I've found them here on the electoral roll.

Have they already accessed their adoption file?

[Davina] Over the last 12 years, we've taken on more than 700 searches for long lost children... [man] I would really like to see my daughter.

This is my last chance.

...absent parents... Did she not want me?

And why did she not want me?

...and separated siblings.

[woman] They took my sisters.

I just want to know what happened to them.

We've found family members who'd been missing for decades and relatives people didn't even know existed.

I knew there was gonna be twists and turns, I said it.

[Davina] But meeting is just the beginning.

[woman] Just gobsmacked, like... this is my story she's saying.

And searching doesn't always go as planned.

This is the series where we find out what happened next.

-This week... -[gasps] ...we catch up with three searchers desperate to find their parents... [man] If I could give anyone advice, just go into everything with an open mind.

...and whose reunions have taken us all by surprise.

Please, stop!

All my life I've never had a family, but now I've got my son.

How old was the birth mother when she gave birth?

When our social workers reach out to a mother who's been separated from her baby, we don't know what her circumstances are going to be or why it happened.

For one mother, we found her past had always haunted her.

We're at Number 2 Eagles Parade, where I left Johnny, but I don't remember leaving the pram now I'm here.

But I know that I did leave it.

I reckon I got my things and ran.

That was it.

Guilty ever since.

John Hacking grew up without his birth mother.

All he knew was that she was called Maureen Clifford and had suddenly disappeared without a trace.

[John] My father had said he found me in a pram outside the flats where he lived and he took, took me in.

That's the story I got told.

But whether it's true or not, I don't know.

I've got a lot of questions.

John was taken in by Derek Hacking and his wife Dot.

But sadly, Dot died when John was a young boy.

[John] My grandma looked after me.

No brothers and sisters.

It was lonely.

John now has a family of his own and lives with his partner Helen, who, having been adopted herself, had always supported him in his search.

-You understand what I'm going through and... -Yeah.

-Having sleepless nights and... -Yeah, it's hard.

It is hard, and you think about it every day of my life.

But I'll never, ever give up looking, looking for my mother.

You need to know where you come from, really.

Well, you do, yeah.

[Helen] I think it would be the greatest gift of all for him.

It'll make him whole.

[Nicky] Luckily, John knew his mother's name: Maureen Clifford.

So our search experts could trawl through marriage records and a DNA database and eventually tracked her down living alone on the Isle of Sheppey.

-Nicky, I believe!

-It's me.

Yes, come on in, darling.

How much of a surprise was this when you found out that John was looking for you?

Well, I was shocked and I was overwhelmed.

'Cause I've never forgotten him.

Well, tell me what happened at the time of his birth.

I was living in this room, it was just a little square, and it was a hovel.

And I was desperate.

-How old were you?

-Nineteen.

And I knew if the authorities came, they only had to look at the place I was living in.

They would have took him.

Oh, dear me!

And I wasn't having that.

There's one thing I didn't want him going into a home, 'cause I was in care until I was 18.

Right.

So John was told that he was left in a pram, outside a parade of shops in Buxton, so that's right?

[Maureen] That is true.

I did care for him for a few months.

Then friends used to live below me kept saying, "If you can't manage, we'll look after him for you."

It was a terrible thing to do, but we arranged to meet, Number 2, Eagles Parade.

But I didn't have the guts to hand him over.

Oh, I just left the pram there outside their flat and that was it.

And I fled.

For him to know what actually happened, that you had arranged to give John to them... -Yes.

Oh, definitely.

-...will be wonderful.

Would you like to see a photo?

Come on, show me, quick, quick!

Oh, it's lovely.

Oh, God!

My own flesh and blood.

Oh, dear!

I can't wait to meet him.

Please forgive me.

[Davina] After a lifetime of John believing his mother had completely abandoned him, I was able to tell him the truth.

We have found your mother.

You okay?

Fantastic.

Unbelievable.

Did she say why she left me?

She really struggled, literally had nothing.

She was really scared you were gonna get taken away.

So she befriended some neighbors, and that was Dot and Derek.

Right.

She actually asked them to adopt you.

Does that mean something to you?

It does, yeah.

So she left you outside their door.

She didn't knock 'cause she was very ashamed.

