[Davina] For thousands of people across Britain, someone is missing from their lives.

[woman] People have a history and a past; I don't have that.

[man] I have always, always thought about her.

I want her to know that it wasn't my choosing to leave.

[woman] I need to know that it's been okay, that he forgives us for what we did.

Finding someone when the trail's gone cold can feel like an impossible task.

But that's where we step in... We've found her.

Oh, God.

...offering a last chance to people desperate for help.

"I feel that it's possible that you blame me for our mother's death."

No.

Just to know that she wants to be a part of my life is phenomenal.

With no idea where our searches will lead, we've travelled the world, uncovering family secrets and finding people that no one else has been able to trace.

Hello, how are you doing?

-Hi.

-You all right?

[Davina] And finally answering questions that have haunted entire lives.

I was made to promise I would never say anything.

Don't ever, ever want to let her go again.

[Davina] This week, two stories of missed opportunities.

A mother who gave up her daughter twice.

She needs to know that she was wanted, right up to the last minute.

And a son searching for the Croatian father he's never met.

How often has he thought about me?

What has he thought about me?

I need to find him.

[dramatic music playing] Our first search is on behalf of a woman who's had to live with giving up her first-born daughter not once, but twice.

Come on then!

Get some shells tied up.

Seventy-year-old Christine Gallard lives in Bexhill-on-Sea, surrounded by her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

[Christine] I feel privileged to say that that's my family, and to have four generations.

But there's one missing and that's Marguerite.

Beautiful Marguerite.

My first baby.

[child shrieks] Christine grew up in Glasgow and gave birth to her eldest daughter Marguerite in August 1960.

She was stunning.

Absolutely stunning.

Big, big brown eyes.

Beautiful baby.

She was mine.

But Christine was only 16 and had little family support.

Her father had died and her mother had moved to England to find work.

So Christine brought her baby to live with her 80-year-old grandmother, in a one-room tenement flat.

I lived in here with my grandmother and Marguerite.

Four steps and you were at the other side of the room.

This was the kitchen sink.

We all slept in the same bed.

My gran always slept at the front, and I would be behind her, and Marguerite would be behind me.

Christine went out to work full time in a factory to support her daughter.

But as her grandmother became more frail and Marguerite grew into a toddler, Christine began to struggle.

[Christine] I was totally exhausted.

I really wasn't coping.

And my gran couldn't cope with Marguerite running about in a little room.

It was going wrong, and I couldn't put it right.

In desperation Christine turned to Social Services for help in finding a better life for Marguerite.

[Christine] I had a big decision to make because I didn't want her to go into one of these care homes.

That's total abandonment without any hope for the future.

So instead, Social Services decided that Marguerite should be placed with a long-term foster family.

After being her mum for two years, Christine left her daughter with the authorities for her new parents to pick up.

I had asked for help and I got it.

I thought, "They've got my baby."

Christine went on to get married and have four more children.

But she never stopped thinking about Marguerite.

Then, six years after she'd given her daughter up, Social Services contacted Christine to say that Marguerite's foster mother had died.

They were telling me that I could have my child back.

I didn't know what to make of it, but I was very excited.

Very, very excited.

I was gonna see my baby again.

But Christine still wasn't sure that the life she could offer Marguerite was good enough.

[Christine] My situation at that time wasn't good.

It wasn't a good marriage.

I had less than I'd ever had in my life.

Christine asked to have Marguerite for a weekend, to help her decide what would be best for her eight-year-old daughter.

She had her little suitcase.

Little suitcase.

She was all dressed up.

She was bouncy, happy and telling me all about her new clothes.

She was the same little girl.

She was my daughter.

You're gonna shake that into there.

Put your hand out straight, look, like mine.

[Christine] I decided to stay in and had flour and water.

I pretended I was baking.

You squeezed it!

[Christine] Over the course of that weekend, it came out that she had two big sisters and a lovely father.

She was in a good family life, and I could see how happy she was.

At the end of the weekend, Marguerite's foster father came to collect her.

[Christine] He really wanted her, and I had decided that I wanted him to take Marguerite home, to where she was used to, without any change, to where she would be happy.

