[woman] This one is the lady that gave birth to daddy.

I wanna find her 'cause I wanna make sure she's okay.

[man 2] I would really like to see my daughter.

This is my last chance.

[man 3] It is hard, and you think about it every day.

I'll never ever give up looking for me mother.

[Davina] There are many reasons why people across Britain are searching for missing family.

It's a feeling that's deep inside that you're on your own.

Keeping secrets and keeping people locked away... nothing good ever comes of that.

Some need to know their identity.

You look at yourself and you think, "Where am I from?

Who do I look like?"

Others have difficult questions.

Is she okay?

Is she still alive?

Did she not want me, and why did she not want me?

So imagine the moment when the answer you need is just around the corner.

I'm not that far away so I should be with you shortly.

[exhales sharply] Oh, it gets a bit real, doesn't it?

[Nicky] In this series we uncover unexpected truths.

Two daughters?

What?

Another daughter?

...find people that no one else could trace... -We have found your mum.

-Blimey!

I didn't expect that.

[sobbing] ...and reunite families after a lifetime apart.

Mwah!

I think that's what I've wanted for 50 years.

Mwah!

Oh, God, child.

[Davina] This week, a man hoping to find out why he was abandoned as a baby.

I've never given up and I don't suppose I ever will.

And a daughter looking for the Italian father she's never met.

She's been waiting all her life for this day.

Just want me dad.

Our first story starts in Derbyshire and a man searching for his mother and the truth about his beginnings.

My father had said that he found me in a pram outside the flats where he lived.

It was throwing it down with rain and the pram was filling up with water and he took... took me in.

I need to know why my mother left me.

Fifty-seven-year-old John Hacking works in a limestone quarry.

He was brought up by his adoptive parents, Derek and Dorothy Hacking.

After finding him outside their flat, they moved to this house in rural Derbyshire.

[John] It was a hard life, especially in winter 'cause the winters were very bitter and cold.

No mains, gas and electric.

The water used to freeze up, so we had to melt the water with a pan on a fire.

It was far, far from wealthy.

But money didn't matter, we had all the freedom and the countryside.

Sadly, his adoptive mother di ed when John was a young boy.

[John] I can barely remember anything about my mother.

My grandma looked after me.

No brothers or sisters.

I had a dog to keep me company all the time and I used to help the farmers haymaking in the fields and go down on the farm, help them to milk and muck out.

But it was lonely.

When John was 13, his father told him he was adopted and recounted the dramatic circumstances in which they'd taken him in off the street.

[John] This is Eagle Parade.

Allegedly my father found me in the pram parked outside these gates here.

And I was about three months of age.

But that's the story I got told.

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

I always have a look up every time I walk past and just think about it, 'cause it's there in your mind, permanently.

All John's father told him was that his birth mother was a neighbor on Eagle Parade.

She was a young woman called Maureen Clifford who had suddenly disappeared without a trace.

[John] My father didn't really say a lot about it.

He was quite elusive, but I've got a lot of questions, why my mother left me.

What's happened?

So I just started digging into the past and try and find out where I come from.

Desperate for the truth, John has tried every way to find his birth mother.

[John] We had phone directories and there was that many Maureen Cliffords you would not believe.

We went to social services, but they come back with nothing.

Everywhere we looked just came up blank.

John now has a daughter and granddaughter of his own.

He lives with his partner Helen, who is herself adopted and recently found her birth mother.

You've waited a long time and a lot of doors have been closed, haven't they?

Forty-odd years, yeah.

And, well, 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.

You spend hours, days, weeks, and you're still coming up blank.

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

It's your blood, it's family and it's missing all the time.

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.

I think he deserves it.

[John] If I could just meet her and try and find out what's happened it would put my mind at rest.

And I'd be happy.

[Nicky] In many cases when the child is left as a baby, it can be hard to find any clues to their identity.

But although John was found in a pram when he was three months, unusually, he does know the name of his missing birth mother.

Maureen Clifford.

Searches for a woman of that name and around the right age living in Derbyshire drew a blank.

