Episode 9 Family Finders

Families can be driven apart for all manner of reasons.

I had no information at all about where my mum went.

And when you do lose touch with your loved ones...

You don't know who you are, where you've come from.

..finding them can take a lifetime...

I might have a brother that's still living here.

..especially when they could be anywhere - at home or abroad.

And that's where the family finders come in,

from international organisations...

Hi, it's the Salvation Army Family Tracing Service.

..to genealogy detective agencies...

For someone to say that it's changed their life,

it makes coming to work really, really special.

..and dedicated one-man bands.

It's a matter of how much effort you really want to put into it,

how badly you want to solve the problem.

They hunt through history to bring families back together again.

Finding new family is wonderful.

In this series, we follow the work of the family finders...

Suddenly, you get one spark of breakthrough and there they are.

..learning the tricks they use

to track missing relatives through time...

I didn't think I'd ever find sisters but I have.

..and meeting the people whose lives they change along the way.

I've been waiting to meet John my whole life.

Since we've met, I feel part of a family again.

You've just completed my life for me.

Every year, thousands of people across the UK

set about searching for long-lost family members.

No two searches are ever quite the same.

Often a search will throw up unexpected results

and it can take something completely unexpected for a search to succeed.

Today, we hear how a boy, adopted as a baby,

finally found family to call his own.

I had a tap on the shoulder and there they were.

That was... That was something else.

And we meet two sisters who spent 50 years apart

and led completely different lives.

I was absolutely fascinated by meeting someone

that looked so much like me.

In the post-war years, despite the social stigma,

babies being born to unmarried mothers was on the increase.

So were family secrets and cover-ups.

Often the truth never came out and in the case of Rob Skinner,

it took over 50 years to unravel the real story behind his birth.

Rob was born in Croydon in 1943.

The family didn't have much in the way of money

and lived on a council estate.

Nice three-bedroom house.

My two sisters were older than me.

June was 12 years, Cath, 15 years older.

My father left my mother when I was about three years of age.

A few years after his dad left,

Rob's mum started a long-term relationship

with a man Rob affectionately referred to as Uncle Albert

and the family began taking in foster children.

We had a succession of foster children, boys and girls.

We never had much money but we did, we did enjoy life.

I guess I was a very contented child.

You made your own fun just doing what boys did in those days.

Contented family life in the Skinner household continued

until, at the age of 16,

a shocking revelation was to change Rob's life forever.

I left school

and my prospective employer wanted to see my birth certificate.

I can vividly remember Ma looking for the certificate

and, while she was doing so, called out to me,

"Of course, you realise you were adopted."

Oh, no, I didn't.

This was the first intimation that I'd had and...

..I was taken aback a bit.

Despite the fact that he'd grown up

in an ever-changing household of foster children,

until now, Rob had no clue that the woman he'd grown up calling Mum

wasn't, in fact, related to him.

I just thought that I was, perhaps, a little different.

I'd seen foster brothers and sisters come along and go.

I always assumed that I was the real deal.

And something that I did shows me

that I wasn't particularly happy with the state of affairs.

After presenting it to my employer as evidence,

I then tore up the certificate

and had it replaced by a shortened version

that didn't show the word "adopted".

Rob put the adoption shock behind him and got on with his life.

He went on to become an insurance salesman, met Brenda,

married and had three children.

There were times when I wondered who my...

..mother and father might be,

but I never, ever asked Ma for detail.

The main reason why I wasn't curious

about my blood mother and father

was because I was, I guess, supremely happy with where I was

and didn't want to rock the boat.

But, in 2009, a serious health scare made Rob re-evaluate.

I had a reasonably serious heart problem

that was resolved with open-heart surgery.

A number of times, I was asked about medical history,

family medical history.

I was unable to give them an answer but...

..now, perhaps, I thought, would be a good time to find out.

By now, Rob's adoptive mother had died

and he felt free to explore his origins.

