[Davina] For thousands of people across Britain, someone is missing from their lives.

[woman] People have a history and a past; I don't have that.

[woman 2] She needs to know that she was wanted.

Sometimes you've just got to do things for love.

[man] I want to find my dad because I want to know who I am.

Finding someone when the trail's gone cold can feel like an impossible task.

But that's where we step in... We've found her.

Oh, God.

...offering a last chance to people desperate for help.

She feels she's given you away twice.

Oh, poor woman.

[Davina] That's your mum.

Just to know that she wants to be a part of my life is phenomenal.

With no idea where our searches will lead, we've travelled the world, uncovering family secrets and finding people that no one else has been able to trace.

Hello, how are you doing?

-Hi.

-You all right?

[Davina] And finally answering questions that have haunted entire lives.

-It's from my dad.

-Oh, my God.

Just to hold him once after so long was absolutely brilliant.

[Davina] This week, two firsts on "Long Lost Family"... A couple searching together for their son.

[woman] I need to know that he's been okay.

And that he forgives us for what we did.

And our first father searching for his daughter.

I want her to know that it wasn't my choosing to leave.

[dramatic music playing] [Davina] Our first search comes from Ontario, Canada, and a couple whose happy marriage hides a painful decision made years ago.

[man] Oh, I like that one.

-Yeah, I like that one.

[laughs] -I do.

[man] We can't have looked at these in 50 years.

[woman] No, we haven't.

Susan and Chris Ellerton are retired and have just celebrated th eir 50th wedding anniversary.

-[Susan] Ah!

-[Chris] That's me and my child bride.

[Susan] Child bride.

Well, look at you!

You look like a schoolboy.

[couple laughing] But two years before they were married, the couple were forced to make a decision they've had to live with ever since.

-We had our first child adopted.

-Yeah.

You know, all these years down the road, um, you just think... he should have been part of our lives.

Susan and Chris are returning to Scunthorpe in North Lincolnshire, where they both grew up.

[Susan] I met Chris at school.

He was a year above me.

-Hasn't it changed?

-Yeah.

Fifty-two years.

-Fifty-two years since we were here.

-Yes!

-Together.

The two of us.

-It is.

Yes.

We got on and we never looked back.

And you haven't changed a bit.

[Susan] It just felt right, the feelings that we had for one another.

Um, it, it seemed like the most, uh, natural thing.

But nobody was explaining to me what was gonna happen.

In the early 1960s, a time when sex education was rarely taught in schools, Susan found herself pregnant.

She was only 14 years old and Chris 15.

When I found out I was pregnant, I was absolutely horrified.

Mum felt that I'd brought shame on the family.

It... it was a disgrace what we'd done.

I got called down to the headmistress' office and she said I was a slut.

[Chris] I couldn't see that what we'd done was wrong or evil, you know, 'cause it never seemed that way.

But neither of us had finished school.

I mean, it wasn't as if either set of parents were saying, "We'll keep this kid here, we'll look after it."

Everybody just wanted to get it done with, forget about it, uh, move on.

It was decided that the baby would be adopted and Susan was sent to a local mother and baby home.

This really brings back memories.

Of course I'm visualizing it with all the prams outside and babies.

Today, it's a school boarding house.

[Susan] I was the youngest one here, still a child.

[Chris] I did visit.

I wasn't gonna forget about her or leave her to stew by herself.

I felt almost desperate for her.

But there was no sense of an alternative.

On 17th September 1962, Susan gave birth to a baby boy who the couple named Anthony.

[Susan] Oh, I used to tell him how beautiful he was and how I loved him, and I'd hug him.

But then, of course, I was gonna have to let him go.

After six weeks, the day came for Susan to give up her baby for adoption.

[Susan] Oh, it was an awful day.

They kept saying, "Well, it's time now, it's time to hand the baby over."

But I just kept hanging on really tight.

And in the end the nuns got hold of the baby, very roughly, and, and just pulled him away.

And then...

I was heartbroken.

I can remember just crying and crying.

I felt very sorry for her.

The ties that a mother has with a child, I just wanted to look after her.

I think that's probably why we stayed together.

