Long Lost Family (UK) S09E02

[Music] it's been like an obsession in the last year over 4,000 people from across the UK have contacted the long-lost family team do you know what her full name would be asking us to find their missing family I need to understand how could a mom give up their child they took my sisters I just want to know what happened to them I need to meet my birth father he is part of who I am [Music] using trained intermediaries DNA experts and investigators all over the world we find people that nobody else could trace [Music] we uncover incredible family secrets you've got five other siblings meeting a famous person who helped who's should be here sister I can't even begin to describe what that actually feels like and answer questions that have haunted entire lives I knew that was gonna be a twist and turns Act I said it this week an extraordinary missed opportunity of a man longing to find family but too scared to make the first move safe about I fell do you know you can't just barge in on somebody else's life like that and our oldest ever searcher anxious to find her missing daughter before it's too late Anna pray for Imelda every night and just put my head in hands don't God please help me [Music] it takes a lot of courage to find your birth mother and people often hold back because they're afraid of what they might uncover but with our first searcher there's one day every year when it is impossible not to think about her [Music] [Applause] [Music] which I haven't seen over 50 years time - OH - young you know don't wake up want to fall for the same everything this died down you know adding 50th thought a big birthday in anyone's existence and still I don't know it where I come from or who I am scaffolding Ikhlas roads lives with his wife Sandra the couple have three daughters and four grandchildren those finger well being that that knowing that you've got your family there knowing that you got someone there to eat from rely on everything I do everything is for them Nikolas lives just around the corner from where he grew up he was adopted by a couple unable to have children of their own Kathleen and Donald Rhodes that was like my hero in many ways my mum's best woman in the world and my eyes feel free even if she could have eight kids she would have still had shots you know she was there at deck because I'm the woman but when he was 18 Nicholas's adoptive mum died from a heart attack mum was always there and then she won't and he suddenly realized you know I'm not I'm really I'm a little boy really I'm normal to cuddle you know I keep one the whitener yang now necklaces thoughts turned to his birth mother and following the death of his father he decided to search for her soul I was ending my family my birth mother she was all I had Nicholas's birth certificate stated his mum's name Jacqueline groom and crucially the address where she'd been living when he was born he went like a planned expeditions to try and find her we're just ditching silent on the m11 just I'm will have a go with if we ever find it it was one of the most beautiful double rainbows you've ever seen in your life and it seemed to me just just guiding me guiding me like no destinies this way you follow the light follow the light so teeth I found it that's the house so what say it for about half hour looking at all contemplating it and going through it with with Soulja same should I should knock down knock didn't know what's though you know it fault that you know she could be the end of a family could be there I could really upset someone from certainly life upside down you know you can't just barge in on somebody else's life like that so we didn't say and decided after several terms of getting out the car and grabbing the door and or when attempting to get out though probably the best idea not to the best idea would be to go home but little did Nikolas know that behind that door was someone desperate for him to knock I've been waiting here for my brother over 30 years now I know that sounds mad but this is where mum was and I thought if I stayed here he'd know where to come he'd know find his way home [Music] Kaleigh Cox has spent her whole life in the same place it's my house just there I've lived here fifty-two years the estate agent has never moved Kaylee was brought up by her grandmother Beatrice after her mum left when she was 7 mum met an American servicemen and moved to America with him I remember standing on the end of the cypher giving her a kiss and off she went and my nan signed me it's just me new kid Haley's mom Jacqueline went on to get married have two more children and settle in America so Kaylee rarely saw her it was hard I felt very lonely sometimes but I had my name she was everything to me she was my mum my dad my brothers my sisters everybody but when Kaylee was 22 out of the blue a family friend told her she had a younger brother I came home and nan was here and I was quite angry so I walked in and confronted nan if you've got something to tell me and then I asked her out right and it was the first time I ever saw her cry it was true Kaylee's nan told her that her brother was called nicholas and had been adopted so Kaylee threw herself into tracking him down she contacted an adoption charity who told her that she couldn't make contact with him but she could write a letter that could be held on file should Nicholas ever come looking himself I tried to write