[man] Can you find my son?

It would mean the world.

[woman] It's been like an obsession for 20 years.

It's been an obsession.

[Davina] 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.

[woman] I tried to write so many times to my brother.

There's this one, this one, this one.

How could a mum give up their child?

I need to meet my birth father.

He is part of who I am.

[Nicky] Using trained intermediaries, DNA experts, and investigators all over the world, we find people that nobody else could trace.

-We've found your mum.

-Ahh!

[laughs] [Nicky] We uncover incredible family secrets... -Don't tell me she was there.

-[Davina] She was.

[woman] Meeting a famous person who happens to be your sister...

I can't even begin to describe what that actually feels like.

[Davina] ...and answer questions th at have haunted entire lives.

I knew there was gonna be twists and turns.

I said it.

This week, from a case that hit the headlines... [woman] They took me to one children's home, and they took my sisters somewhere else.

...we follow one woman's search into her past...

I just want to know what happened to them.

...and discover layers of family she never knew existed.

Oh, my God!

It's like landing on the moon, you know.

There's nine of them!

[dramatic music ends] Our story begins with a four-year-old girl separated from her sisters in dramatic circumstances.

[woman] I just remember when they came to take us away.

It was at night.

There was a lot of screaming, and my mother was crying.

There were bulbs flashing in our faces as we were being carried out.

And it was just frightening.

It was frightening that.

They took me to one children's home, and they took my sisters to another.

I never saw them again.

[woman] Hello.

You're a beautiful girl, aren't you?

She's got... 67-year-old Christine Rose lives with her husband, Mick, in Morecombe, surrounded by three generations of her family.

[Christine] Well, I've got my daughter, two grandsons, a great-granddaughter, and she's lovely.

Family-- they are a big part of my life.

But Christine's happy home is a far cry from her early childhood.

Born in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, Christine was taken into care at the age of four and separated from her two younger sisters.

I always felt lonely, especially knowing I had two sisters out there somewhere.

Eventually, Christine was adopted by Ernest and Violet Ellor.

But as she grew up, she was haunted by thoughts of her absent sisters.

I was always wondering where they are or what they were doing.

Although I don't remember anything of the small one.

The older one, I just remember taking her up to the shop, holding her hand, 'cause I was the bigger sister.

With so few memories to rely on, as she got older, Christine began to question why th e family had been torn apart.

I knew that we'd been taken away.

I knew that, because I remember that-- all three of us sort of physically taken.

But I just can't picture my mum at all.

All I can see is her coat.

It was, um... like a herringbone design, that's all I can remember of her.

One image Christine remembered clearly was cameras flashing when she was taken from her mother.

The incident had been reported in the papers.

So, that's where her search for answers began.

I went to the library to try and find the newspaper article, to find out what had happened really, you know, to me as a child.

And I started looking through the microfilm and would look through four full years-- couldn't find anything.

There was about half an hour to go before the library shut-- time to look back through one of the years.

I picked 1955.

And there it was-- more or less at the front.

I missed it the first time.

I didn't really know what to expect.

I didn't think it would be that bad, you know.

But, um, it is bad.

Yeah.

"N.S.P.C.C.

Inspector T. Jenkins described at Dewsbury Borough Court on Tuesday how, when he visited the house on Tweedale Street, he found two young children who had not had any breakfast... [tearful] trying to eat unpeeled raw potatoes.

He also told the court that in the same house, the flooring in the upstairs room, the banisters, and the skirting boards had been taken out and used for firewood.

There was no food in the house and no milk for the baby.

'The conditions the children were sleeping in were absolutely appalling.'

One of the children was fully clothed and wearing Wellington boots, which their mother said were to keep the child warm."

I think that was myself, because I think the other two children were in the pram.

It's just shocking.

It still feels the same now, when you read it again.

You know, it's just the same.

The article says that Christine's birth mother, Doreen, was found guilty of neglecting her three children and remanded in custody.

We were just taken away, two separate children's homes.

She was taken off to Holloway, and there's no-- there's no more.

Ever since discovering th e reality of her early years, Christine has longed to find the family she was taken from.

I just want closure.

There's no blame.

No bitterness.

No nothing.

I assume my mother would have passed away now.

And as for my sisters, they were so young.

I really want to know what's happened to them.

