn't speak, I was so shocked.
0:36:43 > 0:36:48Because it was everything I'd ever wanted. But it was like a dream.
0:36:48 > 0:36:52There was a brief silence at the end of the phone and she then said,
0:36:52 > 0:36:55"I've always wanted an older brother,
0:36:55 > 0:36:57"but I was told I was an only child."
0:36:57 > 0:37:01I just said that I felt that I'd won the lottery.
0:37:01 > 0:37:05Nick and Deborah couldn't wait to meet.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08It was just texting back and forth all night.
0:37:08 > 0:37:12And then we arranged to meet the next day.
0:37:12 > 0:37:17From having only found out 24 hours earlier that she had a brother,
0:37:17 > 0:37:19and now 24 hours after that, she was actually going to meet me.
0:37:19 > 0:37:22The time had arrived for the siblings to come
0:37:22 > 0:37:25face to face for the first time.
0:37:25 > 0:37:27She walked towards me, I walked towards her,
0:37:27 > 0:37:30and we hugged and then we went and sat down
0:37:30 > 0:37:34for about an hour and a half and did 60 years' worth of life.
0:37:34 > 0:37:38It was just so easy and natural. We didn't realise the time.
0:37:38 > 0:37:43- It was just so...easy, yeah. We got on so well, didn't we?- Yeah, we did.
0:37:43 > 0:37:45- As well as can be.- Yeah.
0:37:45 > 0:37:47It was great. It was a great meeting.
0:37:49 > 0:37:53Since July 2015, the siblings have only met once more.
0:37:55 > 0:37:59So today, Nick is going back to Coventry to spend the day
0:37:59 > 0:38:01with his sister and her family.
0:38:01 > 0:38:04Deborah's children, Daniel and Gemma,
0:38:04 > 0:38:06have never met their uncle Nick.
0:38:07 > 0:38:11THEY TALK OVER EACH OTHER
0:38:11 > 0:38:15Never ever consider that Mum would ever have any siblings.
0:38:15 > 0:38:18It just didn't seem like a possibility.
0:38:18 > 0:38:20I know that Mum's always wanted a big brother,
0:38:20 > 0:38:22so it's perfect that this has happened.
0:38:22 > 0:38:27And I just feel that she's so lucky that she'll get to experience
0:38:27 > 0:38:29what I've always had with Daniel.
0:38:29 > 0:38:33I don't know, I think it feels like quite a big moment now.
0:38:33 > 0:38:35Cos it's been a long time coming.
0:38:35 > 0:38:39- It's been, like, ages since you met, so...- Yeah.
0:38:39 > 0:38:41We quite feel like we know him already.
0:38:41 > 0:38:43But we haven't actually met him yet, have we?
0:38:43 > 0:38:46Yeah, I'm really happy that we've got an uncle.
0:38:46 > 0:38:48And a whole other family.
0:38:48 > 0:38:50And what's lovely, there's common ground.
0:38:50 > 0:38:52So we went to the same university.
0:38:52 > 0:38:56He lived, like, quite nearby where I lived in Bristol.
0:38:56 > 0:38:58Really excited to meet uncle Nick. Yeah, really am.
0:38:58 > 0:39:00I'm going to give him a big hug.
0:39:02 > 0:39:06And I feel very excited that I'm going to finally meet them,
0:39:06 > 0:39:09having spoken about them and talked about them for so long.
0:39:09 > 0:39:13It really finishes off the circle. It's...
0:39:13 > 0:39:17Meeting Gemma and Daniel are the final parts of the puzzle.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20It's been a long time in the making, this visit,
0:39:20 > 0:39:23trying to get it sorted out, so it'll be really good
0:39:23 > 0:39:27to finally make that final part so we can be a proper family.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30Five months after meeting Deborah for the first time,
0:39:30 > 0:39:34Nick has arrived at her home to meet the rest of his family.
0:39:38 > 0:39:42- Hello, nice to meet you. - Long time no see.
0:39:44 > 0:39:46- Lovely to see you.- Come along.
0:39:46 > 0:39:48At last, uncle Nick!
0:39:48 > 0:39:50This is Gemma.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55- NICK:- Lovely to meet you! Hello.
0:39:55 > 0:39:58- Let's... Oh, yes. - This is Daniel.- Uncle Nick.
0:40:00 > 0:40:04Lovely to s... Lovely to meet you. How are you doing?
0:40:04 > 0:40:06Great to see you again.
0:40:07 > 0:40:11- Has it been worth waiting for? - Do you think we're alike?