As soon as they were old enough, Susan and Chris got married.

And in 1981 Chris took a job as a steelworker in Canada.

The couple had five more children, but they never forgot about Anthony.

[Susan] Every day I think about him, but, um, you just get on with life because that's what you have to do.

Um, and I think that that's been easier for Chris than... than for me.

[Chris] I look at it in a rational light more than an emotional one.

Every time it came up, I would say, "He's better off.

He got the best start he possibly could have."

But Susan is still haunted by doubts about whether they did do the right thing for their baby.

Are we gonna live out our lives and never know?

I need to know that he's been okay... and that he forgives us for what we did.

When Sue and Chris gave their son up for adoption before they were married, all contact ceased.

Because of the confidentiality surrounding an adopted person's new identity, they had no way, on their own, of discovering what happened to him.

We had to work with a specialist intermediary, legally allowed to access adoption records.

The information that came back revealed that Anthony had been adopted by a couple living near Peterborough.

He was now called Andrew Field.

Working as a lorry driver, Andrew lives with his partner and their two sons in a village just outside Peterborough.

Right, this'll be great.

He agreed to meet me to find out more about the circumstances leading to his adoption.

This is the first time that we've had to tell someone that it's not just their birth mother that's come looking, but their parents stayed together, and, in fact, both of them are searching for him.

What impact will this have on Andrew?

-Hello, Nicky.

-How you doing, Andrew?

-Pleased to meet you.

-You too.

-Come on in.

-Thank you very much.

-How's things?

-All right, thank you.

So, have you always known you were adopted?

No.

Um, my adoptive father told me when I was 13.

Basically the only information that I was given was my mother was only 15 and wasn't old enough to look after me.

I've gotta tell you something.

Your birth mother stayed with your father, and they went on to have five children, and they're both looking for you.

Wasn't expecting that at all.

Wow.

Susan and Chris.

Unbelievable.

Now, that definitely has knocked me for six.

I don't blame you.

They were teenage sweethearts, and it just happened too soon and too young.

So I take it I'm, I'm the oldest?

You had five siblings.

One, Christian, passed away.

But you have James and Paul and Suzy and Adam.

Wow.

I can see, you know, this is...

I can't really, like-- I am normally quite articulate, but I can't really get, um, a grasp on...

But, you know, just take your time, take it in.

-...much of this.

-You're clearly thinking it through and it's a fair thing to get your head round.

[Andrew] Just a bit.

Yeah, all of those years.

And the pair of them have been together all the time, and, uh... -Yeah.

-But she's been desperate, you know, to one day find you.

-Mm-hmm.

-But your biological father, Chris's way of dealing with it was just, you know, don't wanna rock the apple cart.

You know, you're with a materially comfortable family, stable environment.

Yeah, couldn't have wished for a better upbringing, to be honest with you.

Did you ever consider looking yourself?

Yeah, yeah, I did.

Um, but no, didn't, uh... take it any further, you know.

My birth mother may have gone on to marry, had a family and hadn't said anything about me.

That's why this just means so much, to know that Susan has been looking for me.

And especially father as well, I just can't believe that.

I'm absolutely chuffed to bits.

Well, I've got a photograph of them.

[Andrew] Wow.

There's a definite resemblance there, isn't there?

Did you ever think about the man who had been involved?

Yes, but to be honest with you, I just assumed that he'd be maybe long gone, yeah.

That is brilliant, that really is.

I'm just blown away how much I look like my dad, and how beautiful my mother is.

Thank you.

Hiya.

Would you like to have a look at the picture of my mum and dad?

Yeah?

And your dad?

And my dad.

-[wife laughs] -Yeah, that is amazing.

-[wife] Wow!

-I know.

I can't believe that.

No, I can't either.

-Wow, I can't believe that.

-That is incredible.

[laughs] Can't believe it.

[Davina] Before we tell Susan and Chris that we've found their son... our second search is on behalf of a former British soldier who had to leave his baby daughter behind in Germany, never to see her again.

[man] The instant she was born, this feeling of love came over me.

This was my daughter.

I want her to know that it wasn't my choosing to leave.