She says at the time it was very traumatic for her.

[John] Oh, I could imagine, yeah.

God, it's such a relief.

It's a big weight off my shoulders, yeah.

Really is.

This is your mum.

Wow!

Awesome.

I'm just ecstatic.

Dreams can come true.

Just one week later, John and Maureen were reunited near her home in Kent.

-Darling.

Oh, come here.

-Mother.

[Maureen] Oh!

After all these years, eh?

-It's been a long time.

-Yes.

I've never forgotten you, darling, never.

Never.

Bless.

[laughs] I can't make up for the past, but I'll try and make up for the future.

There's nothing to make up.

We've found each other at last.

That's all that matters.

Oh, thank you so much.

I've got everything to live for now.

[John] It's just a weight off my shoulders, all these years, and it's finally happened.

[Maureen] Wonderful day.

Been worth waiting for.

Before their reunion, John had spent over 50 years without his mother in his life.

But he wasn't the only one.

Maureen herself grew up in care, and finally meeting her son started a whole new journey to find her family.

I'm happier than anybody else in this world.

[laughs] Before, I wasn't bothered whether I was here or I wasn't here.

But now I've got a family, I've got to live for them.

Today, Maureen has travelled to Staffordshire to visit John and his partner Helen.

[John] Mother prefers lemon cake.

-If you wanna prepare that... -[Helen] Right.

-...I'll do the drink.

-Okay.

[John] Since I met mother, it's just totally changed my life.

To find out the real truth that my mother did not abandon me is such a relief.

[knocks] -Hello, darling.

-Hello, Mother.

-Nice to see you.

-Oh, mwah!

-[John] Come in.

-[Helen] Hello, Maureen.

[Maureen] Hello, my darling.

I think Johnny's a different man.

-Sit down, duck.

-He has a mother!

And he's proud of the fact that she does want to be in his life.

-Cheers, mother.

All the best.

-Cheers.

You can't get better than that.

Would you like a sausage roll?

[Maureen] My relationship with Johnny is like we've never been apart.

-[John] Do you want one or three?

-[Maureen] Only one.

They spoil me rotten.

I have to leave room for my cake.

[Helen laughs] [John] Oh, sod it!

[women laughing] [John] It's absolutely brilliant seeing me mum so happy, compared to when we first met.

She's just totally changed.

We love having her.

Oh, God almighty.

Please stop!

I think she'd move in if she got a chance.

We're one big family now and she's absolutely over the moon of being a grandma and a great grandma.

Hello, Sinead.

Are you okay, Nan?

Yeah.

Are you all right, darling Melody?

Yeah, I'm all right, thank you.

Yeah.

I love you both.

-Love you.

-Love you.

[Maureen] I've got a family.

It is just overwhelming because all my life I've never had a family.

Maureen's own upbringing wasn't easy, as her Social Service records reveal.

"On the 6th day of June, 1944, Edna Clifford was delivered of a female child named Maureen Ann Clifford and that child is brought before the court as being a child in need of..." ach... "...care and protection."

It's a bit... [laughs] Sorry.

It's a bit sad, actually.

It's making me sad.

Maureen spent her whole childhood in the care system, moving from one place to another until she was 18.

[Maureen] I reckon I was at least nine there.

Wasn't happy at all.

I've been called a bastard a few times.

People can be quite cruel.

Having always wanted to understand where she came from, 20 years ago Maureen managed to trace her mother, but sadly she died just before they were able to meet.

Her search then turned to her father.

[Maureen] I did wonder sometimes if he knew about me.

I wonder what it would have been like if my life had been with him.

I've often thought that.

So the conclusion for John wasn't the end of the story.

Maureen also needed answers.

[Nicky] We'd originally used DNA to help us track down Maureen, and luckily, this was also able to shed light on her own search.

Amazingly the DNA database revealed four younger siblings of Maureen's on her father's side, all living in Canada.

We made contact and discovered that Maureen's father, a man called Thomas Prosser, died 15 years ago in Ontario.

But his eldest daughter Christine is happy to speak to me.

-Hi.

-How are you doing?

I'm very well, thank you.

How much of a surprise was it to find out that you have this sister?

It was a big surprise.

-[Nicky] You had no idea?