I hope they were adopted together, because I've had a decent life now, you know, and I hope they have.

[Nicky] This is a first for us.

We've never had a case like this, where a mother has actually been prosecuted for neglecting her children.

[Nicky] When we investigated further, it turned out that Christine's assumption about her mother was true.

Doreen had died many years ago.

But we still had Christine's sisters to find.

We started by looking for birth records of children born to Doreen Ingram, Christine's mother, in the early 1950s.

We found one for a daughter called Catherine Mary, born in 1955 in Dewsbury.

And the birth certificate indicated that she, too, had been adopted.

Using a specialist intermediary legally allowed to access adoption records, we discovered that Catherine's name had stayed the same when she was adopted-- but her surname had changed to Davis.

We found a marriage certificate featuring a Catherine Mary Davis with the same date of birth... and living just 20 minutes from where the sisters were separated in Leeds.

When we contacted Catherine, she told us she was still in touch with her older sister, Carol.

We had found Christine's sisters.

Reading the newspaper article has made Christine aware of the tough start she and her sisters had, so, naturally, she's worried about what happened to them after they separated.

How has their life played out?

And how much did they know about their difficult beginnings?

Catherine and Carol have agreed to meet me at a hotel in the center of Leeds.

-[Nicky] Hi.

Hi.

-Hello.

-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

Right.

How do you feel about this?

The fact that your sister's looking for you.

Excited, emotional.

When I got the letter, I thought after all these years, you know, that somebody's finally looking for us as well.

Yeah.

We've spent the last 20 years looking for her, yeah.

-[Nicky] The last 20 years?

-Yeah.

So, you knew that she existed?

We found out on my records I've got, as she were called then Rosemary.

But we couldn't find her.

It's been like an obsession.

For 20 years, it's been an obsession.

So, what do you know about your start in life?

Catherine's got her adoption papers.

Apparently, we were actually taken away from our birth mother when Catherine probably was about 18 months old and I would be about 2 1/2, because we weren't being looked after.

-For-- for neglect, yeah.

-Yeah.

And we were taken to a children's home in Harrogate, and then, the next thing we knew, we were living with our mum, what we call our Mum and Dad.

And that's going to be so important for Christine to know that you were together.

[Carol] Yeah.

It weren't too unhappy a childhood, really, were it?

[Carol] No.

I've got some photographs.

They're the only photographs we've got -from when we were small.

-We don't have many.

It's a lovely photograph that.

I love it.

[Nicky] Yeah, it's amazing.

That must be when we'd been adopted, 'cause we look quite clean and tidy there.

[Nicky] You can tell who's who, right?

-[Carol] Yeah.

[laughs] -Yeah.

-She was always, you know... -Sulky.

No!

Frowning.

[both laugh] [Nicky] These are going to be really powerful for Christine.

Because she remembers her little sisters, although it's vague, but you are there, and something Christine remembers is, at the time that you were all separated and taken into care, -camera flashes going off.

-Yeah.

So, it was covered in the press.

-Oh, gosh!

-I know.

And it's, uh, disturbing reading.

-[Carol] Yeah.

-It was a very bad situation.

Wow.

Basically, what your mother, Doreen, had done is she cut off the wood in the floor upstairs to burn it for firewood, and that was how desperate she was.

She couldn't feed you, she couldn't look after you.

Gosh.

It's absolutely shocking.

Did that possibly happen when our father were in prison?

Was he in prison?

He were in prison for two years.

That's what we've always been-- That's what we've been told, yeah.

Don't really know what for.

-Well, that's interesting.

-[Carol] Mm-hmm.

There doesn't seem to be any evidence that he was around.

So, have you got any idea of what happened to your mother?

[Carol] From the records, we found out that she got back together with our birth dad and then went on to have five or six other children.

So, there could possibly be five or six other siblings as well.

-Goodness me!

-Yes.

Yes.

How do you feel about your mother?

We can understand what a desperate situation she must have been in.

She had to be desperate, didn't she?

Yeah.

It's such a shame all three of us couldn't have stayed together, but... -But here we are.

-It is-- It's amazing-- it's like landing on the moon, you know.

It is, honestly.

Well, do you want to see a photograph?

Oh, please!

Oh, God!

[gasps] Oh, my goodness!