But we did identify someone born in West Yorkshire that we believed to be John's birth mother.

This woman went on to marry twice and is now called Maureen Jobson.

With this crucial information, we tracked her down, living on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent.

I'm on my way to meet Maureen at her home.

John is haunted by unanswered questions about his disturbing start in life.

Did Maureen really just leave him?

And if she did, why?

What was going on in her life back then?

And what's happened to her since?

-Nicky, I believe!

-It's me.

-Yes, come on in, darling.

-How are you, Maureen?

Yeah, I'm fine.

Are you all right, darling?

-[Nicky] Yeah.

-That's good.

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.

He's always in my mind.

I always imagined I would open the door and there'd be a young man standing there and saying, "Do you know who I am?"

-Did you?

-So this is a wish come true.

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

He was born in the little cottage hospital in Buxton.

I remember, he had a little round face and he had my nose.

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

It was disgusting, that place.

And I was desperate.

I don't even know where the nappies came from or anything like that.

So you were living in really difficult circumstances?

Very difficult.

It really was so hard.

Very hard.

-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.

'Cause then he would have been stuck in a home, and there's one thing I didn't want him going into a home, 'cause I'd already experienced that.

-You were in care?

-Oh, yeah, always 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?

That is true.

I did care for him for a few months.

I had him christened with the Atkins as godparents and... -Atkins?

-I'm sure it was Atkins.

So who were the Atkins?

They were friends that used to live below me.

Well, John's name is Hacking.

That sounds very like Atkins to me.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

And his adoptive parents were Derek and Dot.

-Yeah, it's them.

-That's them?

Yeah.

They always kept saying, "If ever you can't manage, we'll look after him for you."

It was a terrible thing to do, but there's no way he was gonna go in a home.

So it wasn't a case of him being left in the cold, he was-- Oh, God, no!

We arranged to meet, Number 2, Eagle's Parade, and I said I would come up and bring him up.

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.

I left the pram and I ran.

-Do you remember running?

-Yeah.

I ran and ran.

And I got a lift into London.

For years I felt very unsettled.

Couldn't settle anywhere.

So did you go back to Buxton ever?

I went back to Buxton thinking I could have a little peek.

Maybe I could see him.

And how long was this after he was born?

A good two years.

You know, I mean, I didn't want to interfere with anything.

And then I met a friend of theirs and he said, "Oh, they've changed his name to John and they're living in Sheffield."

And that was that.

So did you have any other children?

No.

I would have loved to have had children, but it never happened.

And that was my punishment for what I'd done to John.

Oh, dear.

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

Oh, definitely.

-...will be wonderful.

He had a good life.

It wasn't without its difficulties though.

His mother Dot died when he was very young.

Oh, that's sad.

He's, you know, he wants... he wants to know who you are, and in a sense who he is as well.

Oh, I wonder what he's like?

Would you like to see a photo?

Come on, show me, quick, quick!

Oh.

Oh!

Oh, it's lovely.

Oh, God!

Oh, he looks so happy.

Oh.

So John lives about a half an hour from Buxton, and he's got a lovely partner called Helen and a daughter called Sinead, and he's got a granddaughter called Melody.

But that means you're not just a grandparent, you're a great grandparent.

Oh!

Oh, absolutely lovely.

I've actually got a family, haven't I?

My own flesh and blood.

Oh, dear!

I can't wait to meet him.

Please forgive me.

[Davina] Before we tell John we've found his mother... our second story comes from the northeast of England and a woman looking for her father who she's always known about but never met.

[woman] "Dear Olive, I'm very happy little Debra is growing nicely and that she is beautiful.

Give her lots of kisses and cuddles like I would like to do always.

Lots of regards to you."

This letter was written by my dad.

This is all I've got.

I just want to know who he is.

I just want my dad.

-[Debra] Is that nice?

-[man] It's lovely, darling.

-Thank you.

-Yeah, you're welcome.

-[man] It's really nice.

-Thank you.