0:40:11 > 0:40:14I think you have quite similar eyes. I can see it.
0:40:14 > 0:40:16- DANIEL:- I can definitely see it.
0:40:17 > 0:40:21- 'I don't know, I think it's your mouth as well.'- They're always open.
0:40:21 > 0:40:24- 'Yeah.' - THEY LAUGH
0:40:24 > 0:40:25Do you want a cup of tea, then?
0:40:25 > 0:40:28Lovely, yeah, that'd be great. Thank you very much.
0:40:28 > 0:40:31- GEMMA:- 'It was just really, really lovely to see him and meet him.'
0:40:31 > 0:40:35- Give him a big hug, both of us. - It was like meeting Mum again.
0:40:35 > 0:40:37It was really strange.
0:40:38 > 0:40:41It's just really nice just to sit around and have a conversation.
0:40:41 > 0:40:45- And I think it didn't feel...- It felt like we'd known him for years.
0:40:45 > 0:40:47- It didn't feel forced, did it? - No, not at all.
0:40:47 > 0:40:49Did you expect me to be small and petite?
0:40:49 > 0:40:52- I expected you to be smaller, yeah.- Smaller.
0:40:52 > 0:40:55- I expected you to be bigger.- Yeah! - THEY LAUGH
0:40:55 > 0:40:57Yeah, we got rid of the big sister...
0:40:57 > 0:41:00big brother little sister thing, didn't we, quite quickly?
0:41:00 > 0:41:03Straight to older and younger.
0:41:03 > 0:41:04Older!
0:41:06 > 0:41:10It's really nice to see the rapport that uncle Nick and Mum have got.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13You know, that kind of good banter.
0:41:13 > 0:41:16- Yeah, you can just tell they're brother and sister, can't you?- Yeah.
0:41:16 > 0:41:18I think at one point they even started bickering, didn't they?
0:41:18 > 0:41:20A little bit, yeah.
0:41:20 > 0:41:24And his expressions are a lot like Mum's as well, which obviously...
0:41:24 > 0:41:27- He's got twinkly eyes, and Mum's got twinkly eyes.- Really similar.
0:41:27 > 0:41:29- Yeah.- Just the way they smile as well.
0:41:29 > 0:41:32- Our lives have changed for the better.- They have.
0:41:32 > 0:41:34It's a new family, but we still live our own lives,
0:41:34 > 0:41:37the lives that we've lived for all the time. Now we've just got
0:41:37 > 0:41:39an additional bit on the top, it's like having the cream.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42Yeah, like you say, you're just a little bit of cream.
0:41:42 > 0:41:43- Yeah.- On the top.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46THEY LAUGH
0:41:46 > 0:41:49Having been an only child for 60 years,
0:41:49 > 0:41:51and my son David's an only child and my mate across the road,
0:41:51 > 0:41:54Andy, is an only child, so we're part of the only child club.
0:41:54 > 0:41:56And I'm not any more. I'm out.
0:41:56 > 0:41:58- GEMMA:- It's something we've always known.
0:41:58 > 0:42:01I can't remember Daniel not being in my life
0:42:01 > 0:42:03because there's only 18 months between us.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06And that kind of sibling bond, love that we have for each other,
0:42:06 > 0:42:10I just felt like... The one thing when Mum kind of told me
0:42:10 > 0:42:15about you, I just thought, "Mum will get to experience that as well."
0:42:15 > 0:42:18And so will you now. And I just think that's what's...lovely.
0:42:18 > 0:42:20You've waited 60 years for it,
0:42:20 > 0:42:23but, you know, you've got years and years to come.
0:42:23 > 0:42:24- NICK:- Your mum's waited slightly less.
0:42:24 > 0:42:26- Yeah.- A LOT less.
0:42:28 > 0:42:29Nearly 60 years.
0:42:29 > 0:42:31THEY LAUGH
0:42:31 > 0:42:34- It has brought joy to our lives, hasn't it?- Yeah, extra joy.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36Because we didn't know about each other
0:42:36 > 0:42:38and then this news that I've got a brother
0:42:38 > 0:42:43and you've got a sister is obviously going to bring joy, not sadness.
0:42:43 > 0:42:45I've got all these years to look forward to,
0:42:45 > 0:42:47to keep having the banter.
0:42:47 > 0:42:49- Keep having fun together. - Keep practising my jokes.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52- And having fun together with our families.- Having fun together, yeah.
0:42:52 > 0:42:54- Cheers.- To all the family.
0:42:54 > 0:42:56It's fantastic, yeah.