[phones ringing] Do you know what her full name would be?

Have you checked all Irish databases?

[Davina McCall] Over the last 12 series, we've taken on more than 700 searches for long-lost children...

I just want to find my baby.

...absent parents... My mother is in my thoughts all the time.

...and separated siblings...

I have to find my brother.

I just can't let him go.

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

I knew there was going to be twists and turns.

I said it.

Darling.

[Davina] ...but meeting is just the beginning... [Davina]...and searching doesn't always go as planned.

Just because you give birth to someone, it doesn't make you a parent.

This is the series where we find out What Happened Next.

This week, two searchers navigating new relationships with family in another country...

Physical separation is a very hurtful thing.

...and facing up to difficult questions.

It's all a mystery.

[laughs] A complete mystery to everybody.

It's like, you found your mother, but who was your father?

[phones ringing, general chatter] When our first search came to us in 2021, he was our oldest ever.

I'm so anxious about my trip that I hardly slept last night.

But I'll make it somehow.

This is South America here, right?

And you will find Guyana down here.

[Davina] Born in Guyana, Roy David spent his working life travelingthe world in the Merchant Navy.

I was 16, going 17 when I started sailing.

I loved the sea so much.

There was so much of my soul in seafaring.

[Davina]Roy's travels took him to New York, where he met and had a relationship with a young student nurse called Sylvia.

When Sylvia became pregnant, the couple married and moved in with Sylvia's mother before their daughter, Cheryl, was born.

One of my great experiences of her, my first child, is changing nappies for the first time.

And taking her out in her pram, you know.

I felt very good as a father.

[Davina] But Roy's job at sea took him away for months at a time and caused tension in the family.

[Roy David]Next thing you know, Sylvia said, "I think it's best you go your way."

So, they actually threw me out.

I didn't want to leave, but they told me to go.

[Davina] Over the next five years, whenever Roy returned from sea, he went to visit Cheryl, until the day she was no longer there.

[Roy David] I found out they had moved.

They made sure they left no trail to which I could follow.

[Davina] Roy eventually settled down in England and has been married to his wife, Itha, for 40 years.

Thank you.

He has a son from a previous relationship, and three stepchildren, but he has never stopped thinking about his little girl.

I really, truly would like to say to her, "I'm sorry."

I was not there for her.

I should have been there.

I don't think I could go to my resting place with that on my conscience.

[horn honking, traffic sounds] [Nicky Campbell] We took up the search and discovered that Sylvia and Cheryl had stayed in New York.

Sylvia had died in 1991, but Cheryl was living in the neighborhood of Queens, and I was able to speakto her.

[phone ringing] -Hey!

-Hey!

[laughs] How did you feel when you found out that your father was looking for you?

I don't even know what he looks like, basically.

So, to get a dad at 64-- [laughs] ...at 64 years old--- it's-- it's a new one.

So, tell me about my dad.

He's told us he's always regretted not staying for you and not being there for you.

Always.

Wow.

That's amazing.

I can't-- I'm speechless.

Do you have any pictures of him?

I'm going to hold up... Oh my goodness.

Wow.

That's amazing.

Thank you.

Roy has a son called Gerald.

I have a brother?

I have a brother!

Oh, my God!

Where is Gerald at?

Gerald lives in Long Island.

Oh my goodness.

That's... that's just a minute away.

Wow.

[Davina] Finally, I was able to give Roy the news he'd been waiting for.

His daughter had been found.

We met at a local pub.

-Hi, Roy.

-[Roy David] Ah, Hello.

[Davina] Thanks for talking to me.

We have found your daughter.

-No.

-Yeah, we found her.

-You're joking.

-No.

You've found Cheryl Renee?

Yeah.

Oh, my God.

Oh, Cheryl's alive.

-She is.

-Oh.

Cheryl is alive.

My first child and my eldest child.

And she'd love to meet you, talk to you.

I want to tell Cheryl that I'm very, very sorry I wasn't there for her, you know.

Very sorry I wasn't there for her.

I'm wondering now what she looks like.

I have got a picture of her.

-Would you like to see it?

-Yes.

Oh, my God, no.

Yes, this is Cheryl.