Fifty-three-year-old Debra Spark lives with her husband Chris and their four children in the northeast, where she spent her whole life.

I grew up in a little village with my mum, my granddad and my grandma.

It wasn't the typical mum, dad and the 2.4 children kind of thing.

But I was happy and I was very, very close to them.

Most of the children in my school had dads.

There was one girl who, who her dad has passed away and she used to say things like, "Oh, my dad's in heaven."

And I'd say "Well, my Dad's in Italy."

Debra's father, Ernesto, was Italian and lived in Milan in the 1960s.

Her mother Olive had met him when she was working there as a nanny.

Was he tall?

-He was taller than me.

-Yeah.

Can you remember where you met?

Yes.

In Milan.

We had pizza, actually.

So what did you like about him?

Well, everything.

He was quite fair haired and, yeah, he was lovely.

Whenever we went out, if he couldn't take me home, he got a taxi to take us home and he paid for it and everything.

That's the kind of chap he was, he was really lovely.

He was definitely a gentleman.

And how did he react when he found out you were pregnant?

Bit shocked.

Well, not as shocked as I was, but never mind.

-Yeah, I can imagine.

-Yeah.

-Did you love my dad?

-I did.

I was devastated when I had to come home.

Olive suffered medical complications in her pregnancy and had to return to England to spend time in hospital.

[Olive] I cried and cried and cried, and I just didn't want to leave.

[Debra] So if you hadn't have been poorly, do you think you would have stayed and had us over there?

Yes.

Definitely.

Yes, I would.

It was just one of them things, we couldn't... couldn't be together.

[Debra] She talks about dad with so much affection, and I would have liked a bit of that.

Debra was born on the 2nd August, 1967, and went to live at her gr andparents' house with Olive.

Any hope of returning to Ernesto in Italy was quickly shut down.

My grandma loved me and she was frightened I was gonna be taken away.

What she said went, so my mum never went back.

Although Debra has photos of her mother's time in Italy, she has none of her father.

[romantic orchestral music playing] I know all about her life and my mum and everything, but I know nothing about this Italian side.

And my heritage is Italian, but I've never ever seen a photograph of my dad.

I still would have liked to have met my dad, would have liked to have time with my dad.

At times I was angry.

Like, "Why hasn't he tried to find me?"

Where was he?

When Debra was 18, she discovered why she'd had no contact from her father when her grandmother made a confession.

She'd gone upstairs, came down with a letter and give us it and she was quite upset.

She told us that my dad used to write and she just used to intercept before anybody could see them.

She told us that she used to put anything that came that was airmail in the fire, in the coal fire.

My grandma, she said, "I just didn't want anybody to have you."

I don't know how many times he wrote, I just know that I've got one letter.

I've had it for 35 years.

It's a little bit dog-eared.

It upsets us that he wanted to know everything about us.

It was a choice taken away from him as well.

That's the bit that hurts us, is that, you know, he was offering to be part of my life and he was never given the chance.

It might just be a little bit of paper, but it means the absolute world to us.

I want to know everything about him.

You know, did he ever marry?

Uh, did he have children?

You don't come into something like this lightly.

If you're looking for somebody, you need to be prepared.

But I need to know who he is.

[Nicky] When we started looking for Ernesto, all Italian state offices were shut down and travel was restricted because of Covid.

So our search team reached out to communities based in Milan, asking if they could help us find Ernesto.

We then got a vital reply from an Alessandro, who said Ernesto was his father.

Sadly, Alessandro told us that Ernesto had died.

He also has a brother, Massimiliano, and neither of them were aware that their father had had any other children.

So we arranged for them to have a DNA test for confirmation.

They came back positive.

Debra has two brothers.

Alessandro, Massimiliano, how are you?

[both] Fine, thank you.

[Nicky] Both brothers are married, live in northern Italy and have three children between them.

So did your father tell anyone about Debra?

Uh, no.

No.

We didn't know anything, nothing.

It was a complete surprise.

What do you think he would think of this?

What was he like?

So family was so important to him?

The most important thing.

First priority.