the letter so many times and I just I could never seem to find the right words to start it [Music] so there's this one this one this one this one this one a couple lines there this one again this one that letter was gonna be the only chance if I got that letter wrong he might not have wanted to meet us I couldn't do it so instead Kayleigh decided to wait for her brother to come to her I made the decision that I was gonna stay here I thought if he got access to his adoption a certificate or his adoption records that there would be some address in there that mum had been living at so hopefully if Nicholas ever came looking they can find me Kayli now has a family of her own but she remains desperate for her brother to come home I love him I know that sounds mad but I do love him he's my little brother you know I just that's it sim players I just need to know who he is this is the first time this has happened in the history of long-lost family to people so near to finding each other both so worried about making the first move of course Nicholas was quite right not to just turn up and knock on the door every adoption specialist will say that in that kind of situation you have to be cautious person you're looking for may have had a traumatic experience and they might not have told the rest of their family what had happened our highly trained intermediaries approached to the house and that's when we discovered his sister Kaley waiting for him it's extraordinary Nicholas was here and came so close they're going up to the door and saying can you tell me something about my birth mother but he held back meanwhile his sister stayed here all this time ready should the knock ever come [Music] Kelly hi Nikki oh yeah let's meet you come in please [Music] thank you very much you're welcome so the amazing thing is you're still here you are still living here KC ever came looking when I found out about him I wanted to come find him but I had no legal right people just saying that I couldn't do it I couldn't do it so gratefully he's died looking like I tell you something when he saw his birth certificate he saw this address and came and sat in a car outside and he was thinking I thought he was gonna go in and knock on the door and say I want you know I wonder if she still lives there oh my god oh it was that close she's not the door know was here I mean that it's extraordinary but he had a really happy adoption that's really important because I had a happy childhood mm-hmm if he hadn't have done that would have been even more unfair so the fact that he's had happy childhood too is really important you know why he wasn't given up for adoption it's difficult to talk to mom about it but I think that I was already here and then was a single idea as well so for the pair of them to have brought service that would have been difficult mum was really young and there's a lot of social stigma we've been an unmarried mum have you told her that Nicholas has come looking yes yeah where is she she's still in America she went out there for 40-plus years with my brother and sister so now I've got chance to have my own brother nearby and being his own country which is a big thing this is so important he wasn't as huge it's huge various does he brother oh he's got family knows good smile he's got good eyes thank you so much for this but Nikolas his search isn't over yet through Kaylie we contacted their mom Jacqueline in America and she's agreed to meet me after having Nicolas adopted as a baby and leaving Kaylee with her mother in the UK Jacqueline has made a new life for herself in the States so how will she feel about Nicolas getting in touch after 50 years apart you scaffolding ickis roads came to us longing to find his birth mother I can't stop thinking about I want to space her give her a cuddle but incredibly our search also uncovered his half-sister Kaylee she was able to put us in touch with their mother Jacqueline who now lives 4,000 miles away in Chicago I've come to see her to find out if she's ever thought about Nikolas and whether she wants to be a part of his life Nikki hi nice to see you come on in when you find out that Nicolas was looking for you what was your reaction stunned shocked I'd always wondered if he would look for me every year I would always sit by myself and I'd say happy birthday Nicolas and God bless you and keep you safe I was praying he did have a good life you do no good that's Korean why was that not possible to keep him I was working then I found out I was pregnant I had Kayleigh she was a toddler and it would have been way too much for my mom cuz back then there was no help and I knew I couldn't give him the life that he should have had how long was he with you after he was born three days and they let me keep him by my bed at night so three days three nights I fed him changed him bathe him played with him kissed him cuddle him then they told me they had to take him and I cried like a baby it was really heartbreaking did you think about him I dreamed of him a lot is he married to have kids to add more grandkids you know if he ever asked about me was he look like you got a picture ah that's my baby and he still got the little dimple he's taking he's married to Sandra he's got three daughters well I got through my granddaughters I'm happy had a good life that means everything to me thank you before we tell Nikolas about this extraordinary double find our second story