[man] Can you find my son?

It would mean the world.

[woman] The main thing I would love him to know is, he was wanted.

[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.

He was a beautiful little baby.

He's lost and we want him back.

I just want to say sorry.

A girl can make one mistake... and I was her mistake.

[Nicky] Using trained intermediaries, DNA experts and investigators all over the world...

Please check this name.

...we find people... -Donna.

-Hello.

...nobody else could trace.

They loved you, and they still love you.

We uncover incredible family secrets.

Why would they be faked?

-This was her dying wish.

-Really?

So she wanted it?

[Davina] And answer questions that have haunted entire lives.

-We have found him.

-Oh, thank you.

She wants to see me?

-I can see myself in you as well.

-I know.

[Davina] This week, a sister fearing for the life her younger brother may have had.

I'm hoping he's okay.

I don't want him to have suffered what we suffered.

No.

A mother still dealing with the impact of her teenage pregnancy.

[woman] Many times I just cry into the bed covers.

I wouldn't wish those feelings on anyone.

And both finding missing relatives much closer than they could ever have imagined.

[gasps] -No!

-Yes.

Oh, my gosh!

Our first story is on behalf of a mother who's never got over the decision made for her 50 years ago to have her first-born child adopted.

[somber music playing] [woman] That's me on holiday when I was pregnant with Louise.

I would have been 15.

And I think I was probably about five months' pregnant.

I wish I could have warned myself of all the hurt that was going to come.

But I love that picture, because to me it shows that she existed.

Sixty-five-year-old Pauline Pedder grew up with her parents and eight siblings.

The family lived in the market town of Huddersfield and Pauline attended this local secondary school.

It's strange, my overriding memory was... the final year.

It was then that Pauline first discovered she was pregnant.

I could feel the baby growing, and I could feel the movements.

It was so scary.

It was being sort of in a big black hole, unable to find the way out.

I had one or two close friends that I confided in... and, um, they spoke to my form teacher, and, um, she wanted me to stay back after class, to have a talk, and asked me did I think I was pregnant.

And I admitted I thought I was.

And, um, the following day I was called to the head's office, and, um... he wrote out a letter for, for me to give my parents, um, expelling me from school.

Pauline never gave the letter to her parents.

She pretended to go to school for two weeks while hiding at her boyfriend's house.

[Pauline] I was just shoving it under the carpet, you know, hoping it'll go away.

But eventually Pauline had to return to her family home.

This cream-colored one here, obviously it's been painted now.

And she was then confronted by her dad.

He said, "Yeah, there's talk... round the neighborhood that I've got a daughter that's pregnant and they're saying that it's you."

Well, I just wanted the floor to open up and swallow me.

He said, "Let me tell you, if you are having a baby, you won't be bringing the baby home here."

Pauline's parents arranged for her to go to a mother and baby home.

And they decided that the baby would be adopted.

[Pauline] Coming from a big family, decisions was always made for you.

So it was always out of my control.

Pauline moved on with her life and now lives just a few miles away with her husband and close to her four grown-up children.

But she's never forgotten the four weeks she spent with her first daughter, who she called Louise.

[Pauline] She were beautiful.

She was very pretty.

My parents came to see me.

Dad stayed downstairs.

And Mum came up to the nursery, where I was, so I asked her if she wanted to hold her.

She did.

She loved babies.

I asked her to have a word with Dad, but she says, "He's adamant, you can't bring her home."

There was one person in Pauline's life who did want to help her keep her baby.

-Hi.

-Hello, darling.

Her eldest sister Carol.

Mwah!

Go in.

It's a long time ago, but I do remember.

I just saw this little baby, and I just thought, "Oh, she's lovely."

-Weren't she pretty?

-She were very pretty.

-Mm-hmm.

-Yeah.

And I thought, "Oh, I'll just say, 'would you like to come and stay with me, and with baby?'"

But then when I told Dad, he were furious with me.

-Yeah.

-"You are not taking in that child."