Sometimes you've just got to do things for love.

Whether it's decisions that hurt.

And that was real hurt.

I never saw her again.

Never saw her again.

Nearly 50 years on, the pain of giving up her daughter twice is still with Christine.

[Christine] I've missed her all my life.

She needs to know that she was wanted right up to the last minute.

And she was wanted every day after that.

[Nicky] When we took on Christine's search, we didn't know if Marguerite would be found with her mother's maiden name, her foster family's name or even a married name.

So, we looked for any Marguerites with the right date of birth living in Scotland.

No results were found, which implied that Marguerite had moved away from where she grew up.

Historically, there's always been a lot of migration between Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Since the '60s, more than 65,000 Scots have moved there.

So, on a hunch, that's where we looked next.

We came across a handful of Marguerites in Northern Ireland of the right age, but without knowing her surname, how could we know which was the right woman?

Christine mentioned that when her daughter came to stay for the weekend, her foster father called her Margo.

This nickname was an essential clue.

Further checks of public records revealed that one of the Marguerites we'd found was also registered under the name Margo.

Could this be Christine's daughter?

We contacted this Marguerite Kearney, who was living in Derry, Londonderry.

She confirmed that she went by the name of Margo and that she was Christine's daughter.

Now retired, with a daughter of her own, Margo lives with her husband Thomas, who she met 36 years ago while on holiday in Northern Ireland.

She's lived here ever since.

I wonder how much Margo realizes what Christine went through and whether she has any memories at all of her mother, who she last saw when she was eight years old.

-Margo.

-Hello, Nicky, how are you?

-Nice to see you.

-Come on in.

Thank you very much.

-Really good to see you.

-Oh, same here.

How are you feeling?

Excited.

Nervous.

Why are you nervous?

Just to know that my mother was looking for me, that was a shock.

I tried to search for her for years.

-Did you?

-Yeah, I did.

Just up against a brick wall every turn.

You were with your mother for the first two years of your life.

A tiny one-bedroom flat.

You, your mother and her grandmother, sharing one bed.

Right.

Oh, really?

[gasps] Gracious.

So, they did try.

Oh, she tried.

She just couldn't cope.

Must have been awful.

To give up a child, for whatever reason.

I can't imagine the life that she's had because of that.

Do you remember that weekend when your foster father took you over to see Christine?

I remember my father saying I was gonna visit my mother, and I remember her presence and that she was my mother, but I don't remember her face.

She was offered the chance, because she was your mother, to have you back.

But then she had this enormous decision because she thought you were coming from a happy place, a happy family, and you were gonna be better off, you were gonna be happier there.

She loved you, but that was a better life for you.

Must have broke her heart.

That took a good woman to do that.

It took somebody who had a heart of gold to do that.

After your foster mother had passed away, what happened after that?

When I was about ten, my father died then.

Just two years after your mother had died.

What happened to you?

We were just all orphaned like, you know.

I was put into a home.

It was scary.

I had nobody.

I absolutely had nobody in the world.

Uh... She never knew that you'd gone through the care system.

-Really?

-No.

And that's gonna be a big piece of news for her.

If she'd known that you were all alone, when she finds that out... -Poor woman.

-Yeah.

The good thing is my mother and father gave me a good foundation.

-Mm.

-So, I'd already built up a character and a strength, and I knew what was right and what was wrong and, you know, that helped a lot in later life.

It definitely did.

So, I just think it's amazing now that... -She's come looking for you.

-...she's come looking for me.

I've got a photograph of her.

[sighs] Oh, cor.

It's my mother.

[sniffling] All them years I haven't been able to say "mum," but now I can say it truly, "you are my mother."

Thank you.

Here's my mother.

Oh, your mum.

Ahh!

Ah, just delighted!

She's still alive?

Unbelievable!

After all these years that you wanted to see her.

[laughs] That's fantastic.

But before we tell Christine that her daughter has been found, our second story also starts in Scotland and a man longing to find the father he's never met.

[man] Are you getting lunch?

Mm!

Forty-one-year-old businessman Robert Lindsay lives in Kilmarnock with his wife Lesley, their son, and his two sons from a previous marriage.