Nothing before.

But she was taken away from him.

Yes, and I think it was terrible for him.

So you would say that he, he had an armor, he had a wall.

He could put a wall up because of what had happened?

I do have a photograph of your sister.

-[laughs] -Wow!

-Can you see it?

-Yes, we see.

We see.

We see perfectly.

-What do you think?

-Bella.

I recognize something familiar.

Is there any resemblance to your father?

The nose and the smile probably.

My dad had blue eyes.

We're gonna arrange as soon as we can for you to meet her.

We will count the hours.

But please tell her that we, we hope to meet her very, very soon.

Very, very soon.

As soon as possible.

[Davina] For John Hacking, the need for answers about why his mother left him in a pram on his adoptive parents' doorstep is all consuming.

That is the reason why I've been searching so long.

And I will never give up searching.

I really want to know who my real mother is.

We've now found his birth mother, Maureen, and she's revealed that she knew his parents and left John with them deliberately.

All John's ever wanted is the truth, to not feel like his own past is a secret from him.

And after years of questions, today I can bring him some answers.

-Hi, John.

-Hi, Davina.

-How you doing?

-Would you like to come in?

-Yes, please.

-Mind the step.

[Davina] Oh, thank you.

-Come through.

-Thanks.

-It's lovely to see you.

-Yeah, and nice to meet you.

You've got a lot of questions you want answered about your beginnings?

Yes, I have.

It's always in the back of your mind ticking over, no matter whether you're at work or out fishing, walking or whatever.

After 40 years, there's a lot of curiosity.

Well, a lot of your questions we can answer now because we have found your mother.

You okay?

Lost for words.

Was she far away?

She lives on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent.

-Fantastic.

-Yeah.

Unbelievable.

Had she ever been looking for me, do you know that?

So when you were between two and three, she came back to Buxton, and she didn't want to come and take you back, but she just wanted to have a look at you.

So she spoke to somebody there who said you'd moved, but that you were with your mum and dad.

Yeah.

And that gave her great peace of mind.

Oh, bless.

Did she say why she left me?

So, this is Maureen's memory of it all.

Oh, right.

She got pregnant and really struggled, literally had nothing.

She, er, went back to live in one room, and she just knew she would not be able to provide you a home.

She was really scared you were gonna get taken away.

Your mum had gone into care when she was younger, and it had been terrible.

She did not want you to go into the care system.

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

Right.

She actually asked them to take you in and 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 ran away to London.

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

Oh, I could imagine, yeah.

In them days, a child out of wedlock was deemed as a sin.

So I can understand why.

-God, it's such a relief.

-Is it?

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

Really is.

She never had any more children.

It was just you.

She only had you.

She thought maybe she was being punished for giving you away.

She's very happy you found her.

God, I'm... speechless.

I have got a picture of her now if you'd like to see it?

Please.

This is your mum.

Wow!

You can see the resemblance, can't you?

It's amazing.

God, it is, isn't it?

Awesome.

I'm just ecstatic.

Dreams can come true.

[phone dialing] -[Helen] Hi, babe.

-Hi, babe, you okay?

I'm good, thanks.

They've found my mother.

You're joking!

Oh, that's amazing!

After all this time.

-Yeah.

-And I'm getting emotional, but I'm really happy for you.

I know.

[laughs] Want to give you a big cuddle.

[both laughing] -Okay, I love you loads.

-Bye-bye, darling, bye.

Can't wait to meet her.

[Davina] Debra Spark is waiting for news about the search for her Italian father, Ernesto, who she's never met.

We found Ernesto's two sons, but sadly they told us their father died in 2014.

We've told Debra this away from the cameras.

It's never the news we want to give, but I hope the information that Debra's brothers want to share with her and the fact that they want her to be part of their lives can bring her some solace.

-I'm really sorry... -That's all right.

...um, that we couldn't have brought you better news.

It's all right.

I was ready for it.

You know, you're ready for every eventuality when you go into something like this, but... it's closure and it's what I needed.

Well, this isn't the end.