-It was his choice, weren't it?

-Mm-hmm.

He says, "If you do, that's it, I've lost you and Pauline as daughters."

-He were strict.

-He were a hard man.

-Very hard, yes.

-Mm.

-He never spoke about it.

-Never.

Wasn't to be mentioned.

[Pauline] No.

-Sad, isn't it, love?

-It is.

-I know.

-Aww.

It wouldn't have happened today.

-You all right?

-Yeah.

-It's remembering all... all those emotions.

-Yeah.

-You went through a lot then, didn't you?

-[Pauline] I did.

[Pauline] I just wanted a fairy tale ending.

[sniffling] Many times...

I'd just cry and cry into the bed covers so nobody heard.

I wouldn't wish those feelings on anyone.

An emptiness.

I just want to find my baby.

[Nicky] Pauline was one of thousands of unmarried young women in the 1960s taken to mother and baby homes to have their babies.

It was through these homes that the adoptions were organized.

The mother and baby home Pauline was sent to was just a couple of miles away from her family home in Huddersfield.

However, that didn't necessarily offer any clues as to where her daughter had been adopted.

Babies were often sent further afield and given new names to prevent the birth family from being able to trace them.

Eventually, our intermediary discovered that her name had been changed to Carol Whitehead.

And unusually in this case, she'd been adopted by a local family.

A search on the electoral roll was done and one match stood out.

There was a Carol Whitehead living in Huddersfield just a couple of miles from the house where Pauline had grown up.

[contemplative music playing] We made contact and Carol confirmed she was the person we were looking for.

Pauline's lack of control when losing her baby still affects her 50 years later, but how has that decision affected the child she was parted from, her daughter, Carol?

Carol works as a cook at an adult day center and lives with her partner, Rohan.

-Carol, hi.

-Hi.

-How you doing?

-All right.

-Nice to see you.

-Come in.

-Thank you.

How are you?

-Fine, thanks.

-So here we are.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-How much of a surprise is this?

It was a surprise, but I've always known that I've been adopted.

-You've always known?

-Yeah, always.

Me mum, she just said that, um, that I were special because I'd been adopted.

Mum and Dad have been brilliant with me.

Me mum was one in a million.

But me mum passed away 15 years ago.

When you were growing up, did she tell you the story of it, of what happened?

Well, all I've known really is that my birth mother was made to give me away because she was young when she had me.

So I kind of understood.

I think she was pregnant at 14 and had you when she was 15.

Fifteen.

You're still a child, aren't you?

So did you ever think about searching?

There's a little story behind that.

-What's that?

-Um... Well, when I was 18, I got my adoption papers with her name, and then me mum and dad found out that I'd got these, and then me mum started crying, and I stopped looking up until three years ago.

So I asked my friend, couldn't she do a bit of, er, poking about?

She goes, "Yeah, fine."

I got home, within two hours she sent me her Facebook page.

-What?

-[laughs] I thought, bloomin' heck!

I look so much like her.

It were just unbelievable.

There were no doubt in my mind that, you know, she were definitely my mother.

So I kind of secretly, for the last three years, have been looking at her on Facebook.

Oh, God!

It's unbelievable.

Yeah.

But not contacted her because I found out about some of the fam... that she's got other family members and I thought to myself, well, what if she doesn't... she hasn't told anybody about me, and then I just come along and upset the apple cart?

So...

So you've known who she is and all about her family for the last three years?

-Yeah.

-That's incredible.

Yeah.

You know, I've always wanted to contact her but just not dared.

It's the fear of rejection at the end of it.

You know, like if I contacted her and she sent me something back and said, "I don't want nowt to do with you," then that's even more upsetting.

I've got a picture of her on my phone as well 'cause-- So what I did, I did a screenshot of a picture of her on my phone.

-Can I see the picture of her?

-Yeah.

-[laughs] -Was that the first picture... [Carol] Yeah, that was the first picture my friend sent me.

So then obviously...