Hello.

Born in West Yorkshire to a Chinese father and English mother, Paul Wright now lives in Poole with his partner, Julie.

I just want to know if I've ever been in her thoughts.

You never know.

When he was 18, Paul was in the army, stationed in Hamelin in Germany.

[Paul] I'd never been abroad before.

But it wasn't really a holiday.

In the 1980s there were over 50,000 British troops in West Germany as part of the West's Cold War defenses.

This is the first time Paul has been back.

Brilliant.

So many good memories here.

I mean, the first thing you learn when you're out there is how to order beer.

[laughs] It was in one of the bars that the soldiers hung out in that Paul met his first love, a local girl called Michelle, and before long she was pregnant.

[Paul] It was a shock because we hadn't planned it.

But once the shock dissipated, it was excitement.

On 5th June 1985, Michelle gave birth to a baby girl who they called Karina.

The instant she was born, this feeling came over me of love, and it was overwhelming, really.

I couldn't believe that this was my daughter.

She was so fragile.

Absolutely minute.

I would change the nappies, feed her.

I wanted to be involved as much as I could.

Paul continued to balance life as a soldier and a new dad.

Then just before Karina's first birthday, he got some devastating news.

I was called into the Sergeant Major's office, and he informed me that I was getting posted back to the UK.

It was, "You're going back to England next week."

It was that quick.

And I said, "Look, I've got a family."

And he said, "But you're not married, and if you're not married... that's the way it is."

Paul and Michelle had discussed marriage, but she was only 18 and would have had to go to England with him.

Michelle may have been a bit scared about leaving home, because being married to a soldier isn't easy.

It just didn't happen.

Although he planned to keep in touch, the day came for Paul to say goodbye to his daughter.

[Paul] I held Karina for the last time.

Gave her a kiss, told her I love her, then gave her back to Michelle because I had to go.

Got in the car.

I remember looking back.

It was a feeling of helplessness.

I was leaving my daughter and there's nothing I could do about it.

Although duty kept him in the UK, Paul desperately tried to stay in touch with his family.

Back in the '80s, it was just, you know, telephone boxes.

There was no mobiles.

So I would collect 50p's and I would have them stacked on the shelf in the telephone box.

I would keep ringing Michelle, finding out how Karina was.

We'd just be talking and talking until they ran out.

But after six months, it wasn't Michelle but her grandmother who would answer the phone.

Her grandmother then told me, "She's married now.

Don't call again."

I just felt helpless.

I would write letters, I'd send Karina parcels of clothes, because she was my daughter.

But I never received letters back.

Um, and it just, that was it.

Having been shut out by Karina's family, Paul reluctantly gave up trying to keep in touch.

Good or bad, you can look back at your life.

Well, mine's got this little piece taken out and... it's just missing.

Phew!

It was only when Karina became an adult that Paul felt able to try and find her.

But so far his search has got nowhere.

I do worry that she may think that I didn't care.

That I abandoned her.

I wanna know how her life has been.

Has she got children of her own?

She's 29 now.

And I left when she was one.

Ever since Karina turned 18, more than ten years ago, Paul has been trying to find her.

But he wasn't sure of the exact spelling of her German surname, Burcher, or whether in fact her name had changed when her mother got married.

Before we got anywhere, we needed to know Karina's surname.

[Nicky] In Germany, unlike the UK, there are no national online records of births, marriages and deaths.

All these records are held locally.

So to investigate Karina's surname, we had to go to the town hall in Hamelin, where she was born.

After trawling the archives, we found the original record of Karina's birth, and this is where we had our breakthrough.

Her name had been altered on the paperwork.

We discovered that Karina's name had been changed when she was a little girl and her mother got married, from Burcher to Siebenhaar.

At last we'd found the name of the woman we were looking for.

The town hall officials found an address for her locally and contacted her on our behalf.

Karina confirmed that she was Paul's daughter.

[in German] Thank you.

Divorced with two children, she lives with her fiancé just outside Hamelin.

Paul has always felt an unconditional love for his daughter, Karina.

But what does she know about him?

And how does she feel about the fact that he hasn't been a part of her life for nearly 30 years?