My son Harvey's partner was very interested in genealogy

and that encouraged me to start looking into the subject

and do some research.

This is the adoption order that shows my mother's name -

Pauline Blanche Turner, an unusual name -

and that she came down to Croydon to give birth to me

in what used to be known as a home for unmarried mothers.

The search was basically for Pauline Blanche

and, it being such an unusual name,

a match was made in a very straightforward manner.

Rob soon discovered that he wasn't alone in his online search

for information on his birth mother.

Our initial contact proved that somebody was looking...

..for relatives of Pauline Blanche Turner, which was a positive sign.

Rob's daughter-in-law acted quickly and composed a message.

I opened the email. It's very sensitively written.

"I am aware that this may be a delicate subject.

"His father, Robin, was born in April, 1943,

"to a Pauline Blanche Turner.

"He was not aware that he was adopted

"until he needed his birth certificate."

There's only one Pauline Blanche Turner on the website

and that's my mother.

After an agonising wait,

Rob received the response he was hoping for.

On 24th January,

we had an email from Martin,

who identified himself as a son of Pauline.

"I will be very willing to help you in any way with information

"and I've been trying to find Robin for the previous seven years,

"after talking to my mother about him.

"With Best wishes, Martin."

That, indeed, was the eureka moment when we knew we had family.

After many years of searching for his birth mother,

Rob had stumbled across a real-life blood brother.

But there was more to come.

It appears that we have a man who was jilted.

It's really intriguing because it's just not the story

that we've been following, is it, all these years?

Families can be separated by death, divorce, war,

any number of reasons...

..meaning siblings can find themselves

on completely different life paths.

Sue De-Haven was born to a single mother in 1960.

I was born in a Salvation Army hospital in Bristol.

After I was born,

my birth mother experienced quite a lot of health problems,

so I wasn't able to be with her consistently.

Sue never knew her father and soon after her birth,

her mother met a new partner.

She married in 1961,

approximately a year after I was born

and had another daughter called Eileen,

who was 17 months younger than me.

After Eileen was born,

we were both with our mother for a short period of time

until, unfortunately, she wasn't well

and we both went into care into Downend babies home.

Eileen was discharged from the baby home and went to live with her dad.

Sue remained and was taken under the wing

of a young nurse called Dilys Jenkins,

who worked at the children's home.

Dilys...spent a lot of time with me

cos that was the area or the house that she was working in.

She was allowed to take me home at weekends

as part of her NNEB training final papers.

In the 1960s, nursery nursing became a popular career choice for women.

The newly-founded NHS was going from strength to strength

and the NNEB, or National Nursery Examination Board, course

was highly respected and internationally recognised.

It had entry requirements and competition for places was tough

but the women who qualified could enjoy jobs for life

in both public and private sectors

or, at least, until they married and settled down to have families.

It was whilst Dilys was studying for her NNEB

that baby Sue was entrusted to her care

and the young nurse began taking her to stay

at her parents' family home in Chippenham.

She took me home to her parents'

and, um, they immediately fell in love me

and I started to go there for weekends regularly.

I used to cry and scream and make an awful fuss

when I had to go back to the children's home.

On a visit in early 1963,

um, whilst visiting Chippenham with Dilys,

we had the worst snow in the West Country for a lot of years

and we were snowed in for three months.

During that time, Dilys and her parents decided

there was no way that they ever wanted to part with me again

and they sought to adopt me.

My adoptive parents would have liked to have fostered both Eileen and I

but, unfortunately, they really didn't have the choice

as whether they could have fostered both of us

or adopted both of us, even.

Eileen remained in the care of her biological father,

while her sister, Sue, had a happy childhood

with Dilys and her parents in Chippenham.

My life growing up with Dilys's family and my mum and dad

and my other sister, Frances, was very special.

As a child, I don't think I really absorbed

what was happening very much.

I didn't really think about Eileen at all at that stage.

I just assumed that she was happy with her own family.