The best thing about being a dad is when your kids tell you they love you, and you can see it in their eyes, you can tell it by how they cuddle you.

[boy] Second shot.

Being a dad is the most important thing to Robert.

Because he just, he never had that father figure.

He doesn't know what it's like to have a dad.

[Robert] I find it impossible to imagine not being part of my sons' lives.

So I couldn't imagine being away from them for a month, never mind a lifetime.

-[Robert] Love you, Sam.

-Love you.

Okay, boys, love you.

Bye.

See ya!

Robert's mother Mary left Kilmarnock in 1971, to work in London as an au pair.

It was there that she met his father, Mladen Djurdovic, a young Yugoslavian working at a hotel.

Robert still has Mary's treasured diary that records the times and places of their first dates together.

[Robert] My mum told me she was out dancing one night and my dad's come up and asked her if she'd like to dance.

"Please dance with me because my friends will make a fool of me if you say no."

And it's just kind of went from there.

My mum always spoke positively about him, and I think he meant a lot to my mum.

Just over a year after meeting Mladen, Mary discovered she was pregnant.

[Robert] My mum was only 18 at the time and she would have been scared coming to London in the first place, and then getting pregnant would have been even scarier for her.

Mary decided she needed to return home to be with her parents in Scotland, leaving the future of her relationship with Mladen uncertain.

The only contact that I know that they had after that was a letter that my dad wrote to my mum.

"Dear Mary, today is exactly third week that you left London.

Until now I didn't get any news of you.

I don't know exactly what has happened with you, who is fault.

Soon I will be going to my home, it means to leave London, and I wish you good luck for your future."

I don't really know what had happened, why it went wrong.

But my dad signed the letter "Fool Boy!"

Maybe 'cause he felt like a fool for not being able to make it work.

That was the last contact that they ever had.

Um...

I've never heard anything since.

In October 1973, Robert was born.

I was loved from the minute I remember.

Mum just lived with my grandparents and they helped bring me up.

Although it was unconventional, it worked.

I was really close to my mum.

Sometimes my mum used to look at me and say, "Oh, that was just like your dad looking at me, same eyes, same features."

But then inside, I would get frustrated because I'd think, "You're telling me this, but I can't do anything about it because I can't see him, I can't contact him."

I haven't even seen a picture.

It's almost like having read a story about your parent, as if they're like a work of fiction.

-[geese squawking] -Although Robert's always thought about his father, 11 years ago, his need to find him hit home when Robert's mum died of cancer just a few months before his first child was born.

[Robert] My mum dying and then becoming a father made me think more about fatherhood.

It's important to have a parent that you can tell that you love and to be loved, no matter what age you are.

He thinks about not having a dad every single day.

He thinks about what it would be like to meet his dad every single day, I know he does.

He wants his dad to be a dad to him.

Just somebody to love him, like he loves the boys.

I'm aware that he's missed my whole life.

Where do you start?

I can say, "Well, I'm your son, would you... would you like to get to know me?"

According to the last letter that Mladen sent to Robert's mother back in 1973, he planned to go home to Yugoslavia.

But because of the recent history of that region, since that time, our search for him was gonna be tough.

In 1991, Yugoslavia broke apart in a brutal civil war.

And the following decade, 140,000 people were killed and nearly four million displaced.

We had no idea whether Mladen, or any records of him, would have survived.

What we needed was a search on the ground.

Robert knows that his father's family came from the city of Split.

During the war, Split became part of Croatia and luckily was spared much of the devastation inflicted on the rest of the country.

So, if Mladen had returned here, we might get lucky.

But a trawl of local phonebooks led nowhere.

So we had to start making inquiries around the city.

Eventually, someone told us that there was a man called Mladen Djurdovic, whose family had lived in the old quarter of Split for generations.

We contacted this Mladen and he confirmed that he was the man we were looking for.

Excuse me.

[speaking Croatian] Now aged 71 and retired, Mladen was married but divorced.

He's had no further children and lives on his own in the house where he grew up.

Has Mladen thought about his son at all over the years?