It were like 2 a.m. when she sent me it all and I woke...

I woke my partner up to say, "Have you seen this picture?"

-What did he do?

-He said, "Oh, my God!"

He goes, "Carol, you need to contact her."

-Did he say that?

Oh, wow.

-Yeah.

And I goes... "No," I says, "I can't."

I says, "I can't deal with that."

-I love the fact you've got her picture on your phone.

-Yeah.

Well, I've got pictures of your birth mum when she had you.

-Right about the time.

-Oh, God.

That looks just like me!

Definitely.

I used to look like that when I were younger as well.

Mm.

That's really hit you.

Why, why has that hit you?

-'Cause it looks like me.

-Yeah.

[Carol] It does.

-How old was she there?

-[Nicky] Fifteen.

-About the time she was when she had you.

-Right.

Bloomin' heck!

[Davina] Before we tell Pauline the news that her daughter's been found... our second search is on behalf of a woman whose life has been overshadowed by fears of what's happened to her younger brother.

[contemplative music playing] [woman] I need to find him; I'd hate to think that I have got a brother out there that didn't feel loved.

He could have been with us.

Trainee nurse Donna Cowell lives in Blackpool, not far from her adoptive mum, Carol.

-Hello!

-Hiya, Mum.

-You all right?

-Hello, love.

Yeah, not too bad.

How's things?

-Do you want a brew?

-I'd love one.

-It's a bit cold out there.

-Yeah, just go and sit down.

After starting life in the care system, Donna was taken in by Carol and her husband when she was eight years old.

-There you are.

-[Donna] Oh, God!

It took you a long, long time to settle in.

You know, at first you kept saying, "They'll get rid of us.

Everybody's-- we've always been... got rid of us.

They won't keep us, they won't keep us."

And I had to sit you down... and say, "Look, listen, you've got me forever.

Whatever happens, we won't, we won't throw you away.

We will not leave you.

Don't worry."

But it took a long, long time.

But after three months, I could sense you belonged.

Yeah.

Before being adopted, Donna's life had been very difficult.

She and her brother Damian had been put into care together as babies after their birth mother became homeless.

[Donna] Being brought up in care in the '70s, from my experience, it wasn't good.

I grew up quick.

I had to grow up quick.

I had to learn to defend myself.

Because me and Damian did suffer some horrendous abuse in the children's homes.

Um... Donna's Social Services papers reveal quite how unsettled her early life was.

[Donna] It's just a brief history of the homes that we was put in.

From the age of 16 months till I was 8, being fostered.

Seven, eight... nine... probably about ten different addresses.

Oh... just sounds awful, doesn't it?

[sniffles, sighs] Donna and Damian went on to be adopted together and are still close, although Damian doesn't want to appear on camera.

But when Donna saw her full-care file, she discovered that, in fact, he was not her only sibling.

[Donna] I found out that two years after Damian, my mum had another child called Stephen.

I was really shocked and upset.

That was my baby brother and that perhaps was in the same situation as I was, being brought up in care.

Sad.

It's sad.

From that moment, I thought, I need to find him.

Me and Damian had each other, um, we've always had each other.

I don't want Stephen to have suffered what we suffered, really, on his own.

No.

Right, it's your turn, you've only got a few cards left, haven't you?

Trainee nurse and mother of four Donna Cowell lives with her youngest son Harry in Blackpool, close by to her three older children.

[Donna] Juggling work and children... and studies is proving very tricky at the minute.

Donna was brought up in care with her brother Damian until she was 8 and then fostered by the family who eventually adopted them.

But as an adult Donna discovered that she had a younger brother, Stephen, who she's never met and she's been searching for him ever since.

Mate.

[laughs] -Ooh, love you, pal.

-Love you too.

You know how much this means to me, don't you?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-Mm-hmm.

-In it together?

-Yeah.

-Family?

Yeah.

Fist bump.

-Whoo!

[laughs] -Yes!

[Donna] He's my brother.