Despite a contented childhood in the care of her adoptive parents,

Sue never forgot her birth family.

I absolutely adored my mum and dad

but it doesn't take away that curiosity, I suppose,

of wanting to know your natural roots.

Not having any blood relatives that I knew of, then,

always made me feel quite...alone inside.

It wasn't until years later,

when her adoptive mum and dad had died,

that Sue decided the time was right to do some digging.

When my adoptive mum died, I felt, suddenly, like I had permission

to find out a bit more about my birth family

because I didn't ever want my adoptive parents

to think that they weren't good enough

and that they weren't everything to me, because they were.

With the desire to find blood relatives ignited,

Sue decided to trace her half-sister, Eileen.

I started looking online

to try and build my family tree from ancestral sites

and it was more complex than I first realised.

After a time-consuming search and several dead ends,

Sue's hunt had brought her no closer to finding her sister, Eileen,

and reluctantly, she gave up.

She may have given up on HER search,

but the search hadn't given up on Sue.

Little did she know, just 20 miles away,

someone else was intent on doing some family finding of their own.

I feel a bit, like, um...jealous,

because you had a really lovely upbringing and I...

-Do you know what I mean?

-Don't get upset.

I sort of feel a bit jealous when I see all this.

In Croydon, Ron Skinner had been trying to find his birth family,

after finding out he'd been adopted during the war.

A genealogy website had revealed that he wasn't the only one

to be researching his natural mother, Pauline Blanche Turner,

and any living relatives.

Somebody was looking for relatives of Pauline Blanche Turner,

which was a positive sign.

Rob had made contact with the mystery person

and discovered it was, in fact, a brother, Martin,

who he'd never known existed.

Rob actually phoned up my flat and I was listening to his voice,

how he spoke, looking for similarities,

who did he sound like, wondered what he looked like.

It's like an experience you've never experienced before,

like something you've always wanted

and then you get it, it's overwhelming,

and you're thinking, "Say the right things and ask the right questions."

Twins Martin and Sue were born to Pauline Blanche Turner

and her second husband and grew up in Harpenden.

Our childhood was really happy.

There was our natural father and mother and our older sister

and it was just...

-It was just really nice.

-It was a happy time.

Yeah, it was a happy time.

But unfortunately, their parents' marriage broke down,

after which Pauline married again, had another baby

and relocated the family northwards.

My mum was very headstrong, quite fiery temper.

I don't think she was strict, she wasn't strict.

-Cuddles, kisses, very homely.

-Always baking, always cooking.

Believed that the home was somewhere where everyone chipped in, so...

Oh, yeah. We all had to pull our weight, we all had our chores.

Growing up, young Martin and Sue were completely unaware

that their mother had had a baby from a previous relationship,

who she had given up for adoption.

But as they got older,

Pauline decided to share her secret with her children.

I can remember being told about Rob around about the age of 14.

Mum just said that she'd had another child,

but she was only young and she had him adopted

when he was six months old and I asked her why

and she just said because HER mother, my grandmother, told her to.

It must have been difficult for her

but it wasn't something that was hidden or taboo.

I think it was personal.

-I think things were different in those days.

-A lot different.

-There was no support and it must have been horrendous.

-Mmm.

And I suppose she thought she was doing the best

-by giving Rob another chance.

-He was six months old, wasn't he?

It must have been worse cos she must have bonded and...

-Just can't imagine. That's probably why she didn't talk about it.

-Mmm.

The version of events their mother told them

was all they ever knew about the circumstances

surrounding Rob's birth.

We were told that his father had been killed in the war.

He was American, his father. And that's why Mum...

She married his best friend to give the baby a father,

but when they were due to return back to America,

she didn't want to leave England.

He went back and she stayed here.

My mother was by herself, she had Rob adopted

and she returned to the village

where her parents lived and started afresh.

In 2005, Martin and Sue's mother, Pauline,

was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and moved into a care home.