-Nothing at all.

In fact, I even called my uncle, my father's brother, and I asked him, "Did Dad ever mention anything?"

And he said, "No.

If your dad knew, he would have told you guys."

He said there's no doubt in his mind, he just didn't know.

What was he like?

Very honorable.

He was a very family oriented man.

He was a wonderful man.

Maureen was born in 1944.

Yes.

What was your father doing then?

He was in the RAF in the Lake District or somewhere up there, I'm not sure.

I'd love to see a picture of your father.

-There you go.

-Oh, gosh!

That looks so like Maureen.

-It's unfortunate she didn't get to meet him in person.

-Yeah.

What does it mean to all of you to have another link back to your father?

It's a very nice, comforting feeling to know we have another person now.

[Davina] Remarkably, Maureen's family now stretches across the world from Toronto to the Midlands.

And her newly found siblings have sent her a letter.

[Maureen] "What a truly pleasant surprise it was to discover we had another sister."

Oh, isn't that nice.

"If our dad had known about you, he most certainly would have loved you like he did all of us.

You would and have been welcomed in our family and been treated just like any other siblings, arguments and all.

[laughing] We can't change the past, but we can move forward and perhaps a visit to Canada in the near future."

-Now, isn't that lovely?

-That's lovely, isn't it?

[John] That's absolutely awesome.

It was a little bit emotional deep down reading that letter.

She says my father would have made me so welcome if he'd known.

And I would have been brought up with them.

Wouldn't that have been lovely?

I do... [sighs] ...feel for that bit, actually.

I wish he had known.

Oh, look at this.

Innit lovely?

In the RAF.

Oh, look, he liked dogs.

Yeah, that's me all over.

[John] And a handsome chap, weren't he?

[Maureen] Yeah.

What a shame he's not here.

It's lovely to know I've got a father.

I can't get over it.

[John] It's like whole new beginnings.

There's uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews.

It gives me an existence.

I know where I actually come from now.

[Maureen] So we've got all the future to look forward to.

-[John] We have.

-'Cause I'm going to try and live till I'm at least 100.

I'm changed.

I'm such a happy person.

All the time I'm happy.

I've got everything I want.

I've got my sisters and I've got my son!

[laughing] Oh, dear!

[Davina] Just like John with Maureen, our searcher in our second story has spent years dreaming of a missing parent.

In his case, his dad.

Being reunited brings that dream to life.

But it also means forging a relationship, not with a fantasy, but with a real person.

[man] There's my dad.

His full name is Edilson Santos.

But my mum said that people called him Ed or Eddie.

And he was from Brazil.

Pearse Egan grew up in the Republic of Ireland with his single mum Anne, who'd met his dad as a teenager whilst living in Manhattan, New York.

[Pearse] When she was 17, she was working in a bar, and my dad was the bouncer or security guard for the bar.

And she told me that she loved him.

Shortly after becoming pregnant, Anne made the decision to return home to Dublin to have her baby.

With 3,000 miles between them, Anne and Eddie drifted apart and Pearse never met his father.

[Pearse] This is the one photo I have.

I look the exact same as him.

I've got a big head, and his head's quite big as well.

His jaw, his nose and huge hands.

I have huge hands.

The older he got, the more difficult Pearse found it not having his father in his life.

[Pearse] I need to find him.

I need to be able to say the word "dad" to him.

I want to hear him say, "You're my son," because then I know that he loves me.

[Nicky] The last known address that Pearse had for his dad was in Manhattan in the 1990s.

Our only option was to hire someone on the ground to investigate.

And unbelievably, after trawling through public records, they came up trumps.

-We found Pearse's dad.

-[intercom ringing] Hey!

I'm Nicky.

How you doing?

-Eddie.

How you doing?

-Eddie.

-Yeah, good.

-All right.

-Thank you.

-So you got the letter about Pearse.

How are you feeling?

There is no words in the dictionary for to describe this.

So you were working at night clubs in the late '80s and you met Pearse's mother?

[Eddie] Yes, she was amazing.

I was in love.

Definitely.

What was your reaction when you found out that she was pregnant?

Well, you know, I was surprised, you know, but I was happy.

Oh, my God!

I didn't want her to leave.