I arranged to meet her in a café near to where she lives.

-Karina.

-Hi.

[speaking German] -Nicky.

-I'm a little bit nervous.

Oh, that's okay.

Shall we, um...?

Karina's brought her friend Julie along to help with translation.

So, when you heard that Paul, your father, is looking for you, what was that like?

Unbelievable.

[laughs] Ah, fantastic.

He's always thought about you.

[speaks German, laughs] So how old were you when you actually found out about Paul?

Thirteen.

So before that, what were you told about your father?

Um, yeah... [speaking German] She always thought her stepfather was her father.

-So that must have been a massive shock.

-Yeah, really.

What do you know about your father?

[Karina speaking German] When he went back to England, he went to telephone and also he sent you cards and presents.

Did you get those cards and did you get those presents?

No.

Nothing.

-What did you feel about that?

-[sighs] And did you have pictures of him?

Did you know what he looked like?

[sighs] Yeah.

-Can I, can I?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, brilliant.

-I have this one.

Ah!

How old were you when you first saw these?

-[Karina] Eighteen.

-Eighteen?

-[Karina] Yeah.

-How often did you look at them?

And when you looked at them, what were you thinking?

I've got a photograph of your father now.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

Oh.

Okay.

Ah.

That's good.

Danke schoen.

Yeah.

[sighs] That's beautiful.

That's good.

Paul has written a letter.

Okay.

-Would you like me to read it?

-Please.

Give it my best.

"Dear Karina, I've thought about you every day of your life and imagine all kinds of conversations we might have had as you grow with each passing year.

I was born to an English mother and Chinese father, so if you've ever wondered where your looks come from, now you know.

The day you were born was the happiest of my life.

I've always wanted to find you.

I want to see how my beautiful daughter has turned out.

With so much love, Paul."

So you're happy?

Glücklich?

Yeah.

[laughs] Yeah.

And you want to see him?

Yeah.

[speaking German] She's waited a long time to meet him.

[Davina] Before we tell Paul that we've found his daughter, I'm on my way to see Susan and Chris Ellerton who, as unmarried teenagers, were forced to give up th eir first child for adoption.

When the decision was made, neither they nor their family could have ever imagined that they would still be together, 52 years on.

And they've spent all of that time hoping that their son has been happy.

And I can now tell them that he has and that Andrew can at last be part of their family.

[doorbell rings] -Hi.

-Hi.

I'm Davina.

-Hi, Davina.

-Davina, I'm Chris.

-Nice to meet you, Chris.

-Come in.

Thank you very much.

I think your story's a particularly amazing one because actually I've never spoken to a couple looking for their child.

-Oh, really.

-No.

-That's amazing.

-Yeah, 'cause it can drive people apart.

No, no, not a chance.

Um, there was no way I could have left her.

So you were there for Susan really, weren't you?

-Well, I hope I was.

-He was.

So what would it mean to you if, if he was found?

Oh, it would be marvelous, wouldn't it?

-Yeah, it would.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Well, he has been found.

-[Chris] Mm-hmm.

-He has been found.

-Really?

-Okay.

Wow, that's, that's amazing, isn't it?

Well, I'll tell you when me heart goes back up here.

Okay.

It's still down here, is it?

-Mm-hmm, yeah.

-Wow, isn't that great?

Well, is he interested in seeing us then or what?

-He is.

-Oh, isn't that great?

Yeah, get that.

[Chris sobbing] He's upset.

I'd better go to him, I think.

I'm sorry.

Oh, Chris!

Are you all right, love?

[Chris] Yeah.

God, I never expected this.

[Susan] No.

[sniffles] -No.

-[Chris] Oh, Sue!

-[Susan] It's okay.

-It's so painful.

[Susan] Just have a cry, let it go.

You're letting out what's been in there for years.

Okay.

-Are you okay?

-Sure, yeah, yeah.

It's a kind of an elation.

Um, yeah, kind of high.

[Susan] All these years you've always been so matter of fact about it.

And in there, there was all those emotions that you couldn't hold back anymore.

Yeah.

I didn't believe that it was gonna work out this way.