It was here she began to express regret

about never having traced her first-born son, Rob.

She must have been thinking about him, too,

cos she instigated the conversation.

With his mother's health failing,

Martin was determined to track down his half-brother.

I started the tree and I always thought that Rob was part of that.

A tree is supposed to be representative of your life,

so I just wanted him to be represented on the tree

with all the rest of the family. He's part of the family.

But despite searching for years, Martin had no success.

When my mum was in the nursing home,

she did always ask me about Rob and then one day she asked me

if I'd managed to find him and she was talking about him,

saying she would have liked to have seen him. Um...

It's just those last years in the care home, the way she looked at me.

-Mmm.

-Um...

Like she was really hoping I'd found something and...

HIS VOICE BREAKS WITH EMOTION

You know, it just... It just never happened.

I think she was hopeful when she said, "Have you found him?

"Have you found Rob yet, Robin yet?" Cos she called him Robin.

And I just said, "No." I just felt like I'd let her down.

-HE SNIFFS

-Don't be silly.

You haven't let her down.

-Yeah, but it would have been nice.

-Mmm, it would have been.

Pauline died without ever being reunited with the son

she had been forced to give up.

But just a year later,

the email arrived that was to finally bring the siblings together.

From when we first started our search

to physically meeting with Martin and Sue

took probably no longer than three to four months.

The brothers arranged to meet in London at Victoria station.

I can remember, literally, being on the train with Brenda,

going up to London, her asking me, "How do you feel? Are you excited?"

And I said, "Well, in truth, not yet."

As we got towards Victoria, that's when I started to be...

I got very deep and very...

I was, not worried, but I thought, "What if it doesn't work out

"and what if we've got nothing in common?"

And Susan was all excited, so I just phoned him

and I saw someone reaching for the phone,

so I turned my phone off, we went and stood in front of them.

I had a tap on the shoulder and there they were.

That was... That was something else.

It's difficult. I find it impossible to put into words.

-I couldn't stop looking at him when we met him.

-Mmm.

Rob is just the image. He's more like Mum than anybody, isn't he?

Than any of us. He's so like her to look at.

We talked a lot about my mother, what she did,

what she was like, a little bit about the relationship

that she'd had that brought me into the world.

We covered a lot of ground that evening and it was...

..a remarkable experience.

Since their initial meeting,

the siblings have been making up for lost time.

Today, Rob is heading to Cheshire to see the twins again

and he's come armed with some more intriguing family research.

I'm particularly looking forward to today

because it's some time since Martin, Sue and I have got together

and within the past couple of months,

I've discovered some information about Mum

that I think both Martin and Sue will find very interesting indeed.

It will be nice to see Rob again cos it's been a long time.

-Yeah, really good. It's been a year, hasn't it?

-Yeah.

Catch up and give him this.

-Well, I hope he likes it. I like it.

-I'm sure he will. It's lovely.

-Yeah.

-Lovely to see you. You all right?

-Mmm. It's been a long time.

-It has.

-Martin.

-Oh, it's good to see you. You all right?

-Yeah.

-Shall we go in?

-Yeah.

Martin has brought along a special gift for Rob,

something he hopes will help bring him closer

-to the family he never knew.

-Whoa.

-That is brilliant.

-That's one you haven't got. That's Mum.

That was taken about the time you were born.

That's her mother, our grandmother. And that was taken about 1920.

That is HER mother, so that's your great-grandmother.

-She's a cracker, isn't she?

-Yeah.

I think that was probably taken about 1890,

judging by the way she's dressed.

I thought that was nice because it's your direct line and perhaps...

Absolutely brilliant, thanks.

-I just thought that would be nice for you to have.

-Yeah.

Since being united with Martin and Sue,

Rob has been trying to find out more about his natural father.

The story their mother gave the twins

was that he'd died during the war.

However, Rob's research has dug up two incredible revelations.