But I knew she would not be happy if she stayed with me.

She had the son and I really wanted to have contact with him, but his mother didn't want to have contact with me.

I respected that.

Could not force her.

God, I would think about him every day.

I would do anything for him.

I wanna just see my son, you know.

Oh, my God!

My son!

He looks like me.

He looks like me.

God, I'm so happy.

[Davina] After 29 years with only a single photograph to connect him to his dad, I was finally able to tell Pearse his father had been found.

-Hello?

-Hi, Pearse, it's Davina.

-Hi.

Come on up.

-Thank you.

I wanted a dad.

You know, I want to say the word.

I've never been able to say that to anyone.

Well, you can.

'Cause we've found him.

God, I'm so happy.

I know I'm crying, but I'm so happy.

It feels like it's not real.

Oh!

-That's your dad.

-Oh, my God!

Oh, I'm the exact same.

-Look at the nose and everything.

-Yeah, everything.

It just feels like he always wanted me.

I just wanted him.

Six days later, Eddie made the 3,500 mile trip from New York to London to meet his son for the first time.

[indistinct chatter] -My boy.

-Whoa!

-Wow!

-This is... [laughs] My boy!

I'm so proud of you.

Your mum did a good job.

Thank you.

Let's have a seat.

I can't believe it.

I still can't believe it.

I'm in shock.

It's amazing to think that this is actually happening.

It hurts me to not be able to be there for you, you know what I mean?

When the time you need it.

-Oh, that's terrible.

-You were.

You were with me in my head, you were with me.

Yeah.

I am here for you now.

That's what it is, man.

I wanna hear you say "dad."

Dad.

I've never, um, said that out loud.

We connected big time.

Big time, I can tell you.

[Pearse] I think we've so much to catch up on.

I've a whole life to hear from him.

And I feel... feel amazing that he wants me to be a part of it.

[Davina] After they were reunited in 2018, Pearse and Eddie spent a few days getting to know each other in London.

But since Eddie headed back to the States, things have been trickier.

I grew up in a different country to my mother, so I know what it's like for Pearse.

The distance makes it difficult to build a relationship.

And on top of the miles between them, Pearse has recently had bad news about his dad's health.

-Hey, Pearse, it's Davina.

-[Pearse] Oh, come on in.

[Davina] It's so nice to see you.

I hear your dad's actually not been very well.

Is he all right?

Yeah, he's... he's okay now, he's recovering.

He had a big heart attack a few months ago and then he caught Covid.

That's terrible.

To be honest, it's one of those things where I almost didn't know what I had until it went.

What's happened since then?

Have you been speaking more or...?

Since he's been sick, he'd ring me but kind of have me speaking, so he hasn't been as vocal.

I think it's because he's on a lot of medication, and he's very, very tired very easily, so that's been tough as well.

Obviously long-distance relationships of any kind are difficult.

There's challenges.

Time difference for sure has been the hardest one.

How many times have you been to New York?

I've been, I think, three or four times.

-Wow!

-Yeah.

First time... the first time was very emotional.

My dad was really, really quiet, and I think I felt like a fear of, am I doing something wrong, is he annoyed?

It's kind of like you go in and you, you dissect everything to the point where it's not natural.

So he could do anything, "What does that mean?"

He scratched his head, he's had enough of me.

'Cause that's what I do when I scratch my head, but it's like we're analyzing everything.

But the challenges are really at the beginning when you just don't know the person.

And I think it's important for people who are in your position to know it doesn't happen straight away at the first meeting.

-Yeah.

-And to not kind of walk away annoyed or...

These things take time.

Yes.

Time, time, time, time, yes.

Like, if you look at a snapshot of us then, compared to now, like, so different.

Now, when he gets quiet, I know I can make a joke and slowly kind of bring him back out of his shell a bit.

With every trip, it does get easier for sure.

Has it changed you?

Now I feel very connected.

I never felt that before.

Very grounded.

Um, just very happy about it all, really, I think, yeah.

[Davina] That's really nice.

Pearse might now have his father in his life, but little did he know when he met Eddie his dad wouldn't be his only new family.

[Pearse] It almost doesn't feel real.

I'm going to be welcoming in somebody I wasn't looking for, somebody I didn't know about a few years ago.