This is her wedding, which was quite recently.

Oh, my God.

The hole in me is slowly filling up, but I do not think it would completely seal until I could hold her, you know?

Hold her, talk with her, you know?

Feel her, you know, in my arms, you know?

Oh, my God.

Look at my child, man.

Oh.

Oh, boy.

[traffic noise] [Davina]But before Cheryl made the long journey to London to see her father, there was someone for her to meet much closer to home-- her brother Gerald.

My stomach is doing somersaults today.

I'm sure once I get there, I'll calm down, but right now, it's like... [laughs] [Davina]Gerald is Roy's son from another relationship.

He's four years younger than Cheryl and was also born and raised in New York.

[Gerald] Just anxious to meet my sister.

We've lived not too far from each other.

So ,I'm just like... how can we be that close and never know?

[Davina]Finally, Roy's two children were able to meet for the veryfirst time.

[Cheryl laughs] You look like your daddy.

You look like him, too.

[Cheryl] Oh, little brother.

Oh, I got to stand on my tippy toes.

Oh, my god.

Wow!

[laughing] [Gerald laughs] It is funny, too, like I said, me calling somebody "big sister."

I cannot believe, I swear, how much-- We look alike.

I'm looking at our father.

[Cheryl] We even do hand movements alike, at the same time.

[Cheryl laughs] Like I said, we're good.

Oh, my God, it's like looking at myself.

[laughs] I keep looking at him, it's like, "I know him, I know this person."

It's just crazy to have a connection like that.

Like minds thicker.

[laughs] [ducks quacking] [Davina] Cheryl then traveled over to London to see her father for the first time in nearly 60 years.

[Cheryl laughing] You don't have to get up.

Stay where you are.

-[Roy David] I have to.

-Stay where you are.

[Roy David] Oh... Oh, my god.

Oh!

Oh... -Too many years.

[kiss] -[laughs] [Roy David] Oh!

-[Cheryl laughs] -Oh, sit near to me.

Sit near to me, darling.

-Come on.

-Oh, my god.

[Roy David] Oh, my God.

-Oh.

-Oh.

-How are you?

-I'm good.

I'm good.

How are you?

You get beautiful over the age, you know?

Thank you.

-But the only thing is... -What?

You look more like me.

[Cheryl laughs] I love you so much.

Ah, yes.

Alright, so I'm just gonna bask in this for a moment.

[laughs] -God!

-Oh my god!

I was on cloud nine.

And I feel like I was walking in space.

The moment was so great, that, you know, that...

I just couldn't hold back, you know.

I just couldn't hold back.

When they told me you were looking for me and how long you was looking for me, you don't have no idea how that made me feel.

It made me feel like... to know that I was wanted.

Oh, my God, girl.

Cheryl... this is the starting of something new.

-Yes.

-We're starting... Mwah!

Oh, God, child.

Oh, God.

It was just the most amazing moment of my life.

It made me a new man.

Yes.

A real new man.

[general chatter, typing] It's been almost two years since we reunited Roy with his daughter Cheryl, and despite the distance, they've seen each other as much as possible.

But with Roy's age, every trip is hugely significant.

[Roy David] It's a hectic thing, packing to go, to make a long trip to America.

I speak to Cheryl every day.

I speak to my daughter every day.

If I don't call her, she'll call me.

Last year, Cheryl and her family came to visit me here in London.

I gained a family that has been there all the time.

I can't ask for more.

[Davina]Today, Roy is preparing for a very special trip.

He will be making the 3,500-mile journey to New York.

This will be his second visit since finding his daughter.

I'm going to spend my 89th birthday with Cheryl and my grandchildren, great-grandchildren.

Physical separation is a very hurtful thing.

It's almost a year now I haven't seen Cheryl.

I see her on Zoom, I talk with her regular, but I can't hold her, touch her, feel her.

I can't hug her.

But when you can do this and feel that closeness of your daughter to you, it's a great feeling.

[Davina] And there's another reason why this visit is so importantto Roy.

He has glaucoma, which is causing him to lose his sight.

It might be the last time I'm seeing my daughter and my grandchildren and great-grandchildren, because, who knows-- the next time, I might have to feel their faces.