And how would he feel about the fact that Robert's come looking for him?

-Hello!

-Mr. Nick, how are you, okay?

-Thank you.

-Nice to see you.

Mr. Mladen.

[Mladen] Come in.

Just come in, please.

Have a nice seat.

[Nicky] So, Mladen, what was it like when you heard that Robert was looking for you?

It doesn't seem real?

So, what was your romance like in London?

What were those times?

-Do you think she didn't want to see you?

-Yeah, yeah, that's it, yeah.

Here's a letter that, um, you wrote to Mary.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, I written.

[Nicky] "Dear Mary, today is exactly third week that you left London.

Until now I didn't get any news of you.

I don't know exactly what has happened with you.

Soon I'll be going to my home and I wish you good luck for your future.

Bye from Fool Boy!"

What... what does that mean, "Fool Boy"?

You're a fool boy?

So you thought that she'd cut you off.

She thought, from this letter, that you'd gone away forever.

And obviously Robert reading it thought that was what had happened.

Have you thought about him?

I have a photograph of Robert when he was a toddler, with Mary.

I have it here.

Would you like to see it?

If you'd seen him?

Sad.

I have a picture of Robert, what he looks like now.

Okay, okay.

[Nicky] And this is your son.

[Mladen] Oh, look at him.

Oh!

[Nicky] All his life he has been told about you, his father.

His mother always spoke about you in very, very good terms.

And he's found his father.

He's found you.

Okay.

Are you looking forward to meeting him?

[Davina] Before we tell Robert we've found his father, I've come to Bexhill-on-Sea to meet Christine Gallard, who reluctantly gave up her daughter Margo... twice.

Sadly, after both Margo's foster parents died, she was put into care, exactly what Christine had hoped to avoid.

It's going to be hard telling Christine that her daughter's life didn't turn out how she hoped when she gave her up for a second time.

But I can tell her that Margo's hugely grateful for the sacrifice her mum made, and she can't wait to meet her.

[doorbell rings] -Hi, Christine!

-Hello, Davina.

[Davina] How are you?

Lovely to meet you.

[Christine] Fine, thank you.

-Nice to see you.

-Thank you.

The thing that I think is the really incredible part of this story is that Marguerite came back to you and you saw her again.

-Yeah.

-And was she how you imagined she would be?

She was absolutely... beautiful, chatty, well dressed.

-Oh, was she?

-She was everything.

-Was she?

-Everything that I was trying to do for my babies, she was having done for her.

And I was so, so happy to have her that weekend.

But then you made another agonizing decision at the end of that weekend.

On the end of that weekend, her dad came up to collect her, and I was thinking and thinking, and I thought, my daughter's got a lot of love there.

If I take her, it would be like removing her from her background once again.

What would it mean to you to find her?

[sobs] I just want her to know that she's always had me.

She's always had me.

You can tell her yourself 'cause we've found her.

-You've found her?

-Yeah.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-She's been looking for you.

-No!

Oh, dear!

Oh, dear!

Oh, I'm so happy.

She remembers coming to see you.

She did?

I thought she would.

She knew that you were her mother.

-She knew?

-Yeah, she was told.

And what kind of a life did she have with him?

[Davina] Well, it's a little bit sad, I'm afraid.

Because two years after her mum died, her dad died.

So, when she was ten, her dad died too.

So, who brought her up?

Well, all of them were left as orphans, and when she was 13, she went into care.

She went off and got... -[sobbing] -Oh, I'm sorry.

But when she was 15, she got a job and she took herself away, she got herself a flat.

And she says now that it was her wonderful foster family that gave her fantastic roots.

Yeah.

That meant that she knew right from wrong.

-Yeah.

-And she didn't go down the wrong path.

-Uh-huh.

-And she's had a good life.

-Yeah.

-You know, yes, she, she did have a tough upbringing after her dad died and it was difficult, but it didn't... -Gosh!

-...it didn't break her.

You know, she's really looking forward to calling someone mum.

She hadn't called anyone mum since she was eight.

And she wants to meet me, does she?

-She really wants to meet you.

-So do I.

So do I. I've got a photo.