-I mean, obviously I'm here because... -Yeah.

...I want to give you more information.

Right.

And I got it from your brothers.

What?!

We've found your two half-brothers.

Sorry.

-Brothers?

-Yeah.

That means just everything.

-They're called Alessandro... -Yep.

...and Massimiliano.

-Alessandro is 44.

-Right.

And Massimiliano is 43.

Wow!

So what, ten year gap.

So did they know about me?

It was a surprise for them.

-I can imagine.

-Mm.

So they had no idea prior?

They didn't know.

But they're excited.

Oh, that means the world.

I feel guilty in a way because I don't want anybody to be upset, you know.

Your brothers actually had another take on it.

They know that their dad was so family orientated and that he'd come from a very difficult background.

He'd had a very tough childhood and that the first thing that really made him happy were his kids, and so they were thinking he would have been broken-hearted when you went.

So he protected his heart from something and just shut that away?

Yeah.

Yeah.

They did give me a picture of your dad.

Oh, wow!

I think we're very alike.

Oh, it's lovely.

He just looks lovely.

He just looks happy.

I can't believe that's my dad.

Just like looking at me.

-What does that mean to you?

-It's amazing.

I know he's not here, but it's just amazing having a face that you can say, "Well, that's my Dad."

And this is Alessandro.

[Debra] I can see me.

That's... it's the eyes.

So this is Massimiliano.

[Debra] Oh, wow!

-He just looks cheeky, doesn't he?

-He does.

[Debra] Really cheeky.

Here's a letter from Massimiliano.

Thank you.

[Davina] We've translated it for you.

"Hello, Debra.

As I write this, it still seems incredible to me that such an extraordinary thing could have happened.

When I read that you are looking for your father, and most of all when I saw the sweet letter that he had written to your mother, for a moment I felt the earth fall from under me.

I recognized his familiar handwriting and I pictured my father writing, summoning up the words to express what was in his heart.

I thought of all the love that I received from him, from his endlessly deep heart, and I thought that part of that love was meant for you too."

Aww.

[sniffles] "That love has not gone, it's here, in my heart.

To be able to share that love with you, to be able to tell you who our father was, may be the biggest, most unexpected gift that he could have left us."

Oh, wow!

I just never expected any of this.

To be able to have a relationship with brothers is just amazing.

We would like to take you, Covid allowing, to Italy.

Wow!

I'll get my bag!

[Davina] As Debra waits for tr avel to Italy to be possible, for John Hacking the wait is over.

I'm just so happy that I'm going to meet my mother.

It's really unbelievable.

John's travelled to Kent where Maureen lives to see her for the first time since he was a three-month-old baby.

[John] A long wait, 40-odd years.

It means so much to me, this does.

[Maureen] I think it's wonderful.

Today is the big day.

I want to tell John that he was never out of my mind.

I've always thought about him so I'm really looking forward to this.

Mother and son are meeting at a pub close to Maureen's home.

[John] Just can't wait for the moment to come.

We're nearly there.

They've both had Covid tests so they can meet safely.

[Maureen] Can't wait.

Can't wait.

-Good luck, darling.

-Thank you.

I'll see you soon.

Take care.

-Darling.

Oh, come here.

-Mother.

[Maureen] Oh!

[John] Been a long time.

Are you all right?

This is a great moment.

Yeah.

After all these years, eh?

-It's been a long time.

-Yes.

I've never forgotten you, darling, never.

Never.

Oh, you're exactly as I imagined.

And you've still got that little nose.

-[laughing] -[John] Bless.

Good to see you, Mum.

-Have a seat.

-Thank you, darling.

Oh, bless!

[laughing] I'm glad you were looking for me.

Been looking for you over 40 years.

Well, I used to wish someone would knock on the door and it would be you standing there.

I used to wish that.

Well, you can put your mind at rest now.

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.

[John] Absolutely amazing.

I feel easy in her company.

It's like two friends that haven't seen each other for years.

And we've just met up.

I didn't want to hand you over, but it was a matter of having to.