comes from Scotland and is on behalf of our oldest long-lost family searches yet a great-great-grandmother who is desperate to find the daughter she gave up before it's too late love planet fingers brain sparkling and special moments midweek I read everybody stars I read them all and then I've go back and read em elders were using nor stars evening when she was we I'd be made nurse tired from the day I gave her away should part of my family even though she's no here I hope she's happy [Music] 83 year-old Margaret Sweeney hasn't seen her eldest daughter Imelda over 60 years cookie good boy come get your Apple in 1955 Margaret was working in a cafe in London when she started dating a boy and soon discovered she was pregnant raised in a strict Catholic family in Northern Ireland Margaret knew how her parents would react to her pregnancy calling that be taken baby holden a.m. because they wouldn't take me in I call me toward a nobody nobody they're happy alone in a big city 19 year old Margaret went to the only place she could think of for help her local catholic church the priest suggested a mother and baby home run by nuns st. Pelagius home for destitute girls I thought well nuns should be alright in their hands they thought they were going to lace but they were far from nice simple ages was one of many Catholic run mother and baby homes in the 1950s heavily pregnant young girls like Margaret were expected to live on very basic Russians working long hours for their keep hidden from the public eye until their babies were adopted what jobs did you have to do when you were there sometimes skin brushing on the stairs go and then washing them on your hands and knees the nuns treated you like nothing saying you're a bad girl I thought it was worthless [Music] wasn't it whistle anybody after her through or last just because you're being a mistake Margaret worked in the convent for six weeks until on the 9th of July 1956 she gave birth to a baby girl she named Imelda a lovely high table from the day she was born big blue rays I didn't want them to take her from me alarms broke my heart [Music] after giving a milder up for adoption eventually Margaret went on to marry moved to Perth and have five more children but she's never forgotten her missing daughter the pray for Imelda every night of my life and just put my head in hands oh god please help me you know a little staff said feel about her I'm praying another thing my boring day a really young in the baby back Margaret was one of hundreds of unmarried young women we spent the first few weeks of their baby's lives at simple ages and relied on this institution to help to organize the adoption these children were adopted by couples from all over the world nearly all of whom changed their baby's name so to find him elder the first thing we had to do was uncover her new identity our team used a specialist intermediary who told us that am elder had been adopted by the Hartley family and that they called her Katherine but there was something else in Katherine's record the family who adopted her had kept the adoption agency updated when she was 6 the family had moved to 10,000 miles across the globe to Australia [Music] at 83 years old Micra is desperate to find her daughter before it's too late but what does Catherine know about the circumstances surrounding her adoption and how will she feel about being pulled into this huge family on the other side of the world catherine has three children and lives in the same house she grew up in she's the sole full-time carer for her 96 year old adoptive mom Catherine Nikki how are you it's good to see you come in thank you it's how do you feel about the fact that your birth mother has searched for you just stunned really because it's been so long it's 63 years and I I just sort of didn't think it would ever ever happen really when you were growing up did you want her to find you I was always sort of hoping that she would want to find me you know on special occasions I suppose when I felt pregnant and my wedding and I just thought because I hadn't heard from her I thought well maybe she hadn't told anybody about me and just kept me a secret you won't have any secret her family have always known about you and you've you've always been a part of their lives really hmm Wow and Margaret's desperate to know what was going on in your life even reading the horoscopes to try to work out what times were like for you that's a measure of how desperate she's been that's lovely yeah yeah did you have a happy adoption it was happy yeah mom and dad were pretty strict you know it was church every Sunday and you had to wear a man tiller you know I think mom and dad always wanted me to be a nun so they were seriously devout very very devout very religious and they were pretty secretive well my brother and I found our adoption papers we were looking for Christmas presents and we went into mom and dad's room and went into the Wardrobe and we came across some adoption papers how old were you I think I was about 9 9 or 10 I think my name may have been Imelda or something like that it was Imelda it was a milder it was Wow okay Imelda Imelda that was a name your birth mother gave you Imelda okay yeah that's pretty she can call me a milder when she meets me g1 stupid yeah actually she pigs rather yes please Oh it's my mom and she's lovely she's got the sort of the Hyatt teats and high for it I've got a high forward