It's important that we find him.

I'm hoping he's okay and he's got a family of his own and somebody did take him and they have nurtured him.

I hope he's had a happy childhood.

It's a question that's always gonna go with me till I die.

[contemplative music playing] [Nicky] When we took up Donna's search, the big question was whether Stephen had stayed in care or been adopted.

Because of the confidentiality surrounding adoption, the only way we could find this out was through a specialist social worker.

They accessed Stephen's file and discovered that he had been adopted by a Mr. and Mrs. Holme and was now called Philip Alexander Holme.

Using this new name, a match was found on the electoral roll and a letter sent to him.

But there was no response.

We feared we'd got the wrong man.

With no other leads, our search had hit an impasse.

Then, out of the blue, we heard back from Philip.

Our letter had been forwarded on to him as he changed address.

Known as Phil, he told us he'd recently moved back into his family home to care for his terminally ill adoptive father.

Astonishingly, he was living just three miles away from Donna in Blackpool.

Donna was taken into care like thousands of children in the 1970s, but while she had a difficult start in life, she always had her brother Damian to help her get through it.

So, what was Phil's childhood like?

And was it happier than Donna had feared?

Because of his dad's condition, Phil wants to meet me in a hotel close to his home.

-Hey!

-Hi, Nicky.

-How are you doing?

-How are you?

Very well.

Right.

How's your dad?

Er, he's, he's not in a good way, but he's comfortable, so... And you're spending a lot of time with him, looking after him?

I've moved in, changed my career to help work round him.

Er, and made sure that I'm there for him because obviously he's been there for me since I was a child.

So I thought I'd obviously reciprocate what he's done for me.

-So you had a good adoption?

-I've had a brilliant adoption, yeah.

My mum and dad, you couldn't ask for a better, better set of parents.

How old were you when you were adopted?

My father mentioned today, er, 6 to 8 weeks.

Wow!

For Donna, it's going to be an enormous relief.

She was so worried that you were in the care system, but you weren't.

-No.

Exactly.

-Because Donna lived in ten different care homes in six years... -Wow!

-...with your brother Damian before they were adopted.

So I'm the lucky one to be fair.

I am so lucky.

It makes me think, well, God knows what they've gone through at the time.

I wouldn't...

I can't even comprehend how bad it would have been.

So, how do you feel about the fact that your sister has come looking for you?

It was a bit of a shock, to be honest with you.

But, yeah, a pleasant shock as well.

-Yeah, quite a surprise.

-Yeah.

My mum and dad never adopted anyone else, so when I was younger I felt, in a way, on my own.

I felt like I was missing out on that sibling relationship.

So it's brilliant to think that she's been looking for me and that's the way she was thinking to make sure I was safe.

Now, Damian, your brother, would like to meet you.

-He doesn't wanna do it on camera.

-No, I understand that.

But Donna, she's leading the charge toward... -She has.

-She's... try stopping her.

So I'm going to give you a letter.

Thank you.

[sighs] "Stephen, how strange this feels writing a letter to a brother I have longed to meet.

I often think about you and the circumstances that surrounded your adoption, not knowing how life has treated you constantly playing on my mind.

We are all grown up now."

Sorry.

"I can't explain how much it would mean if we found you.

We are family, Stephen, and due to no fault of our own, separated and denied growing up together.

Love you, big sister Donna."

Wow!

Wow!

I've asked the question to my Dad whether he wants to meet Donna, and he'd love to.

I think he's more at peace now that he knows he can go knowing that we've found each other.

-Donna's training to be a nurse at Victoria Hospital.

-Right.

She's Blackpool, is she?

Wow!

Wow!

I live 500 meters away from Victoria Hospital.

-You're kidding?

-I can see the hospital from the back of my house.

That's where I live, yeah.

Wow!

Do you have a photo I can see?

Oh, please.

Oh, my God!

Wow!

She looks happy.

I can't wait to meet them, I really can't.

Thank you.

