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Private Notes
Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell present a special edition dedicated to the stories of twins separated at birth. Mary Holmes and Elaine Allin were born just after the Second World War and raised in the same neighbourhood in Chesterfield, but forbidden from seeing each other. It wasn't until they were in their thirties that the sisters were able to find each other - and even then it only happened by chance. There is also a look at the latest scientific research into what it is really like to be separated from a twin at a young age.
Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell provide an update on some of the stories of people who were abandoned as babies. Eighteen months ago, DNA revealed that foundlings Helen and David, left as newborns on either side of the Irish border, were full brother and sister - now further research shows their story of extraordinary family secrets is far from over.
This episode features twins Jennifer and Kathleen, who spent over 60 years apart before the search discovered that they were living just three miles from each other in Rotherham. Four years on, and after a lifetime of nearly crossing paths, has the bond they had as babies survived the years they have been separated? The show also catches up with Polly and Steve, a mother and son who had been apart for over 50 years before Steve was tracked down in New Zealand. A year on from their reunion, and with 12,000 miles between them, how easy has it been to build a bond as mother and son? Finally, Laura and her sister Alison were reunited after the programme discovered that Laura's mother had passed away. Laura was desperate to find a blood relative to help her to understand her identity, but has a reunion with her sister given her the answers that she was craving?
Sarah Gale enjoyed a happy childhood with two loving adoptive parents, but she'd been desperate to track down her birth mother and been trying to do so for 20 years. The programme found Susan who, after having Sarah, had moved to South Africa in the 1970s and went on to have a son. Three years after being reunited, Davina and Nicky hear how mother and daughter have grown close, and Susan prepares to meet Sarah's adoptive mother Rosemary for the first time. Plus an update on Jeannie Elgar, who met her brother's adoptive sibling Robert, and Stella, who was reunited with daughter Maxine after she made the decision to have her adopted at 18 months old.
This final programme revisits three stories of women reunited with their siblings. Cherry Durbin who was searching for one sister, unexpectedly reunited with two. The three sisters all grew up as only children, so how have they adapted to their new roles as sisters? Maureen Saville was reunited with a brother and sister. Have her siblings been able help her understand why her mother abandoned her as a toddler? Fiona Dunn and her sister Maureen were reunited two years ago and now Fiona has finally met her birth mother Pat whom she had believed was dead.
Last year, Cliff Jardine and Sue Ward discovered that they are half-brother and sister after both applying separately to the show. Previously unaware of each other's existence, they were overjoyed to find a sibling. Since meeting, Cliff and Sue have formed a powerful bond, but they have been rocked to learn that their birth mother has chosen not to have contact with them. After being reunited themselves, Ron Williams and sister Christine are now determined to investigate a family rumour that they may have two more half-siblings. Their mission to solve this mystery launches an incredible new search - one which takes Ron and Christine to the other side of the world.
Episode two catches up with people whose lives have been changed in the most unexpected ways. Just last year Vanda James was stunned when Davina revealed that her long lost brother Kenneth had not only been found, but had undergone gender transition and was now in fact her sister, and called Debbie. We revisit the siblings as they celebrate Debbie's birthday and discover how the reunion has changed the sisters' lives in ways they could never have imagined. In the second of tonight's stories, when Chris and Sue Ellerton came to us searching for the son they had put up for adoption as teenagers, it was a first for Long Lost Family. Never before had we taken on a joint search on behalf of a couple looking together for their child.
« Previous Ep. Next Ep. » Episode three catches up with people whose lives have been changed in the most unexpected ways. In Ireland, we catch up with Peter Gunn, whose joy at his reunion with his birth mother Daphne was short-lived as Daphne soon suffered a serious health scare. We discover how these events inspired Peter to make a life-changing decision with huge implications not only for him, but also for his adoptive mother Miriam. We travel to Barbados with Jade Hartley as she sees her father Tony for the first time since they were reunited. Jade is also nervously anticipating meeting her half-brother and grandmother, as well as a whole new extended Barbadian family. We also catch up with Gillian Carter and her son Mark, whose life has been changed in profound and unexpected ways by meeting his birth mother. As mother and son celebrate Mark's 50th birthday together, they discover an extraordinary coincidence.
This week we catch up with three families whose lives have been transformed in ways they never imagined. Cathie Cutler Evans came to us in 2016 desperate to find her birth mother who had given her up for adoption nearly 50 years before. After uncovered the tragic news that her mum had already passed away, Cathie was reunited with her half-sister Ann in Liverpool. Since meeting the siblings have formed a powerful bond with each other and their brother Mark. But they've all had to come to terms with the fact Cathie will never get to meet their birth mum Adrienne. We discover how building their relationship has given them all the strength to deal with their grief, and find out how Cathie has felt about being welcomed into a huge new family. We also catch up with John Ayton, who after being adopted as a baby, had longed to find his father Kenneth. John was reunited with his half-brother Steve in 2017 after facing the difficult news that Kenneth had already passed away. But since their meeting, although John's relationship with his brother has gone from strength to strength, it also underlined just how little he knows about the other side of his family – his birth mother, Marlene. John's need for answers launches an incredible new search, taking him on a journey he never thought possible. In our final story, we revisit one of Long Lost Family's first searchers. Maureen Charlton came to us in series 2 looking for her brother Michael who had been expelled from the family for being gay. But although close as children, after 40 years apart, the siblings couldn't just slip back in to the relationship they had back then. We join Michael and Maureen in Brighton to discover what it's like to have to get to know each other all over again.