This trip, it's very, very important to me.

Very, very important to me.

I may even make another trip, I don't know.

[traffic sounds] [Davina]Roy has arrived in New York to spend time with Cheryl.

[Roy] Is this the east side of Harlem?

-[Cheryl] Yeah.

-Mm-hmm.

I think so.

[Davina] They're visiting Harlem, an area Roy lived in for many years and hasn't seen for over half a century.

That side there, they still have a lot of the old brownstones.

[Roy David] Mm.

But they sell for millions now.

Summertimes, we used to sit on these steps and eat watermelon.

[Cheryl] Mm-hmm.

Having my dad back in my life has been amazing.

Strangely enough, there was no period of adjustment.

We just fell into the role.

Maybe it's because I see so much of myself in him, the good and the bad.

[laughs] [Roy David] Yeah.

This place was swinging in the '50s, man.

Cool!

My father didn't try to brush things aside, to act like everything was okey-dokey, that this is just perfect, you know, "I haven't been in your life all these years."

He apologized for not being there.

He's been very humble about it.

I wish I'd had him in my life earlier, but I'm not sad about it, because he just came at the right time.

[Davina] Roy is bringing Cheryl to a very significant place for them both-- Salem United Methodist Church.

[Cheryl] Here we are.

[Davina] It was here that Roy last saw his daughter as a little girl before losing all contact with her over 50 years ago.

When Roy heard that Cheryl's maternal grandfather had died, he knew that the family would be attending the funeral at this church.

[Roy David] I felt-- coming here to your granddaddy's funeral when you were six years of age, I felt it was my last chance to see my daughter.

[Davina]But when Roy tried to talk to Cheryl, his mother-in-law intervened.

When I tried to approach you, to hold you, you hid behind your grandma, and you actually ducked behind her dress.

I begged my mother-in-law, I said, "Mom, why I can't see my daughter?"

And she said, "You don't suit my family."

And your grandma get in the limousine, your mama lift you and put you on your grandma lap.

And your mama went around to the other side of the car and got inside, and the car just pull away and left me behind.

Oh, wow.

And I alone was standing on these steps, and I never saw you again.

[Cheryl] That had to have been hard.

Oh, yeah.

It was real hard, honey.

Real hard, real hard.

I wouldn't want to imagine what I would have to feel like if someone snatched my child away and put him in the car, and I'm begging to see him or her.

You know, it would just crush my heart.

I know it had to crush yours.

[Roy David] It's hard coming back here to this church.

Why it's hard?

Because so many memories.

Memories that...

I can never forget.

That's the last image I have of you, Cheryl.

Last image.

[Cheryl]It's been healing to come back here and relive memories, even painful ones, so that you can just let them go.

-[Roy David laughs] -I love you.

[Davina] Now they're united, Roy and Cheryl are making sure they share life's important moments.

It's a real blessing to be able to celebrate his 89th birthday with him.

Not knowing how many birthdays that we have ahead of us, we're going to have a party.

We need to make the most of the time that we have together.

[Davina]But before Roy celebrates his birthday, we catch up with another searcher who also found family in a different country.

In 2018, Maria Roberts came to us looking for her Italian birth mother.

But finding her family has made Maria question a story she's always believed.

[Maria]There's one more person I need to know about, dead or alive.

Is my father Volerio Bruno, or is it somebody else?

[laughing] There must be a way of somehow finding out.

[seagulls crying] [Davina]52-year-old mother of two, Maria Roberts, lives in Penzance, near to her daughter Jodie.

Hello.

[laughter] [Jodie] Aw, you look really cute here.

-[Maria laughs] -You're so little.

[Davina]Maria was adopted at a few months old by Eileen and Jack Finnelly and had a happy childhood.

[Maria] I loved my mom and dad to bits.

[Davina]Maria's adoptive father passed away in 2000, and shortly afterwards, her mother died too.

[Maria]I just felt so lost and alone, and I wanted to find my birth mother.

[Davina]Maria's adoption paperwork revealed that her birth mother was Italian and called Gilda Costantino.

An incident in Italy changed the course of her and Maria'slives.

[Maria] It says here, my father was also Italian.