[contemplative music playing] [Davina] Pauline Pedder was just a schoolgirl when she was forced to give up her daughter, Louise, for adoption in Huddersfield.

[phone dialing] -[Pauline] Hello?

-Pauline?

-Yes?

-It's Davina.

Ah... Hi, Davina.

I just wanted to let you know that I'll see you in a minute.

Okay, then.

Right.

Catch my breath.

[Davina] Pauline spent 50 years not knowing what happened to her baby.

So how is she gonna feel when she finds out that her daughter had been online and had found Pauline but was just too afraid to make contact?

-Hey!

-Davina!

Hi!

How are you?

Thank you.

Thanks very much.

You know, the thing that struck me about your story was how much you wanted to keep Louise.

When I felt the first movements, I thought, "There's a little baby growing there, and it's mine."

Sorry.

I know.

It must be so hard.

Yes.

It's always been the questions.

Well, we can answer those questions, because Louise has been found.

[gasps] Wahoo!

[laughing] -She's called Carol.

-She's called Carol.

They're happy tears, really.

Because it was my sister Carol who wanted to take her in.

Aww!

She'll be so happy when I tell her.

Yeah.

Does she live in Yorkshire?

She lives in Huddersfield.

[gasps] You're joking?!

How unusual.

That's fantastic.

She had a very happy adoption.

That's good.

That makes me feel good, yeah.

You met her?

I haven't met her.

Nicky's met her.

Right.

The interesting thing is that she told him that she's been looking for you.

You're joking!

And three years ago... -Yeah.

-...she found you.

She found me three years ago?

Yeah.

How did she find me?

She found you on Facebook.

[gasps] No!

Yes.

And she looked at your pictures, she thought you looked very happy.

She saved a picture of you onto her phone.

Awww.

That's lovely.

But she was a bit scared to interrupt your life.

-Mm-hmm.

-She was just nervous about reaching out.

-She was very scared of rejection.

-Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

I can quite understand.

But I feel a little bit sad that there hasn't been the contact.

But I think it meant a lot to her to know that you were looking for her.

Mm-hmm.

Have you got a picture?

[gasps, laughs] -Give it!

-[laughing] [Davina] Here's Carol.

[gasps] Oh, my goodness me!

Feel like going into song.

♪ Oh, Carol I am but a fool ♪ ♪ Darling, I've missed you ♪ [Davina] Awww.

Oh, I can't wait to meet her now.

It's that warm feeling inside.

It's like... it's like I've swallowed sunshine.

[both laughing] I feel like going, "Ahhhh!"

[laughs] -[phone dialing] -[Carol] Hello?

[Pauline] They've found her!

[Carol] They've found her?

You want to know her name?

-Yeah.

-Carol.

They call her Carol?!

They call her Carol!

[laughs] You're joking!

You've got the same name.

[laughs] So where is she?

-Huddersfield.

-Huddersfield?!

[laughing] I'm looking forward to meeting her.

Today, Pauline will see her daughter Carol for the first time in 50 years.

[Pauline] The sun has come out for the both of us.

I might look calm on the outside... but I'm excited.

So excited.

[knock on door] -Hey, Pauline.

Oh, gosh.

-Hi, Davina.

-You ready?

-Oh, am I ever!

[Davina, laughing] Let's go.

-[Rohan] Big day for you.

-I know.

Nerve-racking, innit?

Be nice for you.

Very good for you.

[Carol] I'm nervous because it's a lot to take in.

I've been looking at her for three years now, and I'm just so pleased that she wants to meet me.

I'm happy about it.

-Right, see you later.

-See you later.

-Hi.

-Hi.

-Your car's arrived.

-[both laugh] Thank you.

[Nicky] What does today mean for you?

It means a lot because it's been a long time coming.

-You're meeting your birth mum.

-I know.

It's crazy.

[laughs] [Davina] Having discovered they live only a few miles apart, mother and daughter are meeting in a café halfway between their homes.

Right.

Good luck.

Thank you.