We often wondered why the relationship

between our mum and my dad didn't materialise

but we never did get an answer on that.

What we do have...

are some letters that dad wrote home to, initially, his cousin,

and so what we do have here are letters.

They've stood the test of time.

So, we see one there in February, '43.

One for you, Martin.

12th June, and there's some particular significance

-in that date, you may remember.

-That was when...

Wasn't she getting married?

We have Mum's wedding certificate

which shows that she was actually getting married

on that very same day.

This gets stranger and stranger.

Yes, and on that very day, my dad was writing home to his cousin,

saying that he still hoped to marry Mum.

Martin and Sue had been told by their mother

that she hadn't married Rob's father

because he was killed in active service.

From what I can see, the letters,

they obviously only show one side of the story,

-um, and it appears that we have a man who was jilted.

-Oh.

But we don't know why and, as I say, that is just one side of the story.

It's really intriguing because it's...

It's just not the story that we've been following, is it,

all these years?

On top of the conflicting tales over why his parents' relationship

didn't result in marriage, Rob has made a far bigger discovery.

The information that my father had died during the war,

we were unable to substantiate that and, indeed, subsequently,

we found that my father had lived for another 60 years.

He did, in fact, live until 2003.

Now I think Martin looks like you as a little boy there.

There's photos of you that you've given us

and I think you look alike there.

Tragically, Rob missed out on a reunion

with both his natural parents.

But Martin and Sue are determined to make Rob feel part of the family

and have brought him to a special place

that has played a big part in their lives.

Rob, our gran used to come here every Sunday.

This was her church that she used to come to.

This church means a lot to us

cos we've had a lot of important family events here.

I got married here, one of our daughters got married here.

Um, Mum obviously had her funeral here.

The reason why we wanted to bring you here today

is because we've decided that we want to put Mum's ashes somewhere,

so we're thinking of having them interred here,

so that we've got somewhere to go to on birthdays etc,

and to leave flowers and just somewhere important

where we can come to where my mum is.

I just wanted to share that with you

-and let you know what we're going to be doing.

-It's a nice idea, Martin.

And, you know, I'm pleased

to have an input into family events.

It's lovely having Rob in our family because he just fits in,

he's one of us. I've got two brothers now instead of one.

He's always been there but now we've got him in person,

so it's just completion, really.

I deferred looking for my family...

..my mother, in particular, for about 50 years

and today somehow seems to be, in a way,

the end of that journey but, in a sense, it's the beginning,

something new and now is the time to actually enjoy these relatives.

In Wiltshire, Sue De-Haven had hit a brick wall

and had given up searching for her baby sister, Eileen,

who she'd become separated from 50 years earlier.

In 1962, Eileen went to her father

and I was already, by then, being fostered in Chippenham.

But, unbeknownst to Sue, a mere 20 miles away,

the very same sister she'd been trying to find

had been searching for her too.

Out of the blue, I received a message from Eileen's daughter

on a social media site, saying that her mum had been looking for me.

I was really shocked because I'd been trying to find Eileen

for quite a long time

and not realising that she was using her maiden name.

So, after years of trying and failing to find Eileen,

Eileen had finally found Sue,

and the sisters were back in touch after 50 long years apart.

When Eileen and I discovered each other, it was, um...

I think we were both a little bit cautious

about what it might mean to the other.

I was aware that her life had been chequered

by spells of going into care, getting into trouble.

Eileen had been born 17 months after Sue in 1962,

but their mother became unable to cope

and both sisters ended up in a children's home.

I can't really remember much of when I was really little.

I can just remember probably from when I was about two or three

and that was going to Swindon to live with my dad.

Eileen's father gained custody

and removed her from the home before also trying to get custody of Sue.

When we were children,

we actually went down to Chippenham to Sue's house.

I can't remember all of it

but I can remember going to Chippenham with our dad.

I think what I was told

is that dad and that went down to try to get Sue.