[sniffs] I can see myself there, yeah.

I can.

-Yeah.

-Definitely.

[Catherine] My goodness.

Sisters together, you know, it's-- it's been a long time.

-Can't wait to see her.

-Yeah.

Thank you.

[Davina] It's more than 60 years since Christine was separated from Carol and Catherine, and she's spent all that time wondering what happened to them.

[ringtone] [Christine] Hi, Davina.

[Davina] I'm gonna come by and see you later on today.

That will be fine, yeah.

Bye.

-Take care.

-Bye.

Oh, God!

She's updating me of where they've got to and what's happening.

Bit shaky now.

Not only can I tell her that her sisters have been found, but also the incredible news that she has six more siblings out there.

Given Christine's start in life, she worried about what might have happened to her sisters.

But I'm now able to tell her that they did remain together as she'd hoped.

And not only are Carol and Catherine well, they've been looking for her, too, for over 20 years.

-Hi.

-Hi, Davina.

-How are you doing?

-Hiya.

Come on in.

-Have a cup of tea.

-Aw, thank you.

[Davina] So, firstly, I've got some news about your mum.

-I would imagine she's deceased.

-I'm really sorry.

Yeah, I thought she would be.

She died in 2005.

-Oh, right.

-So, a while back.

But when you think about your upbringing, what are your hopes for your sisters?

I just hope they had both gone together to the same people, because I was the oldest.

At least, if they were together, you know, they would have each other, you know.

I need to know if they're all right.

Well, they are okay.

-Are they?

-We've found your sisters.

[cries] Have you?

Both of them?

Catherine and Carol.

Did they both go together?

Were they both adopted together, by the same people?

Were they?

Have you told them about me?

Well, here's the thing.

Catherine read about you in her adoption file 20 years ago, and they've been looking for you ever since.

[cries] They-- Oh, God!

Honestly?

I'm really glad, honestly.

It's really good.

Carol and Catherine have pictures of themselves when they were little.

So, here's the first one after you were taken into care.

[chuckles] Great.

It's smashing that they were together.

That's good, isn't it?

So, there they are a little bit older.

[Christine] Oh, and they've got a bow in their hair!

[laughs] So, Catherine's the youngest, and Carol's older.

And Carol's older.

[Davina] They don't have any memories of your birth mum.

But while they were looking for you, they also found out that your father was in prison... -Oh, God!

-...for two years.

I mean, it said in the newspaper that he left her in October.

I wonder if he was in prison, if that's where he went, in the prison.

That might explain she was alone, unable to cope.

They also found out after you were taken into care, they got back together, and that's when they had more children.

-Eh?!

-Together.

Your mother has had nine children.

-[gasps] -[laughs] Oh, my God!

-Oh, God!

How-- -I know.

Oh, my God, I can't believe it!

It's a lot to take in, isn't it?

It's exciting!

Do we know where-- where any of them are?

Well, your sisters have asked us if we wouldn't mind looking to see if we can find them.

So, if it's all right with you... [Christine] That's fine.

Honestly, I can't tell you how amazing it would be.

I mean, we were all in the same boat, you know, it's just that we were separated, you know.

So-- here's a picture of Carol.

Oh, gosh!

Oh, my God, I can't believe it, honestly.

-[Davina] And... -Wow!

...here's Catherine.

Oh, God!

[laughs] Wow!

Oh my God, honestly.

I can't wait now.

[giggles] [Mick] You all right?

[Christine] Here's Catherine and Carol.

They were both together.

That's the older one now.

And younger one.

-There's nine of us!

-Nine?

Flipping heck!

[Christine laughs] [Mick] It's unbelievable, isn't it?

[Christine, crying] Yeah.

Today, Christine has traveled back to Dewsbury, where she last saw her sisters, to be reunited with them.

It sort of feels unreal that this is all coming together now.

It's 63 years, and that's a long time, isn't it?

I've always known that those two were out there somewhere.

[Mick] It means the world to her, it really does.

When she was four years old, torn away from her family... and, obviously, missing her sisters.

-I'll see you later.

-All right.

-[Christine] Bye.

-Bye, love, bye.

[Catherine] Well, I'm feeling a bit nervous about it.

I've known about her a long time but didn't think we'd ever-- ever see her.