You've got a photo?

-Shall I show you?

-Go on then.

Here's your daughter.

Oh, she's lost her curls.

Oh.

She's still got her brown eyes, her dark eyes.

I can see her as a little girl.

Father of three Robert Lindsay has been searching for his Croatian father, Mladen, who he's never met.

For as long as he can remember, Robert has heard about Mladen, but he's never known whether his dad thought about him or wanted to contact him.

And I have to tell him that Mladen did very much want to be part of his son's life, and he's sad, even angry, that he wasn't.

But now Mladen just wants to look forward and embrace their future together.

Robert?

-Hi.

-How you doing?

-Yeah, I'm fine.

How are you?

-Yeah, good, thanks.

-Hi, boys!

-Hi.

-Oh, are these your boys?

-Yeah.

[Davina] Ah, cute!

So tell me, how do you think it's shaped you as a man, your dad not being there?

It's made me realize how important it is to have a father figure around.

I know that not having a mum constantly in my life when I was younger made me strive to be a good mum.

I would agree with that 100%.

And that is the single most important thing in my life, to make sure I'm here for the boys.

What is it about a dad that you are yearning for?

I don't know, there's just too many things.

After 41 years and really now, probably just looking to find out who he is.

Well, you can.

We've found him.

Really?

Wow!

Where is he and how is he and...?

He's in Croatia.

-Okay.

-And he was really shocked, but really happy.

Right.

He's very sad he hasn't been part of your life.

Okay.

I don't even know where to start.

How is he?

Is he okay?

-He's good.

He's good.

-Yeah.

He's not married.

He was married.

But they divorced and he didn't have any more children.

-No?

I'm surprised.

-A little bit.

I admit.

I had this whole story in my head that he married, and there'd be three or four kids and... that's why he never... Wow!

[Davina] He wanted to be there for you.

He sort of stayed in touch, he wrote the letters, but he was under the impression that, um, your mum had moved on.

Uh-huh.

Does he want to meet me?

Good.

He's frustrated that he feels that you've lost so much time.

If one of my kids, I never saw them, I would probably be quite angry about that as well, especially as clearly he didn't just leave and didn't want anything to do with me.

-Do you want to see a picture?

-I'd love to see a picture.

[Davina] That's your dad.

He does look like an older version of me.

[Davina] He does!

[Robert] The image that I've had for 41 years has just been replaced.

I spent my whole life saying, "I don't know my dad," 41 years.

I feel as if my life has changed in two minutes.

-Hello.

-Hi.

-I've found my dad.

-Ah.

Oh, my God!

Oh, he looks lovely.

-Shall we tell the boys?

-Mm-hmm.

Boys?

Got something to show you.

-Would you like to see a picture of your grandpa?

-Yeah!

-[Robert] What do you think then?

-Wow!

-Just... just wow!

-[mother] Just wow.

[mother] Think he looks like Daddy?

-Yeah.

-Little bit.

[mother] I think he does.

[laughs] After 41 years, Robert is on his way to Croatia.

He'll meet his father, Mladen, for the first time.

-[Davina] How are you feeling now?

-[Robert] I'm really excited.

I'm gonna leave you here, let you get on your flight.

So excited!

Good luck.

-Thanks.

-It'll be fine.

He'll be fine.

Bye.

[bell tolling] [Mladen speaking Croatian] -Mladen?

-Hi.

-How are you, Nicky?

-I'm fine.

-How are you?

-Are you keeping well?

[Nicky] Yeah.

Let's go.

We'll go down here, yeah.

Well, you know the way.

Oh.

After 40 years, Robert has come back into your life.

What are you gonna say to him?

I don't... maybe I'll get speechless, I don't know.

Maybe I have to look at him and say, "Hello, my dear son.

-I've waited for this great day."

-It's gonna be fantastic.

-Good luck.

-Thanks.

Mm-hmm.

-Bye.

-Bye.

[door closes] [Robert] Being in Croatia feels strange, thinking this is part of me, this place.

But it also feels a little bit like home.

I'm hoping today will bring a new relationship.

I'm finally getting the chance to meet my dad.