But Eileen's dad wasn't Sue's biological father

and strong opposition from Sue's adoptive parents

meant that she remained in Chippenham with them.

And then I turned into quite an angry young teenager.

I was sleeping rough, I was drinking,

so I was, like, thinking, "I really wonder how Sue's life...

"Has she got a happier life than me?"

I think it was just sad that we didn't grow up together,

being that we come from the same mother,

because I think we would have had a good bond

because most children that come from the same mother

normally have quite a strong bond.

And I felt like we were cheated because that was taken away from us.

Eileen eventually married and went on to have children of her own

and it wasn't until her 50th birthday that she decided

it was time to try to find the sister she'd lost.

I started to want to trace my natural mother and Sue.

Some of it was curiosity, some of it was looking for something

that I felt I had missing,

especially that was with my natural mother.

Some of it was because I wanted to see how Sue's upbringing was.

I think because my children have grown up, I sort of thought,

"Actually, I'm going to start doing a little bit more of a search."

When I was on Jobseeker's, they got me to do an internet course,

like use a laptop, a computer and, while using the laptop,

apart from just doing job searches, I thought,

"Right, I'm now going to start doing things that I want to do with it."

So, the first thing I done is went onto Genes Reunited.

After having no luck finding Sue on genealogy sites,

it was Eileen's daughter who suggested

she turn to social media for help.

My daughter took Sue's name and went onto Facebook

and done a search for me and there was a few Sues with that name

but straightaway she come across the one that she said,

"This is your sister, Mum. This is her."

A few days later, I set up my own Facebook account,

sent Sue a message from my Facebook account

and she then sent me a long message back,

saying that she'd been looking for me for a long time.

"Hi, Eileen, it was a lovely surprise

"to see you've joined Facebook.

"I do hope we keep in regular contact now

"cos I would love to know how you and your family are doing.

"Anyway, do message me when you can. Take care, stay happy. Love, Sue."

I was, like, shaking, thinking, "My God! My God! What have we done?

"We've just found each other after all these years."

The sisters were soon speaking on the phone.

We just couldn't stop talking.

It was like we'd known each other for all the time.

There was so much to talk about.

We were on the phone for about four hours.

Sue and Eileen then arranged their first meeting

at Swindon train station.

As we got to Swindon, I saw a woman sitting,

waiting for the train to come in,

who I thought looked remarkably like me

and I got off the train and we had quite an emotional big hug.

When I first saw her, um, I knew it was her straightaway

and she said to me that she knew it was ME straightaway.

And obviously, we gave each other a big hug and we cried

and we just chatted.

It was just, like, amazing. It was just, like,

I can't believe this has really happened after all these years.

It's like I really can't believe it.

I think it's fair to say that I couldn't take my eyes off of her.

Um, I was absolutely fascinated

by meeting someone that looked so much like me.

I wanted to ask her about everything all at once

and, in fact, I think it probably came out like that, you know,

one question followed by another, followed by another -

where she lived, where she worked, um, you know,

even down to, you know, what clothes she liked to wear, everything.

It was... Everything about her was fascinating.

We went and had lunch together and...

..the whole time I think I was looking at her with my mouth open,

trying to take in every single aspect of her.

We asked a stranger to take some photographs of us

and when I got those photos developed, it showed, even more,

how much alike we were and that, no matter how it might have been

50 plus years since we'd seen each other last,

that we had a lot of characteristics in common,

which I found extraordinary.

She was quite sad that I had had it quite hard over the years -

not just children, obviously, even as adult years.

Different relationships and things like that have gone wrong.

And I wasn't working and I hadn't worked for a long time.

I was, like, "I'm really glad you had a great life and everything."

We both knew that our life experiences had been quite...

..different, quite diverse,

and it's a difficult one cos I didn't want her to feel

that I was in any way rubbing in

that I'd had quite a successful, happy life since my adoption.

It fills the missing gap

because I think it's also because she's related to our natural mother.

We both come from the same mother.