They were to be married, but, unfortunately for my mother and myself, that he was killed in a car accident while she was pregnant with me.

And then it says the parents knew nothing of the pregnancy, so, she was quite alone in this.

[Davina] Finding herself pregnant and unmarried in 1960s Catholic Italy, Gilda traveled to England to have her baby and giveher up for adoption.

It would have brought shame not only on herself, but on her family as well.

I would imagine that she had no choice.

She's my mother.

I just need to know, where did she go?

What became of her?

[Nicky]We couldn't find any trace of Gilda in the UK, so suspected she'd gone back to her home, to Italy.

Maria's adoption paperwork led us to a small town calledCassino, halfway between Rome and Naples.

But, sadly for Maria, we were too late.

Gilda had passed away just a year earlier.

[church bell ringing] Gilda had never married and had no children, but she did have nephews and nieces.

One of them, Maria's older cousin Silvana, agreedto meet me.

-Buongiorno.

-Buongiorno, Silvana.

-Nicky.

-[Silvana] Prego.

[Nicky] Grazie.

How are you?

An interpreter joined us.

Did you know about Maria?

No.

What was your relationship like with your aunt?

Do you have a photograph of Gilda?

Ah!

She looks so kind.

There's Maria.

[Davina] Without cameras present, we told Maria the difficult news that she would never be able to meet her birth mother.

But I went to see her to share what else we'd discovered-- a whole family in Italy waiting to welcome her.

-Hi.

-Hello.

-How are you doing?

-Yeah, I'm good, thanks.

I did want to give you a little bit more information about your mom.

-She did go back home to Italy.

-Right.

She went back to her family, but she never had any more children.

You're joking.

[Davina] Mm.

Did she ever tell anybody, do you think?

You've got lots of Italian cousins.

-Really?

-Yeah.

But they didn't know, so you were a complete surprise.

Wow.

There is one in particular called Silvana.

She's given us a picture of your mom.

[Maria] So, that was my mom?

[Davina] That's your mom.

[Maria] I wonder if she ever thought about me.

So, I've got a picture of Silvana, if you'd like to see.

Oh, yes, please.

Wow!

What's nice is that she's got lots of information that she'd love to share with you.

[Maria] That's my family.

[chuckles] [Davina]Three weeks later, Maria and her daughter Jodie traveled to Cassino, and Maria was able to meet her cousin Silvana for the first time.

[Silvana] Va tutto bene.

[Maria crying] You don't want to sit down?

[Maria] And you were very close to my mother?

Yeah.

[Maria] Oh-- [laughs] Oh, my word!

Oh, thank you very much.

[Maria]The love and the warmth that came from them today was just overwhelming.

Thank you so much.

I definitely feel closer to my mom.

I know where she came from.

I'll never look back now, just forward.

[all] Cheers!

Building a relationship with her birth mother's family has brought Maria closer to her Italian roots, but it's also raised new questions for her about her birth father.

[Maria] This is my fifth time going out to visit the family in Italy.

I absolutely love them to bits.

I can't believe how they've sort of, like, taken me under their wing.

[Davina]Maria's been embracing her new Italian identity.

I changed my name, my deed poll.

So, yeah, so, here I am, Costantino.

I am trying to learn Italian.

I haven't got very far yet, but I am trying.

There's this, like, tugging... sometimes, where I feel that I need to be there.

I kind of think that's my home, even though it's not.

[Italian pop music playing] [Davina]Maria has traveled to Italy with her son, Jack.

[Maria] Are you looking forward to seeing the family?

[Jack] I am.

I'm a bit nervous because, obviously, I'm... [Maria] Yeah, the first time.

[Davina] Silvana has arranged a family meal.

[yelling in excitement] Ciao!

Oh, ciao!

Mwah!

Jack.

[speaking Italian] [general chatter] -[Maria] Aw, grazie.

-[Jack]Grazie.

[Davina]But introducing Jack to the family is not the only reason Maria has come to Italy.

[Maria]I've had this amazing opportunity to know who my mom is, mix and mingle with her family, become part of that family, be accepted... and there's nothing about my father.

I just want to know: Who was he?

Who was my father?

[Davina] Today, Roy David is celebrating his 89th birthday with four generations of his family.