[laughs] -See you later.

-Gonna be amazing.

Yep, thank you.

-[Davina] I bet you thought this day would never come.

-Never.

In a million years, never.

And how are you feeling about meeting her?

I'm so excited.

I just need to tell Carol that she was never a secret.

She's always been there.

She's always been part of the family.

[contemplative music playing] Your daughter's waiting for you in there.

-Thanks so much, Davina.

-Ooh!

[Pauline] Thank you.

Hi.

-Hello, daughter.

-Hiya.

I never thought this day would ever come.

The day your parents came to pick you up, I had a talk to you and I said, "One day we will meet.

And you might be grown up, but I'll meet you."

To finally get to meet you, yeah, it's fantastic.

It's always been on me mind, but it just took you to look for me to... -Yeah... -...make me realize that I weren't a dirty little secret, so to speak, you know?

-Because... -No, you've never been that.

You were never a secret.

[Carol] Felt really happy that, you know, that I've never been a secret.

It's a very nice feeling to hear.

I don't begrudge any of it, you know.

Had fantastic parents.

That's good.

I'm glad to hear that.

-I bought you a present.

-Have you?

[laughs] -There you go.

-Ah, that's lovely.

Oh, yeah, it's really nice.

And can you see, like, the leaves, they've got, like, stones on?

There's five of them.

-Because you've got five children.

-Yeah.

Yeah, that's lovely, that.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Do you want to see some photos?

I do, yeah.

Aww!

Aww, that's beautiful.

You've got a cheeky grin there.

-[Carol] I know.

[laughs] -[Pauline] You're gorgeous.

When they told me your name were Carol, just like my sister Carol... -Is it?

-Mm.

[Carol laughs] Hello, love.

Meet me daughter Carol.

Hi.

Mwah!

-Ain't it nice?

-It is.

I'm just happy that, you know, I've finally met her after all these years.

[women laughing] Happy endings.

Now I feel that my life is complete.

[laughing] [gulls screeching] Donna Cowell spent her early years in care.

She came to us hoping that her youngest brother had avoided the same fate.

Donna has worried about whether he was on his own in the world.

But now that Phil's been found, I can tell her that he has had a happy adoption, and she can have the chance to be a big sister to him at last.

-Hey, Donna.

-Hello.

-How are you?

-How are you?

-Lovely.

Nice to meet you.

-And you.

-Come on in.

-Thank you.

[Davina] And thanks for seeing me.

What was it like when you found out there was another member of your family?

[sighs] Well... it was quite a shock, to be fair.

There was his name, there was his date of birth, and I thought... just... you worry.

I think I just worried, really.

To think what me and Damian went through, to think that another child was going through that.

And we was always together, we had each other, and I just thought, "Oh, my gosh, you know, what if he was on his own?"

And I need to make sure that he was okay.

Well, he is okay 'cause your brother's been found.

-Really?

-Yeah.

He's not been brought up in care all his life, has he?

He's not been brought up in care all his life.

He was adopted at six weeks old.

Oh!

Oh, my gosh!

Wow!

He had a happy adoption.

Oh, so good.

I'm so happy about that.

My fear was that he got through the system 'cause obviously, you know, the amount of abuse that went on...

Yes.

-You know... -Yes.

...happened to me, I didn't want it, and Damian, I didn't want it to happen to somebody else that I love.

Well, I say I loved.

I feel like I love him, but I've not met him.

It's... it's weird.

It's really strange.

So he's not called Stephen anymore, he's called Phil.

-Phil?

He had a name change?

-Yeah.

-Oh, my gosh!

-His parents gave him everything.

-They gave him a really good start in life.

-Good.

But he was brought up alone.

So he didn't have siblings... -Right.

-...in the family.

So he did... he did miss that.

-I get that.

-Yeah.

When he heard your story, he did suddenly think, you know, actually, "I was the lucky one."

Yeah.

I just wanna see what he's like.

I just wanna see him, I think, now I know.