I thought that by now he probably wouldn't be interested or... you know, uh... -Well, shall I tell you a bit about him?

-[Susan] Yeah.

-So his name is Andrew.

-[Chris] Mm-hmm.

-Andrew.

-Yeah.

-Does he live in England?

-He does.

He had a really good upbringing.

-Oh, that's a relief.

-He, he had lovely parents.

-[Chris] I knew it, yeah.

-Yes.

[Davina] I have got a photograph.

-Phew!

-Oh, this is amazing.

-Are you all right?

-Yeah.

-[Davina] You all right, Chris?

-Yep.

Oh, wow!

Yeah.

[Chris] Yeah.

I was kind of hoping he might have had some hair, but I guess the curse...

Yes, it goes on.

Oh, that's amazing.

[Davina] He's written you a letter.

Oh!

"Dear Susan and Chris, what a surprise."

[Chris and Susan] There's an understatement.

"To find out mother and father, brothers and a sister exist left me lost for words.

I have often thought about my mother, adding 15 years to my age at birthdays and wondering how you are and where you were.

I feel blessed for the opportunity to meet you both.

Your son Andrew."

Oh, isn't that... isn't that wonderful, eh?

-Are you okay?

-Yeah.

[Susan] Yeah, I can't wait.

Just wonderful.

It's a week since we told Susan and Chris Ellerton that their son Andrew has been found.

Well, good morning.

Andrew and his partner Karen are making the 3,500-mile trip to Canada to meet them.

[Andrew] After meeting with Nicky, it's sort of going round my mind all the time when I'm awake, and it's the first thing I think about when I wake up.

Just to think this time tomorrow I'm gonna be meeting my parents and, like, that's... that's an incredible thing.

There, that looks good, don't you think?

[Chris] Yeah, I do.

[Susan] We've been looking at the photograph all week.

Reading the letter and re-reading it.

[Chris] I'm actually trying to savor everything about it.

I'm not taking anything for granted.

[Susan] I'm just looking forward to meeting him, and hopefully he can become part of our lives.

Susan and Chris are meeting their son in a café, in their local town, Port Dover.

[Chris] This is it, love.

How's your heart doing?

Oh, it's pounding, I can tell you, yeah.

-Oh!

-Wow.

Wow, it's a mirror.

Hello.

God, hello.

-Wow.

-Good to meet you.

Oh!

Oh, this is great.

Hello, Andrew.

-That is just like looking in a mirror.

-Yes.

-It's incredible.

-I think so, yeah.

-Come and have a seat.

-Alike, alike, alike.

Come on then.

It was good to hear that you'd had a really good upbringing.

-Yeah.

-Like your parents were great.

-Uh-huh.

-You know, that was a real comfort to me.

Because I just didn't want to part with you at all.

And I really get the sense that you've... you've forgiven us for what, you know...

There's nothing to forgive, is there, at all?

-Not if you've had a good life.

-Exactly.

[Susan] You've turned out great.

[Andrew] Thank you, and like you two, obviously just blown away when I was told that the pair of you were together.

That was incredible.

Your siblings want to get to know you.

-Do they?

-I've got a photo of them all together, and it's Suzy's wedding, so... -Oh, right.

-...there's everybody on there.

-[Chris] And that's nearly 20 years ago now.

-[Susan] Yeah.

Do you think genuinely that they're gonna be all right about me... -Oh, absolutely.

-...sort of becoming part of the family?

Oh, definitely.

[Chris] Sometime in the summer, we'll have a little bit of a get-together, you know, so you can maybe see everybody.

[Andrew] Definitely.

He's grown into a fine man.

I had a deep love for him when he was a baby and... and I still feel that way now.

-[laughing] -[Andrew] It was as if we'd known each other years.

Yeah, it meant the world, really.

[Chris] I'm happy.

I really hope that we follow up, that we continue to get to know each other.

Oh!

[Chris] Can't possibly change anything that's already gone, but it can certainly change the future.

We've been searching on behalf of former soldier Paul Wright, who's desperate to find his daughter Karina.

He last saw her as a baby 28 years ago when he was posted back to the UK from Germany.