Carol's excited.

We've been phoning one another up, making sure all's all right, you know, support each other through it.

[Carol] You feel a kind of love for somebody.

It's a part of a family that you've known you've got, and at last the search is over.

The sisters are going to be reunited in a café close to where they lived before they were taken from their mother.

[Christine] They're my family, aren't they?

And, hopefully, I can be a big sister again.

She's here.

[sobs] [Carol crying] [both crying] [all talking, laughing] You all right?

Oh, it's so lovely to see you both.

Long time!

I'm so glad you were kept together.

Oh, it's just-- it's just unbelievable, isn't it?

Oh, it's so nice to see you, really.

I can't believe I'm not the big sister anymore.

You are!

I remember walking up to shop with you.

-[Carol] Really?

-Yeah.

Must have been just before they took us off her.

[Carol] Yeah.

Yeah.

And I walked up to the shop holding your hand.

I don't remember any of that at all.

[Catherine] I don't remember a lot, really.

You won't, because you were too little, weren't you?

[Christine] And I remember when they actually took us into care.

Just my mother crying and screaming... Oh, God!

...'cause they were taking us off her, you know.

I can't remember her face or anything.

[Carol and Catherine] No.

It's heart-rending, really.

Well, we-- we didn't know about that.

So, yeah, I felt they just didn't want us.

But, you know, the main thing, at least you had each other.

And I've wondered how you are many times, -because you're youngest.

-Yeah.

And we're back together now, aren't we?

-Yeah.

-[Carol] God!

It's exciting, isn't it?

[Christine] Just overwhelming.

As soon as I'd given them a hug, all nerves went.

Just so nice to see them.

-[Carol] Just fantastic.

-[Catherine] It's amazing.

She feels like family.

-Yeah.

Blood will out.

-Yeah.

So, there's eight or nine of us altogether.

You know, if they stayed with her, hopefully they may have more information.

I'd just love to see a photograph.

-I would.

-[Carol] I would.

[Carol] To see if we look like her.

[Christine] It's just letting it sink in.

They're my family, you know.

They are my family.

[cries] [Christine] Sisters.

Now that the sisters have found each other, they are determined to bring the rest of the family back together.

-[Carol] Hello.

-Hello-- again.

[Christine] There are more questions I'd like to have answers to, because we've got part of the story.

I know part of the story.

I don't know all of it.

Come in, it's cold.

She's got a lot of things that we didn't know, and we've got a lot of stuff that she didn't know.

Even though they know their mother has died, the sisters hope, by sharing information, they can learn more about her life.

These are the papers I have.

Um, this is what I first found.

No food in the house, there was nothing.

Doors, skirting boards, everything had gone.

[Carol] No, 'cause she'd burnt them all.

[Christine] Burnt them all.

So, anybody reading that is gonna think, "What an awful person to do this to children."

But Catherine's paperwork reveals that Doreen's case was more complicated than the newspaper suggests.

"The mother, Mrs. Doreen Ingram, is a patient at Hatfield Hall."

It's a mental home that she were sent to.

Oh, God!

[Carol] That were a heck of a shock to find out.

So you wonder what... what her mental state was.

What her mental state was.

[Carol] And you just feel desperately sad for her.

[Catherine] Nowhere to turn to, really.

[Christine] I wish she were here now so we could talk to her.

-[Carol crying] -It's all right.

The former psychiatric hospital, Hatfield Hall, is the only place still standing that connects the sisters to their mother.

-This is it, then.

-[Catherine] Yeah.

[Christine] I wonder what she felt like driving up that driveway.

It was here Doreen was sent after her prosecution.

[Christine] It must have been frightening, going in somewhere, your three children have gone, you don't know where.

She must have been terrified.

And to make matters worse, when she came here, Doreen was pregnant, again.

[Christine] I just feel really sorry for our mother, not knowing what's going to happen to the baby that she's having as well.

Now, the sisters want to find this baby sister too.

We've got Janice, she was born while... -While she were in there.

-...Doreen was here, yeah.

-[Catherine] Yeah.

-And that was, what?

Six months after we'd been taken away, 'cause we were taken away in December, and she was born in-- was it June?

[Catherine] She was taken straight away, weren't she, 'cause it don't say nothing about her being with her mum.