[passenger] How much further?

-[driver] You're about ten minutes away, mate.

-[passenger] Thank you.

[Davina] It was on the night of their reunion that Eddie told Pearse about his other son, Pearse's older brother Nick.

But the brothers' initial introduction didn't exactly go as planned.

[Nick] Pearse messaged me on Facebook.

Probably felt like I was giving Pearse the cold shoulder because I was taking weeks and weeks to respond.

I didn't know what to do.

Creating the sudden relationship with a brother, it was just a lot for me to handle.

But Pearse was very patient, fortunately, and I eventually responded and we started talking.

A few months later, Pearse travelled out to California to meet Nick.

But Nick has never been to visit London.

[Pearse] I am nervous about him coming to stay.

I'm excited.

I'm a mix of things.

-It's so good to see you.

-So good to see you.

Although the brothers grew up on different continents, their childhoods were remarkably similar.

So here's my mom and I somewhere in wine country up in Northern California.

Literally all the way up through my mid-twenties, I had no memories of my father.

I grew up with just my mom, and I never spoke to my dad.

He wasn't involved in raising me, and, um, it seemed like he didn't really wanna have anything to do with that.

This is the only photo I had of my dad and I growing up.

That was my vision of Eddie for the first over 25 years.

Well, I will raise you that photo with the only one I had.

[Nick] Knowing that there was somebody out there who had similar experiences as me gave me a massive sense of validation.

So when did you get this photo?

[Pearse] My mum would have had it when I was really, really young as well.

[Pearse] We were both raised by our mums, but I think the difference is my mum was very young and she left New York and she left my dad to go back to Ireland.

Nick and his mum were there and Eddie left them.

[Nick] Eddie and I haven't spoken for years, and it's not that like we're not on speaking terms.

It's just not something that I think about.

I built my life without him.

How do you see the fact that, like, I am less invested?

Do you resent me for, like, not caring as much as you?

I thought, okay, you have to remember that there is a detachment there for a reason.

So I wouldn't expect you to have the same feeling I had.

But, yeah, I totally understand where we're both at.

Yeah.

I think it's great that we're able to have different relationships but still respect, you know, one another and still able to have a good relationship, you know, between us.

[Nick] Pearse has created the opportunity to have someone to open up to about these things.

Having your brother, like who, you know, has the same dad, like, that's... that's, you know, special.

After three decades not knowing one another, Pearse is excited to now be able to include his new brother in another part of his life.

The next performer is our big orange Irish ball of joy, Pearse Egan.

His stand-up comedy act.

Thank you all for coming.

I'm doing this in front of my long lost brother.

Can we all look at what I would look like if I was five stone lighter?

[Nick] I feel like I have someone in my life now that I can build a relationship with and share my life and get to know, you know, his life and, and build something meaningful.

Now that we're coming up to Christmas, I wanna talk to Nick about gifts.

Um, so to let you know, I am a size 6 days in Barbados and 2 weeks in San Francisco.

I'm just really proud of my brother.

It was really very special, I think, to have him there.

Right, let's give it up for Nick!

[Pearse] The friendship that Nick and I have developed has been something I don't think he even ever expected.

To have that connection is more than I could have ever imagined.

[laughter] [cheering] Many of our searchers are adopted and like myself regard the people who adopted them as our real parents.

But that doesn't necessarily stop their nagging sense of a birth mother being missing.

For some people, that feeling is so strong it can stop them moving on with their lives.

[saleswoman] Best thing to do is to get them on your finger and actually see what they look like.

[woman] We've been engaged two years now, but I just feel I can't get married yet.

Everyone has their mums at their wedding, don't they?

And I can't until I find her.

[Davina] Anne Jordan grew up in Surrey, the adopted daughter of Barbara and Ronald Jordan.

[Anne] My adoptive parents were just really special.

I'd always felt loved and wanted.

But when she was just 22, both her adoptive parents died.

[Anne] I've never felt so alone.

That made me want my birth mum.

Anne spent over half her life trying to trace her birth mother, who was named on her birth certificate as Jean Gorley.

[Anne] At one point I got so desperate, I phoned most of the Gorleys in the phone book but no one could help.

I did everything in my power to find her.