Paul's never been able to explain to his daughter that it wasn't his choice to leave her.

But I'm on my way to tell him that Karina has been found, and at last he'll get to tell her how much she means to him.

[doorbell rings] -Hi, Paul.

-Hello, Davina.

-How you doing, you all right?

-Yeah.

Oh, yeah, let's have a hug.

[laughs] -Nice to meet you.

-And you.

Thank you very much.

How hard has it been for you to feel sort of "powerless" in your daughter's life?

I mean, it is hard.

Um... but it was the power that was taken away from me.

It was unfortunately the nature of the job.

And given an opportunity to start again now, what would your wishes be?

[Paul] Not to let her go.

Not to just think, well, that's it.

I had it in my head that it was gonna be the last time I was gonna see her.

Yeah.

Well, it wasn't the last time you're going to see her, 'cause we've found her.

Really?

Oh!

She obviously knows about me then?

She does, she does.

Has she always known about me?

She was told about you when she was 13.

-Right.

-She never saw any of the letters.

Did she not?

When she was 18 she saw a picture of you and her for the first time.

Really?

She treasured that photo and she put it up on her wall.

She thought about you all the time.

[Paul] That's good to know.

Do you want to see a picture of her now?

I'd love to, yeah.

-[exhales sharply] -It's your daughter.

[laughs] Wow!

Wow.

My God.

[sniffles] There's no mistaking she is my daughter really, is there?

She's beautiful.

She doesn't speak fluent English, but she did want to write to you in English.

[exhales sharply] "Dear Paul, I do not at all know how to start.

I so hoped to meet you someday, and now it's... it's over soon.

So I am very excited.

I honestly already assu... [exhales sharply] I honestly already assumed that you had already given up.

Nice that it is not so.

A few years ago you even became a granddad."

Would you like to see a picture of your grandchildren?

Yeah, I'd love to.

Here are your little granddaughters.

Oh!

Oh, my God.

-They're beautiful.

-Aren't they?

Yeah.

And they look like their mother.

So would you like to meet up?

Oh, I'd love to, I'd love to.

[Davina] Paul Wright last saw his daughter Karina when his Army posting in Germany came to an end nearly 30 years ago.

Today he's going to see her again for the first time since she was a baby.

-You all right?

-I've got butterflies.

Have you?

Paul's travelled with his partner Julie to Hamelin where his daughter was born.

-Love you.

-Love you.

-See you later.

-See you later.

Twenty-eight years after he left, Karina will at last get to know the man who is her father.

[speaking German] Ciao.

[Paul] I've been waiting for this for 28 years.

I just want to let her know it wasn't my choice to leave.

Really, really nervous now.

Really, really, really nervous.

[Karina] I'm so excited that I can meet my father after so long.

Karina wants to meet Paul in a café just down the river from where they last lived together.

[Paul] Oh, I've been waiting a long time for this.

Look at you.

-Do you wanna sit down?

-Yeah.

[Paul sighs] It's wonderful to see you.

I never wanted to leave you, never.

I know.

I know.

To me you have always, and will always, be my daughter, always.

I want to be part of your life.

[speaking German] -Do you understand me?

-Yeah.

That's good.

Yeah.

That's a relief.

I want to give you this, um, for you.

Oh.

[laughing] You were so small.

Even though I was in the army, my evenings were looking after you.

All the way to the end.

Oh, my God.

[laughs] [Paul] I did have a worry maybe that a connection wouldn't be there.

But it was, you know, it was, it was there.

[laughing] Oh, my God.

And it was... it was overwhelming.

It's wonderful, thank you.

I have two presents for you.

Really?

[chuckles] It's beautiful.

-Hi.

-Hi.

Hello, can I have a cuddle?

-Oh, hello!

-Hi.

-Danke.

-You're welcome.

[Paul] I want her to see me as her dad.

I don't ever, ever want to let her go again.

Next time on "Long Lost Family," a man looking for the father he's never met.

How often has he thought about me?

What has he thought about me?

And a woman who had to give up her daughter not once, but twice.

[woman] I had a big decision to make.

I never saw her again.

[peaceful music playing]