It actually says she's adopted on it, doesn't it?

The sister's paperwork also reveals that after she was discharged, Doreen got back together with her husband, and they went on to have five more children.

[Carol] There's quite a lot of us.

So, nine of us altogether.

-Nine of us altogether, yeah.

-Yeah.

Now that she's passed away and her husband too has died, these siblings are the only chance the sisters have to find out about their birth mother.

The other five don't have "adopted" written on them, and it just gives us hope that they stayed with Doreen as a family... -Yeah.

-...and grew up together, and, hopefully, if we can find those other five children, they could tell us whether she got better.

[Christine] It would be marvelous, that, wouldn't it, to bring the family back together.

[Christine] They are all part of us.

It's part of the story.

So, yeah.

Yeah, we have to find them.

[Nicky] With so many siblings to trace, we had to take a systematic approach.

So, we started with the first child born, Janice.

We knew from Janice's birth certificate that she was adopted too.

If we had any chance of finding her, we needed the help of a specialist intermediary to uncover her new identity.

Our intermediary came back to us with the news that Janice had kept her first name, but her surname was now Roe.

We scoured records and traced her to just outside Scunthorpe.

I'm on my way to see her.

Now that Christine, Carol, and Catherine have each other, they are desperate to bring the rest of the family together and uncover anything they can about the woman that unites them-- their mum.

As Janice is adopted too, will she know anything more about their birth mother?

And how will she feel about being part of this ever-growing family?

-Janice.

-Hello.

-I'm Nicky.

Nice to meet you.

-Pleased to meet you.

-Come on in.

-Oh, thank you.

So-- how do you feel about the fact that your sisters have been searching for you?

Just amazing, really.

Being adopted, is it something that you ever thought about?

No.

I've been so lucky in life, you know.

I had a lovely upbringing.

Wonderful.

You know what I mean?

And that's all I've known, really.

But, so, this all come up, whoo, it does make you think.

You know, you do think, "Ooh, what happened to my birth mother?"

You know.

Did you have any information at all about your birth mother?

No.

Well, a little, but the only thing my mum said before I was adopted-- my real parents sent-- sent them a letter-- they wanted me back.

You can imagine my mum, "Ooh, no you're not," you know what I mean, "You're mine" sort of thing.

And that was it.

And that's as far as I know, really.

Well-- your birth mother was in-- living in very difficult circumstances, and then when the Social Services came round to the house and realized how poor she was and not just impoverished, but she just was not coping.

And at the time of your birth, your mother was a patient at Hatfield Mental Institution.

Mmm.

It must have been dreadful for her, weren't it, really?

You just can't bring yourself to imagine it, can you?

Awful.

Christine and Carol and Catherine and yourself, you were all put out for adoption, and Catherine and Carol, because they'd looked at the adoption papers, -knew about you.

-Really?

Yeah, so they've been thinking about their birth family for all these years.

How many years?

A lot?

-Twenty years.

-[gasps] Wow!

'Cause-- ever since they saw the adoption papers.

-Wow!

Yeah.

-I know.

I know.

Oh, poor things, you know.

I'm so curious.

Do they look like me?

You know, are they like me?

[laughs] I do have a photograph.

Bring it on!

[laughs] Wow!

Flipping heck!

It's Christine in the middle, Carol's on the right, Catherine's on the left.

Blimey!

See somebody like yourself, you know, it's-- I've never had that, you know.

Who expects it at 62 years old, you know, oof!

Can't wait to meet 'em.

And then there's the fact that you've got five other siblings as well.

Five others?

What?

-My birth parents?

-Yeah.

Five-- five others?!

[Nicky] Yeah.

What, besides the three sisters?

[gasps] Oh, my God!

Five?!

After you and Catherine and Carol and Christine had been put up for adoption, your birth mother and your birth father, they got back together again.

We don't know where they are, so we're trying very, very hard to put everyone together.

Oh, wow!

Um, are you keen, along with your sisters, on looking for your other siblings?

Yeah.

I feel as though I've got to-- I want to know now what happened.

Crackers, isn't it?

[laughs] Eight!

[man] There she is.

[Janice laughs] All right!

-[woman] It's exciting.

-[man] Oh, my gosh!

That's your three sisters, is it?

-They look lovely, don't they?