That's-- this is Marina's son-in-law, John.

That's his son-in-law.

How you doing, young man?

How you feeling?

Very good.

Very good.

Happy birthday, Dad.

We've never spent birthdays together, so it's important for us to spend them together now.

[Davina] And there's someone else Cheryl's been enjoying spendingtime with... her little brother, Gerald.

-Happy birthday.

-Hi, son.

Happy birthday, sis.

[Roy David] Lovely.

[Cheryl] I believe me and Gerald have become very close.

My brother cracks my sides, but I think I crack his sides, too.

[laughing] We're just trying to make up for the lost time of not being around each other.

[both laughing] Considering that we didn't grow up together at all, it's amazing that we are, like, in sync like that.

You would be in the doggie house.

[Roy David]Watching my two children together...

I felt great.

I never believed that a day like today is what would ever happen.

There you go, blow that one, blow that one.

Yeah, yeah.

Oh!

Yeah!

[laughing] [Cheryl] You're gonna give me this dance, right?

[Roy David] Yeah, yeah.

I got to dance with my father.

[laughs] Yes, I did.

When I was married, the first dance, you know, would usually be with your father, and I never had that.

So, I got it today.

The love in the room was overflowing.

It was a true blessing.

This trip has been a little bit different, because it's probably the last trip he'll make to the States, you know, being up in age, and also with losing his eyesight.

So, it was really important that I made it as, you know, as memorable and a happy time for him as possible.

What happened today will live in my heart for the rest of my life.

Take a picture of us saying, "Gaga-goo-goo."

It was the happiest birthday I ever spent out of all my 89 years.

[general chatter] [Maria] Grazia.

[Davina]Maria Costantino still has questions about her Italian birth father, who, according to her adoption paperwork, was killed whilst Maria's mother, Gilda, was pregnant.

[Maria] The records say his name was Volerio Bruno.

It said that he came from the Cassino area and that he used to be a lorry driver, but, unfortunately, was killed in a car accident in December, 1964.

And it says that he and Gilda were to be married.

But, sometimes, I just think, "Is that true?

Is that what happened?

Is it him?"

I don't know.

I've asked Silvana, I've asked all of them, and they all say they don't know anything about him.

Never, at any point in my mother's life, had she ever spoken about marrying anybody.

It's all a mystery.

[laughs] Complete mystery to everybody.

It's like, you know, you found your mother, but who was your father?

[Davina]With Maria beginning to doubt the story in the official records, researcher and interpreter Maria Laura has been looking into Volerio Bruno.

-Buongiorno,Maria.

-Ah, buongiorno.

-Ciao.

Come stai?

-Bene.

Molto bene.

So, the first thing I realized is that the name Volerio, as it was written in the adoption record, is not an Italian name.

So, it could be only Valerio.

-Valerio.

-Valerio.

So, the name must have been either Valerio Bruno or Bruno Valerio, because, in Italian, they are both forename and surnames.

I did double search the Registry Offices of Cassino, but, sadly, this person didn't exist in their records.

-We did a really deep search.

-Yeah.

I had my suspicions.

For years, I believed it.

And then, in the last couple of years, I've just thought, "Is this made up?

Is it just made up for..." You have to put something on record?

It is also possible that it is a false name.

False name.

Because your mother was really wishing to protect his identity.

[Davina] There is something else to try.

The records claim the car crash happened in the run-up to Christmas, so it may havebeen reported.

Here we have two newspapers that were published at the time.

Let's start on the Christmas week.

[Maria] 20th.

This is an accident, but it takes place far from Cassino.

-Yeah, the name's all different.

-Yeah.

[Maria Laura] This is another accident.

[Maria] Yeah.

No Bruno Valerio or Valerio Bruno is mentioned.

Two persons was injured in car crashes.

As you see, there were quite a few accidents.

[Maria] Yeah.

We looked through the whole month of December.

There were some small little accidents, but nothing in that area.

No Valerio Bruno.

I think that Gilda made up this story.

Yeah, although the story may be made up and I don't know who he is, it would be comforting to think that he didn't die in a car accident, because that, for all the years I've known, I felt very sad about.