And even though I love

all my other brothers and sisters just as much, um...

..there's a different feeling there because we're from the same mother.

We've become closer and closer

and...I feel like I've got my little sister back -

my first experience of having a little sister.

Today, the two sisters are meeting again

and this time, a special guest has been invited along too.

-Hiya!

-Hiya!

Dilys is the nurse who was charged with looking after Sue

in the children's home where both sisters lived all those years ago.

This is the first picture I've got of me with Dilys...

-Yeah.

-Is that me?

-I thought that was my mum!

-No, that IS you!

It was Dilys's parents who ended up adopting and raising Sue.

Look, Eileen, if it hadn't have snowed then,

I probably would never...

It would never have turned out the way in which it did,

cos I think I would probably have gone back to the nursery home

-and we may well have still been together now.

-Yeah.

-Um, so I think that's certainly what changed my life.

-The snow.

-With the snow, yeah.

-Yeah.

-I haven't got as many photos as you, but I have got a couple.

-Crikey!

THEY LAUGH

No, that's really funny.

-What age were you there?

-I was probably about 19.

-Yeah.

I notice your hair and my hair always seems to part

-in the same little place.

-Yeah.

-And it still...

Look at me now. It's doing it now.

It always does it in that little place.

That's lovely. Thank you for bringing some photos.

-I think that's really funny.

-What, me doing the cooking?

-Well, yeah, that as well!

-THEY LAUGH

Sue is keen to know more about how she'd been taken

to stay with Dilys's parents, who then went on to adopt her.

I was always told by Mum and Dad that you were able to bring me home

to see how a child who hadn't had maternal bonding,

er...reacted in an ordinary family environment.

I've always wondered why I was allowed to take you home.

I just thought it was a policy that it gave

the children in the residential home a bit of family life,

a bit of a taste of family life. I just assumed that's what it was.

But I had no idea.

At this time, Eileen had been living

in the same care home as her older sister.

You were in a separate unit to Susan.

You were with the babies downstairs and Susan was with me,

up in the family unit.

But I used to bring Sue down to visit her baby sister

and I would hold you then,

so that Susan could, you know, pat you and look at you and love you.

No-one's ever remembered old me as a tiny baby.

No-one remembers going back that far, like me as a tiny baby.

So, you're the first one I've actually met or spoke to

that can remember old me as this tiny baby

and, obviously, like you say,

we were in different parts and then, obviously, I was fostered out.

-I don't know how long I was in there for. Do you know?

-No.

-You don't, obviously, know?

-No.

-No.

-I don't, sorry.

But I do know that Mum and Dad, at the time, would have loved

-for you to have been with me as well, I think.

-Yeah.

But, of course, it wasn't possible.

They did want you and they did...

..sort of try to get you, if you like,

-but they were blocked by your father.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Because, well, you were his daughter and that was it.

I don't want to feel that I'm betraying people

when I say I feel a bit, like, um...

jealous because you had a really lovely upbringing

and your parents obviously worshipped her, so, yeah, I do...

-But I've also got my own brothers and sisters.

-Yeah.

-And I...

Do you know what I mean?

-I don't want to feel that I'm betraying them...

-Don't get upset.

..when I say I feel a bit jealous when I see all this.

I was a bit upset when I found out how Eileen's life had panned out,

compared to Susan's life,

but I'm delighted she seems to have come through it very well indeed.

I would rather have been brought up with you included

and grown up to have known Sue,

like grown up to have known each other.

That's probably how I would have liked it.

-It means the world to me.

-Good to have you back in my life.

THEY KISS

I know that we'll never lose contact again now. Um...

She was the first blood relative that I've ever known

and it's absolutely fantastic for me for me to have her in my life.

I think it's been amazing meeting up with my sister after so many years.

Yeah, I feel a lot happier, now she's in my life.

I love her, yeah, I do.

We have started to become close again, after over 50 years,

which is absolutely amazing.