-[Janice] Yeah.

Also, there's five other siblings, younger than me.

And they haven't found them yet, but it's going to continue.

-Really?

-[Janice] Yeah.

Oh, my gosh!

There's nine of us altogether, apparently.

-I couldn't believe it.

-[man] Smashing, isn't it?

[Janice] Yes.

Far out.

Smashing.

[laughter] Well, clearly, it's going to be amazing for Christine and Catherine and Carol to meet Jan.

But, sadly, she can't give them any new information about their birth mother, because she didn't grow up with her, and she's never searched for her.

So, surely, the next stage is for us to look for the siblings who possibly did grow up with her.

We decided to look back to the last piece of information we had for Doreen-- her death certificate.

Death certificates can sometimes feel like the end of a search.

But in cases such as this, they provide essential information for finding further relatives.

And Doreen's death certificate gave us a crucial piece of information.

The death was registered by a daughter, Amanda Jane Ingram.

We tracked Amanda down... And she confirmed, she's Doreen's daughter, and she lived with her mum until she died.

Mandy told us that some of the family had fallen out of contact over the years, but she was still in touch with her older sister, Lorraine.

Almost a year after we'd taken on Christine's search, we finally found siblings who would be able to tell Christine and her sisters about their mother.

Mandy and Lorraine would rather meet their sisters away from the cameras, but Lorraine is happy for us to talk to her and to answer any questions about their mum.

[phone ringing] -[Lorraine] Hello?

-Hi, Lorraine, it's Nicky.

-Hello.

-Hi, how are you?

Not too bad, love.

So, how do you feel about hearing about your sisters?

Did you know anything about them at all?

[Nicky] What was your childhood like?

Well, that's-- that's gonna be wonderful for Christine and Carol and Catherine to hear that.

Yeah.

Listen, thank you so much for talking to us, Lorraine.

It's been a real pleasure.

-Okay, love.

-[Nicky] Okay, bye!

[Davina] It's been a year since Christine first came to us, and I'm on my way to visit her and her sisters.

Until now, Carol, Catherine, and Christine's picture of their birth mother has been painted through a shocking newspaper article and impersonal documents.

But all that's about to change.

Because now we've found Lorraine and Mandy, I can tell them all about their birth mother and that they have even more siblings to welcome into their lives.

[car engine stops] Thanks so much for talking to me.

How's it been since you all met?

-Oh, it's been wonderful.

-Been good, yeah.

[Davina] So, how often do you speak?

Oh, at least once-- once a week, at least.

-Once a week... -I just send messages, don't I?

You send messages, don't you?

Have you found it healing, Christine?

A bit.

It's just such a shame a lot of years have gone by without us being able to be together, you know, but yeah.

You know, you're getting to know the story now, the whole story.

And that's where we were trying to help, um, continue your search for, um, other siblings.

-Yeah.

-And so, we started our search with the child that was born after you-- Janice.

-Yeah.

-And we found her.

Oh...!

That's fantastic!

Did she know?

She didn't, so she was surprised.

-I bet she were.

-Wow!

I've got a picture of her.

-Have you?

-[Carol exclaims] -Would you like to see it?

-Oh, yes, please.

This is your sister Jan. Oh, wow!

[Christine] I can see part of me in there.

Definitely.

I know that you guys were hoping for other information about your mum, but she doesn't have any.

-No.

-[Davina] No.

We didn't really think she would be able to, did we?

No, we presumed she'd have been taken off of Mum early.

Straight away, more or less, yeah.

[Davina] But we did carry on searching, and we did find two of your sisters that did live with your mum.

Oh...!

Fabulous!

So that's six sisters.

[Christine] Together.

Oh my God!

They're called Lorraine and Mandy.

[Christine] Oh, Lorraine.

[Davina] They really want to meet you, but they'd like to do it off-camera.

Right.

But really importantly, they'd like to tell you about your mum... -[Christine] Good!

-Oh, good!

-[Davina] Doreen.

-Yeah.

[Davina] Because they loved her.

And they really miss her.

And they want to share their memories with you.

Yeah.

Um, they didn't have any money.

There were memories very similar to yours of no bannisters or floor.

At birthdays and Christmas, there were no presents or anything, but there was always a kiss, and there was always an "I love you."