I can see that that's my mom nice Margaret yeah it's lovely thank you and she's had a good life she's she met her husband and they were together for 60 years 60 years he's got children right grandchildren great-grandchildren got a whole new family out there [Music] before we tell Margaret we have found her daughter I'm on my way to visit Nikolas Rhodes he's been searching for his birth mother with no idea that he has a sister waiting for him so I'm really excited about telling him that not one but two women are exceptionally happy that he's reached out to find them [Music] thanks for talking to me we pop by so when did you start looking for your mum oh I've always you know even when I was a kid you know I'd ask questions would ask only mummies but I've always said the warrior I was gonna upset somebody else's life mmm you know what if Jacqueline's gone on swiv another family and I don't know about me yes I need that fear of messing someone's life up but also that they don't want to see you but longer this has gone on the more I've got that feeling in me loved up I want to make up you don't mean well they found your mum well where was she is she she's in America my cook gods really yeah she got family in well there's a lot to tell you do you remember when you went to Haverhill you and you were sat in the car yeah outside the house don't tell me she was there well she wasn't but we found somebody there who told us where your mother was and that is your half-sister no well uh-huh joking I was sad my sister's ass yeah she's called Kayleigh and she's known about you thirty years my god she wanted to stay in that house so that if you wanted to come home you do well sit so not is it so no it's just absolutely done really says Katie lift with your grandmother she was seven when your mum went to the States and I think Cayley felt quite cut off from her family in America so she has been desperate to find you she was trying to write you letter to put in your adoption file for years she just didn't know what to say but she has given us that letter that she always wanted to write that's from your sister oh my god do you like me to read it closely to mine not at all - my little brother Nicholas this has been such a difficult letter to write there's just so much I want to share with you so much lost time to make up for Nicholas I tried so many times to write that letter so I failed every time I couldn't seem to find the right words I wanted it to be perfect with nowhere else to turn I did the only thing I could I decided to never move from the house I'd grown up in just in case you came looking for your birth family they saw Oh blow saw and she did and all I can say is thank you oh well god sister do you want to see what she looks like please you fix this gorgeous gold before they all look at someone so that's where that bloody nose comes you look alike do look alike don't we you really do I can't wait to meet you can't wait to see you can't wait if you don't picture one month Wow she wants to meet you you're joking I don't know most thanks a month [Music] that's what my mum that's mine Cisco oh my gosh take she's lived in the same household she's biting from it she's got married and she stayed then she's poor kids up and I ask just think Tyson come back you Margaret Sweeney has been searching for her daughter Imelda who was adopted more than 60 years ago [Music] Theresa it's Davina I just wanted to let Margaret know that I'll be there soon [Music] Davina's ovary mom so elspeth hopefully is great good news you know get to be behind shows nervous leave the good news is that we found Kathy and she's so pleased that her mum's come looking for her but I am going to have to tell Margaret's that her daughter lives on the other side of the world a reality that Margaret's age could be really difficult thank you very much for talking to me today you've been looking for a long time for your daughter what would it mean to you to find Imelda mean the world of me and good because I think of her every day and every night I hope she's all right I hope she had a good life but I'll never give up like you know hmm well you can stop looking because we found her oh no oh that's Christophe like do you think she would like to see me or anything she would love to see watching yes she's thrilled me Monday he did all my years go away she's not called am elder anymore oh they changed her name to Katherine but in fact she's known as Kathy Catholic huh and she had a good life huh that's great she was very worried that she was a secret so she didn't really want to come and look for you in case you hadn't told your family says she was overjoyed to know that everyone knows about her Dobek okay means a lot to me I've got a picture of your daughter here's Kathy oh Lord lovely she has got three children I sure Oh God let's return the love what she's beautiful oh thank you I have got to tell you something quite big when she was six they moved to Australia don't they oh he says she lives in Brisbane of night yeah and she's not able to come over here because she cares for her adoptive mother she's 96 I'll never see her now yeah well we would love to fly you and possibly Teresa out to see her I would fly anywhere lady heaven to see you oh I wouldn't care how far what I can't believe I've just never had this good in use in my life it's this baby's crew that that means I could go out and dance [Music] six weeks after