[Nicky] When we took on the search, we couldn't locate a birth record for a Jean Gorley, but we did find one for Jean Gates, father's name Gorley, who had the same date of birth as Anne's birth mother.

A search with this name uncovered very upsetting news.

Jean Gates had died in 1975, aged just 31.

Yet there was a glimmer of hope.

The records also reveal that just a year after giving Anne up for adoption, Jean had married and had another daughter, Florence, or Flo.

-Hi.

-Hi, how you doing?

Hiya.

I'm grand, thank you.

-How are you?

-Nice to see you.

[Nicky] Very, very well.

So how do you feel about Anne?

Did you have any idea at all that she was out there?

No.

Totally, totally no idea because my mum died when I was a child, so I presumed there was just me, so I was just shocked.

She died of cancer when I was 7 and a half.

It was very, very quick.

To me, it was like she left me and I was angry, yeah.

Sorry.

You felt abandoned?

I did.

When she left, the world stopped.

There's something of a parallel, I think, possibly with Anne, in that she had a really happy adoption, with wonderful parents, but they both died when she was 22.

-So she too felt abandoned.

-Yeah.

Um, that's sad for her, isn't it?

Because she's lost her mum, her dad, and her birth mum.

-Do you have a picture of your mum?

-[Flo] Yes, I do.

It's actually very sad she never got to meet her.

I wouldn't mind seeing a picture of her.

Oh, my goodness!

She reminds me of me!

I just wish I would have met her years ago and looked out for each other.

And I really want to meet her.

[Davina] We told Anne the sad news about her mum off camera.

And then I went to share with her what else we'd discovered.

-Hi, Anne.

-Hi, Davina.

Hi.

-You all right?

-Yeah, come in.

[Davina] Thank you so much for seeing me, because I know that you had a lot to deal with.

To be honest, I feel even more lost, 'cause I sort of hoped that it would be good news.

But I need to, to grieve over that a bit.

-Yeah, course you do.

-Yeah.

We have found somebody.

Who?

Your mum had a little girl two years after you, called Flo.

[Anne] Did she know about me?

The problem was that your mum died when she was 7, so she didn't know about you.

There's no... no one really knows about me?

That's quite hard.

Do you have a picture of my mum?

So happy to have this.

It does feel comfort.

Flo would like to give you lots more.

Does she want to see me?

-Yes.

-Really?

Must have been hard for her because she's grown up without a mum too, so she can understand what it feels like.

There are a lot of similarities between the two of you.

Oh, my gosh, she's stunning!

That's my sister.

I'm so grateful for this.

I thought that I was never gonna get over this.

I was... just felt devastated.

But having a sister is amazing.

Just three days later, the sisters travelled to London to meet for the first time.

[gasps] My goodness!

Thank you for finding me.

My sister.

We've got the same eyes.

I noticed.

You look well.

I'm so glad you found me, I really am.

I wish I'd known you years ago.

It would have been amazing.

-It would have been.

-Mm.

'Cause it sounds like you've had things quite tough.

Yeah.

I have.

I was very lonely growing up, very lonely.

[Anne] It makes me really sad, but I think together we can give each other comfort and support.

Is there anybody on mum's side that you still see?

-No.

-Nobody?

-No.

-Is there nobody-- Is there anybody alive?

I don't know.

I'd love to be able to say answers for you, but I don't know them.

[Anne] You've got me now.

Yeah.

Same here.

I'm absolutely thrilled to have a sister.

-Me too.

-I am really thrilled.

We're hoping to get married soon, and now that I've found you, I really would like it if you walk me down the aisle.

-Really?!

-Mm.

Of course.

Don't want me or Anne to be lonely anymore.

I want us to have someone to talk to and rely on.

She's amazing.

She's so amazing.

Um, I just...

I adore her.

With Anne and Flo having both grown up without their mother, they've spent the last two years on a joint mission, to reconnect with the maternal side of their family.

Today, the sisters are meeting up in their birth mother Jean's hometown in the North of England.

[Flo] After Mum died, I lost all contact with this side of her family.

We moved away, went to Ireland, and that was it.

I never saw them again.

We both feel the same pain for different circumstances.

I thought so much about how she struggled and actually she needs me as much as I need her.