Because the authorities would have took you and it was arranged, but they expected me to knock on the door and go in with you.

-Right.

-You know, but I couldn't, I couldn't do that.

And I did so feel guilty about it.

But now I've seen you and you've forgiven me...

I don't feel guilty anymore.

Happy days.

[Maureen] He's absolutely brilliant.

I've got a son.

That's the most important thing in my life.

I've got everything to live for now.

-Hello.

-[Maureen] Yeah.

-This is lovely, darling.

-It's lovely to see you.

Mwah!

-Oh!

-You look amazing.

[laughs] Come on.

It's just a weight off my shoulders, all these years of trying to find my mother, and it's finally happened.

Wonderful day.

It's been worth waiting for.

[laughing] It's been four weeks since Debra Spark discovered she has two brothers.

A travel window has opened up, so she and her husband Chris have flown to Italy to meet them.

Thanks very much.

Thank you.

Lovely.

[Debra] As soon as I landed, I cried as the plane was coming in to land and I said, "This is it."

This is where my mum met my dad.

This is where they both lived.

This is where I'm from, you know.

It's...

It's like going back to your roots, really.

You know, this is where it all started.

It's a weird situation.

You're grieving for somebody you've never met, but I'm just hoping he would have been happy that I was meeting my brothers and they were meeting me.

[Alessandro] I think that he will love to meet her so much.

Hey.

[Alessandro] We can't do anything than move forward.

So what I can do is help Debra to build an image of her father and try to be the part of the family that she missed.

[in Italian] -Good luck.

-Thank you.

[Chris] She's been waiting all her life for this day.

I just hope everything goes all right.

[Davina] The siblings are meeting under local social distancing rules at a café near Debra's hotel.

[Massimiliano in Italian] [Debra] It's a big thing, letting a total stranger, you know, that they know nothing about, into their lives.

It's got to be as difficult for them as it is for me.

-Hello.

-[both] Ciao!

Ciao.

-Hello.

-You know that I can't hug you.

-Please.

-It's so lovely to see you.

-Are you all right?

-Yeah, you?

Yes, we're all right.

Just emotional.

Hello!

-Hi.

-So lovely to see youse in person.

-Yes.

-I just can't believe you're here.

[Massimiliano] I recognize something familiar in her eyes.

It was a very emotional moment.

I mean, I know it must be just a shock, and it's something, not just for me, but for you to come to terms with.

She was thinking about our lives... before than her priorities, but in that moment, she was the person that missed something, not us.

And this is something that I will never forget.

It's really hard imagining what he would look like younger.

I've never had a photograph or I didn't know what he would look like.

I want to show you something.

This was around 18 years old.

It's lovely to see this.

He was a very good father, a lovely father.

I'm so pleased he had a happy life.

I am.

Honestly, I'm so pleased he had a happy life, and I'm, I'm happy that he had you.

Our family is a strong family.

So this is one of the gifts of our, our father, and, er, the last gift is you.

Thank you.

[Alessandro] When I saw her crying so much, it was killing me because I want to hug her, to say to her, "I am here."

It's important to respect the rules, but it's something that is killing me today.

We can't rebuild the family from the beginning, but what we can do is do our best to be the part of your family that you missed for so many years.

Thank you.

[Debra] I just think they're lovely.

I think they're lovely.

I do feel that, you know, there's a bond.

They're my brothers, and I'm their sister.

It's nice.

You're building up a picture, building up a family history.

'Cause when people talk about their mum or their dad, they've always got like, "My mum did this or my dad did this," and now I've got that.

I just want this to be the start, not the end.

[laughing] [Alessandro] She has two brothers.

So we are here for her.

We can start to be a family.

[peaceful music playing] -Hiya.

-Hello.

Hello.

That's my daughter, that'll be my granddaughter.

[laughs] Oh, they're lovely.

Oh, they're lovely.

Now my life is worth living.

Now I've got my son, I've got my great grandchild and my grandchild.

No, it's lovely.

-Bye-bye!

-Bye