Fingers crossed, whoever my father is, something good came for him.

It's all good.

I'm sorry you end with less detail about your father than when you arrived here.

'Cause I was really anxious that I was going to see his name in print, and here-- and that is quite... although you expect it, it's a bit of a shock.

But I'm actually quite relieved that I haven't seen his name written here.

[Davina]With no sign of Valerio Bruno in the official records, Maria is left with more questions over the identity of her birth father.

But she does know one thing-- a DNA test has revealed he is Italian.

This is my DNA test results.

We've got parent one, parent two.

In the green, you can see that that's a Southern Italian.

Both parents were Italian.

We know who one is.

We just don't know who the other is.

[Davina] Maria currently has no close DNA matches to confirm who her father was.

Over the years, in the next few years, somebody else might put their DNA on there, which then might show a match to me.

I don't want to stop.

I don't want to just call this the end now.

Hopefully, in time, I might be able to find something out.

[Davina] But there is someone back in England who can tell Maria more about her birth mother... someone who was watching Maria's story when it first aired.

[Rosanna Sushams] The telly was on.

Long Lost Families comes on, and I always watch it.

But I wasn't literally 100% watching it, but I heard "Italy."

And I looked up, and then I saw the photo of Gilda.

And I thought, "Oh, my God.

And, um... You could have knocked me off the chair.

[Davina]Rosanna Sushams grew up in this house with her parents, Giulio and Tina.

My dad was from San Vittore, which is very close to Cassino.

My parents, being Italian, were part of the community here in London.

They used to get together with lots of Italians for feast days and stuff.

They continued as though they were in Italy, but here in England, yeah, in London.

[Davina]Gilda spent most of her life in Italy, but she did live in London for a while, both before and after having Maria.

[Rosanna] Gilda was just part of the family.

She would be here all the time.

[Davina]Rosanna has photographs and letters which include information about Gilda.

[Rosanna]I have a lot of lovely memories to share with Maria.

[Davina]Today, Maria has traveled to Fulham to meet Rosanna for the first time and learn more about Gilda's life in London.

Hello!

It's so lovely to meet you.

-Come, come.

-Thank you.

Gilda was around for a lot of my childhood.

She was popping in and out all the time.

Weekends, holidays, any event that was going on, she would be here with Mum and Dad in this very room.

-In this room here?

-Yeah.

Let me show you here.

This is one Christmas.

There's Gilda.

There you go.

Oh, my God!

[Rosanna] That's me.

So, that's in this room.

So, she's obviously sat almost where you're sitting.

It's mind-blowing, isn't it?

My mom and her had a very similar sense of humor.

A lot of laughing, a lot of teasing.

It was fun, a lot of fun.

[Davina]But, sadly, when Rosanna was just 13, her mother, Tina,passed away.

I've got a letter that I haven't shared with you yet that I'm really touched about.

It says, "Dear Giulio, I'm Gilda, writing to you, and so sorry for this news about Tina.

If you need anything, I can come immediately to help you with the house.

For me to live here or in London, it's the same either way.

Please take the offer seriously.

Anything you need, I'd be happy to come for all of you.

Signed, Gilda."

I didn't know, I didn't remember that she had offered to come here.

And how old were you at this point?

-Thirteen.

-Oh, my God.

So, that was so kind, and I believe... -I believe she would have come.

-Yes.

She would definitely have come.

She was just going to drop everything and come over and look after them if need be.

That's really commendable, isn't it?

I just thought, "You wonderful woman."

["Amore Piu Bello" playing] What's really nice is that our moms would have sat in here laughing and joking, drinking wine, eating, and listening to all this music.

And I think that's just a lovely thought.

They'd be so happy that we found each other.

[Maria]It's wonderful to find out about Gilda's life here in London, because it's given me an insight into... part of the life that my mother had after me.

So that she was-- you know, she was still living her life.

She was having a good time.

I think she had a happy life.

I think she was alright.

And that, to me, is... and that brings a smile to my face.

-[Maria] Cheers!

-And cheers to them.

And cheers to your mom, my mom and, uh, dad.

[Maria] Yes.

God bless you all.

[Rosanna] Mm.

[Italian music fades] [end music playing]