[Carol exhales and reacts] So, they didn't know about us until you told them, then?

They've known about you all their lives.

-Have they?

-[Catherine] Have they?

-Oh my God!

-[Christine] Wow!

Your mother always talked about you.

Wow!

That's amazing.

And had said that she'd had a breakdown, and that's why she couldn't look after you anymore.

Just couldn't cope.

It's the circumstances, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Circumstances.

But what Lorraine and Mandy were able to do was give us a photograph of your mother.

[Christine] Oh, God!

[Carol] At last.

This is a picture of your mum when she was a bit older.

Oh, gosh!

-[Carol] Oh, my goodness!

-[Christine] Wow!

She's some age there, isn't she?

[sniffs] She fascinates me.

-[Christine] Does she?

-[Catherine] Yeah.

There's just something there that fascinates me.

Lorraine and Mandy said that her dying wish was that you would all be together.

[laughter] She'll get her wish, anyway.

She'll get her wish.

-[Christine] Hi.

-How are you doing?

All right.

-Aww.

You ready?

-Yeah.

Let's go.

Okay.

On the first step to completing their mother's wish, I'm taking Christine to join her siblings, Carol and Catherine, so, together, they can meet their younger sister Jan. [Davina] How are you feeling?

Bit nervous.

[laughs] It's been such a long journey getting here.

Yeah, it's-- it is good, you know, to find all-- all of the family, 'cause we all come from the same mother, you know.

The sisters are uniting in their mother's hometown of Dewsbury.

-Good luck.

-Okay.

Thank you.

Hiya.

[Carol laughs] [Christine] It's nice to see you again.

-[Christine] You all right?

-It's nice to see you again.

[talking and laughing] Jan didn't know anything about her birth family until we tracked her down.

Today is the start of her meeting them all.

I've never sort of been curious about my past, because I've been so fortunate in life, you know.

But since this has happened, it's-- it's all my thoughts now.

Can't wait to meet them.

Hi, Jan. You ready?

-I am.

-Nice to see you.

-Nice to see you.

-You okay?

-Yeah.

-Shall we go?

-Yes, let's.

-I'll take the bag.

Thank you.

[Christine] Must be daunting for her, mustn't it?

Oh, gosh, yeah.

That's what I've been thinking all night, how she must be feeling now, waiting to meet three of us.

[Christine] We are excited, you know.

It's-- it's just a big story, isn't it?

It's a big thing.

Perhaps my mum is looking down, see us all meet, you know.

[Nicky] So, when it comes to your birth family, you've gone from knowing nothing, and now you're about to meet three sisters.

I know.

[laughs] I can't believe it till I actually meet them.

It's the best thing that's probably happened in my life, you know.

[Nicky] Thank you very much.

-Good luck.

-Bye.

-Bye.

-Thank you.

[sentimental music playing] [Jan] Hiya.

I'm Carol.

Hiya.

Christine.

-I'm Catherine.

-Hiya.

-Hiya.

Nice to meet you.

-And you.

[Carol] Take a seat.

You all look lovely.

So do you.

It's just wonderful.

Do you know anything about us?

-Anything at all?

-No.

Nothing.

[Jan] You never think all this is gonna happen in your life at our age.

It's just nice that us four now have got back together, 'cause we were the four that was actually taken away 63 years ago.

Yeah.

That's a lifetime when you find out that besides us, there's another five.

[Jan] We've got good times to come.

It's just amazing.

[Jan] As soon as I saw them, you know, I just saw joy, really.

Still gets me.

[Christine] It's our little gang.

You know, after all them years...

I do feel like it's family coming together.

This is our Mum.

[Christine] She died when she was 75.

This is a file that we've made specially for you.

It's all the information that we've collected over the last 20 years between us all, and hopefully we can add a bit more to it.

If we meet these two, because I think they'll tell us a lot more.

I hope, yeah, yeah.

It feels good that there's four of us rather than just two of us, you know.

[Catherine] She's so-- so nice.

I told her she don't know what she's letting herself in for!

[Carol laughs] [Jan] They do feel like family.

A lot, really.

A lot.

More than what I thought, really.

[Christine] This has kind of completed the first part, and now we want to meet these other two, Lorraine and Mandy, find their story out as well.

[peaceful music playing]