-Do you wanna see a picture?

-Yes.

-Have you got one?

-Yeah.

Oh, my gosh!

Oh, gosh, I'm nervous.

[Davina] This is your brother.

[gasps] Wow!

That's my brother.

Oh, my gosh.

[exhales sharply] I can relax, I think, now.

-[Davina] Mm.

-'Cause I know he was okay.

And he does look happy.

He's just moved in with his dad 'cause his dad's very poorly, so he's caring for him.

And his dad lives a ten-minute walk from the hospital that you work in.

-No!

-Yeah.

Oh, my gosh!

He can see the hospital from a window in his house.

Oh!

He's there, isn't he?

He's my brother.

He's my little brother.

This day's so good.

[both laughing] It really is.

Thank you so much.

-[Davina] A pleasure.

-[Donna] Harry.

-Yeah?

-Ta-da!

-Is that your brother?

-Yeah.

-That's your uncle.

-Ha-ha!

[Harry] I've got another uncle now.

I'm speechless.

[pats back] We all find each other in the end, pal.

Mm?

[contemplative music playing] [Donna] I'm absolutely ecstatic that I'm actually meeting my brother.

Quite nervous, but really, really excited.

-[Phil] Hi.

-They okay for you, then?

Yes.

It's gonna be strange meeting my sister for the first time.

-Oh, my gosh!

-After 43 years.

-Ooh!

I feel excited for you.

-[chuckles] -Thank you.

Cheers.

-Thank you very much.

[florist] Take care now.

Have a lovely day.

[Davina] Amazingly, Donna and Phil live just minutes from one another.

They're meeting for the first time in a café in Stanley Park, close to where they both live.

[Phil] I'm actually gonna get to know my past.

Being adopted, as much as my mum and dad made me part of the family, you still feel a bit of a disconnection.

And... to know that you've got a brother and sister that you've never seen... it's just the start of another chapter, should we say?

[Donna] I just wanna move forward and I wanna share memories.

I wanna create memories.

He's got a family and I want to be part of that.

-Come here.

-Hey!

-You okay?

-Yeah.

Oh, don't start crying... -These are for you.

-Aw, thank you so much.

-This is really strange.

-I know it is.

It's been a strange week.

I sat giggling yesterday knowing I was going to see you.

Oh, my gosh!

I can't believe this.

So surreal.

Absolutely so surreal.

-It's a lot to take in, innit?

-Yes, it is.

When they said that he was all right, he's actually had a good upbringing, I just didn't want to think that you were growing up on your own in the care system.

I didn't want you to go through what me and Damian went through, you know, so...

I've been the lucky one out of all of us, I'll tell you that now.

-My mum and dad... -You got out.

My mum and dad are the most loving people, and at least now, and I know it's late, but at least... -It's never too late, is it?

-No.

Finally I've got the opportunity to meet you.

Yeah.

Wow.

[Donna] It was just overwhelming.

I felt a connection straightaway.

To know he's all right now, he's had a good upbringing, he's had good adoptive parents.

Mum died about seven years ago, and now with my dad going, he wants to meet you and Damian.

Oh, it'll be nice to meet him and thank him for looking after you so well.

Don't start me off, for God's sake!

[Phil] It's just amazing just how much we've got in common and...

I can't stop smiling.

Now I just can't wait to get to know them.

-I can't believe you've been living in Blackpool.

-I know.

-And I can see your place of work from where I live.

-Really?

Yeah.

Is Damian still in Blackpool?

Yeah, Damian's in Blackpool.

I'll show you now.

I know his face from town.

I know his face.

-Do you?!

-Of course I do.

Oh, my God!

-[Donna] That's your brother.

-[Phil] Wow!

[Donna] It's not just me and Damian now, there's me, Damian and Phil, all just here on the doorstep.

It's time to move forward, think about the future, and, er... let's get on with life.

That's what we're here for, isn't it?

Move forward.

[Donna laughs] [peaceful music playing]