We revisit three more families who were separated by extraordinary circumstances. Divorced couple Marion and James united in their search to find the son they gave up for adoption as teenagers. Their reunion brought about a dramatic twist that had huge consequences for all of them. Ray went in search of his brother Arthur in 2016, but was shocked to find he had 11 other siblings as well. We also catch up with Laura, who reunited with her Nigerian father Andy and brother Nten.
We catch up with three women whose lives have been changed, including Deborah Ozturk whose birth mother is making her first trip to the UK since their reunion.
The first episode catches up with Julie Roberts who reunited with her birth mother Marion last year leading to an incredible revelation. “Finding mum was amazing but for her it’s been the start of a new search.” explains Julie. The second story follows Christina Barlow as she travels 5000 miles to Colombia to spend time with the birth parents, who gave her up in extreme circumstances. On this trip Christina spends time with her full siblings, who never knew she existed.
Episode 2 follows three families who have faced challenges building their new relationships. Our first story catches up with Brenda Rhensius who approached us 8 years ago hoping to find her daughter Joanne. Amazingly, both mother and daughter now lived in South Africa and we were able to reunite them in Cape Town. In our second story, we catch up with former England rugby player Spencer Brown and his sister Margot who were reunited last year. Separated as infants, Spencer and Margot had very different experiences growing up; he had a happy, loving adoption, while she spent time in care. Our third reunion was not originally shown on Long Lost Family because the situation was too sensitive for the cameras. It’s only now, three years after the family first met, that they feel ready to share their extraordinary experience.
We catch up with two families; a woman who wants to track down her two other children who she gave away, and a daughter returning to Colombia to live with her new family.
Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell revisit more of the programme's most memorable searches, catching up with two people whose lives have been transformed. Kathleen Fraser Jackson was reunited with her birth mother in Canada, and the programme follows her to Jamaica to meet her youngest sister Peta Gay for the first time. The second story has never been shown before and features twins who were separated as babies.
In our second episode we follow reunited siblings, Geoffrey Tonks and Barbara Jacobs as they investigate a family mystery and try to trace a missing sister. Geoffrey, was the product of a war time affair and spent his early years in Barnardo's. Before Barbara asked the Long Lost Family team to find him, he had never met a single blood relative. His unhappy childhood meant he had no desire to learn about his past, ‘You don't look back'. In ‘What Happened Next', we discover that the success of his close relationship with Barbara has completely changed Geoffrey's thinking. He has become an avid detective, looking into his own history and discovering things about his father he could never have dreamed of. What's more, in the course of his investigation Geoffrey finds evidence of another sister on his father's side. That's when he calls in the Long Lost Family team to help … Our second story catches up with Robert Lindsay who approached us over 4 years ago to trace his Croatian father Mladen Durdevic. In ‘What Happened Next', Robert explores the difficulties of building a father/son relationship so late in life, and becoming close while living thousands of miles apart. Our third story catches up with reunited siblings Nicholas Rhoades and Cayley Cox. Although only a year has passed since they met for the first time, Nick and Cayley have already experienced an enormous amount together, from family weddings to family tragedy. They reveal how the strength of their sibling bond has helped them deal with the highs and lows of family life.
Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell follow three stories of sons coming to terms with the past, including Marc Wolfe's struggle to form a bond with his birth mother Esther, who lives in New Zealand. However, his search for identity didn't end there as researchers were able to reunite him with his birth father David, and the pair have grown close. One significant hurdle remained in the form of introducing David to his adoptive father Terry, and cameras were there as Marc introduces his two dads to each other.
Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell revisit some of the most extraordinary searches to find out how lives have been transformed. The duo catch up with Jean Smith, who had spent a lifetime longing to find her American Air Force dad. Later, Davina and Nicky revisit Annie Sims, who they assissted in the search for her birth mum and older sister almost five years ago.
Anne Clegg and her mother Janet were first reunited nearly a decade ago. She reveals the impact their successful mother-daughter relationship has had on her life. The team also catches up with grandmother Alice Jones, who was originally looking for her younger brother Sam. And there is an update on Sharon Harte and her sisters, Carole, Terri and Sandra.
Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell revisit more of the most extraordinary searches featured previously on the show to find out how lives have been transformed, beginning with the stories of people desperate to find their birth parents. Among those featured are sisters Anne Jordan and Flo Banfield, who first met in 2019 and have spent the last two years on a mission to reconnect with the maternal side of their family
Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell revisit the stories of two women whose searches took them to opposite sides of the globe. Yasika Fernando's search for her Sri Lankan birth mother was watched by someone else born in the very same week and adopted from the very same convent, while Paula Stillie finally heads out to Montana to see her Native American aunts and uncles in person
Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell revisit the stories of three people navigating new relationships and complicated feelings, including ex-footballer Dominic Matteo, who was desperate to find his birth mother after being diagnosed with a brain tumour. Grant Williams returns to Derry to spend more time with his daughter Wendy O'Hagan to make the most of their time together in light of his recent diagnosis of Alzheimer's, while Colin Deering - who first met his brother Bryan back in 2014 - starts out on a new journey to find out about his birth father
Revisiting seven of the programme's most extraordinary searchers to discover how their lives have been transformed since finding their missing relatives. The first episode catches up with Joselyn Taylor, who had been searching for her brother James for over 20 years, and Roy Sibblies, who was looking for his birth mother after discovering at 18 that he was adopted
Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell catch up with two searchers who both found family in a different country, including Roy David who was looking for his daughter, Cheryl. There is also an update on Maria Costantino. In 2018, she discovered her Italian birth mother had passed away, but met her large family
Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell revisit the case of Murray Phillips, who was looking for his older brother Ricky. There is also an update on Ann Melbourne, who traced her birth mother 14 years ago, and Jean Smith, who was looking for her American birth father, Johnny Perkins