discovering that we found her daughter 83 year-old Margaret has made the 24 hour journey to Brisbane to be reunited with Kathy bit nervous but finger looking forward because it's that long ago since I hand him the arms at 62 years long thing I never imagined in a million years that I would get to see my birth mum I'm so thankful that she's come all this way to see me yeah [Music] mother and daughter a meeting in the grounds of the hotel where Margaret is staying in Brisbane being witness on my life it's over element you know I hope she objects me [Music] No no peace nothing I mean I've seen thank you so much for coming happy - I know I know just can't believe it almost 63 years it's long day long time but every day I woke up I thought about you pray for you I felt beyond the race it's taken a long time but yeah look after I live that way because though I'm over the moon and her family don't see the good like I had a good mum and dad and got married and had three children and to change my herbalist such as happy so that's the main thing today it's been the best day of my life and I'm so happy that I've met my mum my young sister yeah I never give up I says one day I will find her you Nicholas Rhodes has been searching for his birth mum for the last 30 years meanwhile his half-sister Kaylie was waiting for him Kaylie put us in touch with their mother Jacqueline and the full mother and son are reunited Nicholas has come to Haverhill to meet his sister for the first time it's not walking away this time no need walk quietly son her son walked walked it [Music] are you doing oh you ready yeah well let's go two days ago you didn't even know you had a sister and yet here we are we're about to go and meet her this was all about on mum you know I did not expect so I have a sister found into the mix the siblings are going to be reunited in a pub close to Kelly's house where she spent the last 30 years waiting for her brother I'm really looking forward to just giving my baby brother a cuddle and being able to start it's not being where we should be they are all right yeah good you're scared absolutely petrified okay of course it's gonna be okay yeah [Music] let's go righty-o good luck thank you laughs thank you so much I'm gonna meet your sister in there yeah I'll no thank you good luck thank you this really is it I'm gonna beat Nikolas at last thank you good luck thank you oh my god hello sis oh my god [Music] a long time coming thank you we could you so much braver than me thank you so much for not moving was it so emo sister so my little brother it's most wonderful feeling the world clapped eyes on him and he was just it was perfect 50 years met with why this forget first babe sorry it's like thank you so much thank you we really do look alike I'm on spec I was I'm gonna know him what four lives right moves to my work after today there's no way you can take this moment wide for me no right this is oh the only picture I've got of me and mum before she left there isn't any other I wish mom before she weighed this man before she went this is a start of the rest of my life I've got my brother letting him go he's brilliant I was come wait for tomorrow karma coming Daisy coming wait coming months [Music] today Nicholas's mom Jacqueline has made the long journey from Chicago to meet her son after half a century apart I'm all jumbled up inside but excited more than anything else I never thought when I held him on the last day I would never ever see him again did he have a good life that that's the most important thing to me that he was loved [Music] see you again thank you thank you so much for everything thank you forgive me my mom and dad thank you cuz I was the best parents in the world up there you could have given myself your beautiful kids and beautiful wife because you because you make that decision thank you so much well being surprised I'm going to I'll tell you another four we get to this point so you never fold up I would actually find everything on me mum you say stop show me I'm live remote in every favor feet absolutely everything today is a huge day for our family about mums got something to be proud of really proud of myself way there's no way I could never say you ain't mine oh my god this is the most I've smiled in forty some years my family's complete it's all about the future can't wait this is the best day of my life thank you [Music] next time on long-lost family a brother and sister reunited as adults come together to search for their mum even if she was a woman who just didn't care enough about our children and you know she's mine and Simon's birth mother and singer KT Tunstall journeys into her past it's an adoptive person there's always this feeling of being an outsider I want to know who I am [Music]

Channel: Cinelic

Views: 496,060

Rating: 4.8114543 out of 5

Keywords: 23andme, abandoned, adopt, ancestry, children given up, davina mccall, documentary, family reunion, family search, heritage, genetic, long lost family, long lost family uk, 2019, long lsot family, lost family, mini documentaries, mini documentary, dna, reality show, reunion, separated at birth, biological, watch online, documentary 2019, long lost family s09e02, finding family, llf, birth mother, long lost family complete episode, long lost family full episode, mother daughter reunion

Id: 0I25IRo4YUk

Length: 45min 39sec (2739 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 14 2019