Mladen and Robert are going to meet in a café in the center of Split.

So, dovidenja!

Dovidenja, goodbye.

All the best.

Ooh!

-Hiya, Robert.

-Hi.

Nice to see you after such a long time.

Okay.

How you feel, okay?

-I'm good.

How are you?

-Have a seat.

Thank you.

So, how are you, okay?

I'm good.

Did you ever think this would happen?

Well, a lot of who I am is because of you.

A lot of who I am as a person is from you, so... so you have.

Do you know who's, who's excited as well?

The boys: Sam, Jamie and Daniel.

That's them.

[Mladen] -Jamie asked if you liked football.

-Yeah, I do.

Jamie would love to go to a game of football with you, he would love it.

I would like to come to football too.

I'd love to go and see a game of football with you.

[Robert] Today, I've taken a huge step towards knowing who I am and who my family are.

[Mladen] I just feel really sure that we're just gonna get on really well.

I feel happy just getting to know my dad.

For nearly 50 years, Christine Gallard has been searching for her daughter Margo.

Today, Christine has returned to Glasgow, where Margo grew up, to be reunited with her.

-[Davina] Hi.

-Oh, hi, Davina.

-How you doing?

-I'm very well, thank you.

[Davina] Today is the day!

Big day has come.

Margo has travelled to Glasgow from her home in Northern Ireland, with her husband Thomas.

Good luck.

And all the best.

Wow!

[laughs] Hello, Nicky.

Good to see you.

You too.

How are you?

I'm grand.

Nervous wreck, but I'm grand.

First bunch of flowers I've been able to give me mother.

-So, how are you feeling?

-I feel good.

I do feel good.

[Davina] And what's the most important thing you want to tell her?

I love you and I've always loved you.

Never, for one second, not loved her.

That's the most important thing.

They will be meeting just three miles from where they last saw each other, at a stately home called Pollock House.

Could have been in contact for 40 years.

-You've got each other now, though.

-Yeah.

I know.

I'll treasure her too.

[Nicky] Right, this is it.

All right?

[Marguerite] Yeah.

Thank you.

Thank you.

You've got to go through those white doors.

There we go.

So... this is it!

-This is where I say goodbye.

-Oh.

Margo's waiting for you in the library.

Oh, thank you.

-Thank you.

-Good luck.

Welcome home, Mum.

It's been a long time.

-Welcome home.

-Oh, look at ya.

-I don't want to let you go.

-[laughing] -I'm your mum.

-I know you are.

[Christine] I'm your mum.

[sobbing] [Marguerite] You've found me now, Mum.

Come and sit down, Marguerite.

Margo.

It's Margo!

-Marguerite for Mum!

-Marguerite.

You're the only one that ever called me Marguerite, and that's the way it's gonna stay.

-You're beautiful!

-So are you.

-You're brave.

-Can't stop looking at you.

But I never stopped thinking about you, you know.

Feel bad.

I just missed you so much through your life.

I just missed you.

[Marguerite] Oh, you have me now forever.

I assumed, in my head, that you were growing up a fine young woman, with your sisters, with your family life.

How wrong can you be?

You did the right thing, Mum, you did the right thing.

I know you did.

I was genuinely happy.

[Marguerite] It's broke her heart all them years, all the guilt she's carried, I felt it today, I felt it from her today.

And it was unnecessary.

It was totally unnecessary.

She made the right decision at that time.

I love you saying "mum."

I love you saying "mum!"

I'm your mum.

[Marguerite] I've waited long enough to say it.

It will take us the rest of our life to catch up.

[laughs] [Christine] We intend to just start from today.

It's opened up a new part of my life.

We done it!

We're always gonna be together.

I can't get over your accent... Next time on "Long Lost Family"... a son who's struggled with the decision his birth mother made when he was just a baby.

I would do whatever it took to get rid of those emotions, to just run away from everything.

[woman] It was frightening.

I think we would have lost him.

I thought, "How can I stop this?"

And a brother searching for his sister, who disappeared when he was six.

I'd like to be able to see Christine again.

I was kept and she wasn't.

[peaceful music playing]