I just want to be the big sis that she never had when she was younger.

-Hello.

-Hi.

[Flo] I'm really glad I have Anne.

I feel a comfort.

It's like having another part of my mum.

So when I look at her, I can see it in her eyes and her eyebrows.

The shape of her hair, and she is part of me.

I'm not alone.

But the sisters aren't just seeing each other whilst they're in Cockermouth.

They're about to meet someone who can give them answers they've been waiting a lifetime to hear.

[raps on door] They've managed to trace their birth mother's younger sister... Hello!

...Maureen.

[indistinct chatter] [Maureen] You all right?

You okay?

Yeah, you're okay.

Hello, Flo.

Hello, hon.

Oh, it's so lovely to see you.

Maureen had actually been trying to find Flo, but she had no idea about Anne.

[Maureen] Anne and Flo are my nieces.

And they always will be my nieces.

No matter where they're born, they are family.

Come on then, we'll go towards the bridge.

Today, Maureen's sharing some of their mother's favorite places.

Oh, this is gorgeous, isn't it?

[Maureen] What Florence and Anne want is for their mother to be here and she won't be here, she never will be again.

She can't hold them, she can't kiss them, can't say she loves them.

That won't happen.

The best thing you can do is learn about her and all anybody can tell her, and take that to heart.

[Anne] So what was she like when she was young?

Quiet.

Quiet.

She wasn't a noisy lass, no.

-Oh, really?

-Aye.

This is so surreal being somewhere that my mum played.

-It's calming.

It's lovely.

-[Maureen] Yeah, yeah.

But you're bound to feel it as well, surely?

Yeah, I do, actually, yeah.

[Flo] My aunt telling me different wee things, it gives me more of an idea what she was like, because I don't know what it's like to have a mum.

I genuinely don't.

I never did.

[sniffles] It's nice to fill in some little gaps.

Meeting Maureen isn't just an opportunity for the sisters to find out what their mother was like.

For Anne, it's a chance to hear a little about Jean's circumstances when she fell pregnant.

[Maureen] This is where all the family grew up.

Along here was cottages.

[Flo] What was it like for you here?

It was cramped.

There wasn't a lot of room.

Er, girls had one bedroom, the boys had the other.

Toilet was outside.

Things were hard.

We had a two-up, two-down house.

It was already busting at the seams.

Don't take this the wrong way, but there wasn't room.

Mm.

I'm sorry.

[Maureen] I wish life was better than it is, but it's not.

[Anne] At least I'm standing outside... -Yep.

-...her house.

-[Maureen] Where she grew up.

-Where she grew up.

It's a huge step that I'm walking in her shoes.

-That's a comfort to me.

-Yeah.

[Anne] Okay, I didn't have my mum, but at least I know more about my mum, her history and my past, where I came from, which is really important.

And I think any adopted person will resonate with that.

You need to know where you come from.

Anne and Flo's new family doesn't stop with their Aunt Maureen.

I've got a surprise for you two this morning.

Andrew and Lou's here.

-[gasping] -Are they really?

-Oh, my God!

-Oh, yes!

-Oh, yes!

-Yes!

They're here now.

Today they're also meeting two of their cousins, Andrew and Louise.

I've never met Flo, because her and her dad went back to Ireland a year after I was born.

She's Louise.

Obviously I've just found out about Anne.

Hello!

-You all right?

-How are you, hon?

-[Louise] So lovely to meet you.

-And you.

It's been so long.

-Hiya, Anne, I'm Andrew.

-Hi.

Hi.

[Anne] I didn't expect today.

I was genuinely shocked.

But nice shocked.

[Louise] Oh, how are you?

Yeah, I'm really good.

It's a massive roller coaster for me, go from having no family to lots, so, fabulous.

-And there's still many more of us.

-I know.

It feels really nice to be part of a family.

[Flo] I'm so glad youse are here.

It's really good, really is.

I only met Andrew for a very short time, just the once as a child, and I think that's why I felt so emotional.

Because it all come back.

It's just like he's in here, and it's really nice.

But I'm really chuffed, I really am, both of youse.

I've been very lonely.

And this has fixed it.

-Yeah?

Yeah.

-Yeah.

[peaceful music playing]