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

[woman] Has he passed away?

Is he still alive?

Or am I looking for someone that doesn't exist anymore?

[man] I feel something's missing.

I would love to get rid of the loneliness that I do feel.

[woman] I've carried this secret for years and years and years.

All my life I've carried that shame.

Finding someone when the trail's gone cold can feel like an impossible task, but that is where we step in... -Your birth mother.

-That's my mum.

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

-So do they want to meet us?

-They really do.

Is he happy?

-He's so happy.

-Is he really?

I'm so pleased.

With no idea where our searches will lead, we've travelled the world hoping to solve some of our toughest cases yet.

She's lived for more than 50 years with this horrible feeling that you will feel rejected.

She seeks forgiveness.

I used to say a little prayer and hope the Lord would keep him safe because I knew I couldn't.

[Davina] And finally, unravelling mysteries that have overshadowed entire lives.

-I've waited so long.

-I'm so glad you kept trying.

I really am so glad you kept trying.

This week... two stories of missing parents.

Brothers searching for their father, who walked out on their family.

[man] It wasn't right what my dad did, but I'd like to think it's time to move on and forgive and forget, really.

And a daughter whose mother disappeared when she was just a baby.

I was brought up to believe that my mum wasn't in my life out of choice.

[dramatic music playing] [contemplative music playing] Our first search is on behalf of two brothers from the North West who are looking for their dad who disappeared from their lives nearly 40 years ago.

-[child] Look!

-[man laughs] Look, there's more.

Look, they're all coming now, Nathan.

[Davina] Forty-four-year-old David Shannon and his 42-year-old brother Paul have never forgotten their father, who they haven't heard from since they were young boys.

[Paul] At the back of my mind, I've always kind of been trying to find my dad, for whatever logical reasons, for whatever emotional reasons, I don't know.

But the fact is, it's always been there.

-Jump!

-[David] You don't know anything about him at all.

You don't know if he has forgotten about you.

Did he just walk away and not interested?

You know, I just want some answers.

Originally from Liverpool, the boys' parents, Sue and David, got married in 1968.

[Paul] I know Mum loved him, and I know he loved her.

Two years later, soon after the boys were born, the family moved to South Africa in search of a better life.

They saw an advert in a national newspaper to go and work, managing mines.

The only memories they have of their dad come from their time together in South Africa.

[David] I don't remember any bad times with him.

You know, the only memories I've got seem to be happy memories.

[Paul] I remember being on his shoulders, in a zoo of all places.

That's my memory of my dad, you know, being safe but kind of being loved at the same time.

[Davina] But in the early '70s, protest against the apartheid regime in South Africa was growing, and the situation in the country was becoming increasingly volatile.

As far as I know, Mum wanted to come home.

Dad didn't want to come home, uh, for whatever reasons, and then he promised Mum that he'd follow her back.

In 1974, when the boys were five and three, they returned to Liverpool with their mother.

Their father followed a few months later with news that would change their lives forever.

[David] He told my mum that he was, he was leaving, and going back to Africa and that he wasn't coming back.

It was a very bitter split with my mum.

We think he had an affair.

When he left, it just seemed to be, that was it.

Uh, just a completely taboo subject.

It was never spoken about, and... that's it, he was gone.

[peaceful music playing] A few years after their father had disappeared, their mother remarried.

[Paul] We always knew that the stepdad wasn't a dad and when we were asked to call him dad, I kind of had this reservation where I was kind of, "okay."

But it was almost like, "I'll play the game."

You know, "I'll call him that, it's what Mum wants, so, you know, let's do that."

But unbeknownst to the boys at the time, their real father was to make one last reappearance in their lives eight years after he walked out on them.

His mum, my grandmother, was in hospital with cancer, and we went to kind of basically say our last goodbyes because, you know, it was terminal, she didn't have long left.

I just remember being stood in the corridor and this man coming up and talking to my mum.

But we, we never spoke to him, we didn't know who he was.

You know, and then he left, so we were completely oblivious that that was my dad.

Why didn't he try and see us, you know, why didn't he say anything to us?

Did he want to speak to us and he was being stopped?

If we'd have known, I think I certainly would have wanted to speak to him.

As they've grown up, David and Paul's father has been absent from all the milestones of their lives.

[Paul] It's one of the iconic moments in your life, getting married.

You know, I wanted my dad to be there.

Hoping they'd find his father in time for their wedding, Paul's wife Gerry wrote to all the David Reeses they could find in South Africa.

Though they got many replies, none were from the right David Rees.

"Dear Geraldine, the David Rees you describe would be ten years my junior.

I was married in Rhodesia in 1963..." I'm going to cry again.

"...and also have two sons."

You know I'd love for him to find his dad.

It's just something I'd like to be able to give him, his dad.

But searching for their father hasn't been easy for their mother.

When I talked to Mum about it, what I was trying to do, she just went ballistic, and just said, "Look, you know," basically, "let me tell you what type of man he was."

It wasn't right what my dad did, but at the same time so much life has passed by now, you know, I'd like to think it's time to move on and forgive and forget really.

Now dads themselves, the brothers desire to meet their own dad and find out why he's never been in their lives is stronger than ever.

[Gerry] He has no expectations about what his dad will be.

You know, he has worst-case scenarios almost, but at least he'd know and at least he could ask the question, you know, "Why haven't I seen you?"

[David] I look at my kids and I think, you can't just walk away.

You can't leave them.

You wouldn't want to leave them.

I'd certainly fight tooth and nail to see mine.

When David and Paul came to us, they'd run out of ideas.

They'd tried everything they could with the information they had.

They'd even gone so far as writing to every single David Rees in South Africa, but they'd got nowhere.

Before searching overseas, we wanted to be certain that their father David hadn't returned to the UK.

A check of British records revealed nothing, so we turned our attention to South Africa and the region around Johannesburg where the boys had lived with their dad back in the early '70s.

This whole area is very well known for its mining, and it's also one of the most populated parts of South Africa, so if David was still in the mining business, he could be living anywhere here.

We picked up a trace of a David Rees of the right age on local records.

Crucially we also found his identity number, something everyone must have to live and work in the country.

All the evidence suggested he was still somewhere in the Johannesburg area.

However, just when we thought we were getting close to an address or a telephone number, we discovered he'd moved on.

But our enquiries did throw up the name of the company David Rees was thought to be working for, a platinum mining operation 50 miles outside Johannesburg.

We contacted him through their local office and he confirmed he was the man we were looking for.

This is it.

Now remarried with three other children, David agreed to meet me to discuss the boys.

Paul and David have been longing for news of their father since he disappeared from their lives 30 years ago.

Now that we've found him, I want to know if he ever thought about them or did he just walk out of their lives without a backward glance?

Dave, I'm Nicky Campbell.

-Pleased to meet you.

-Pleased to meet you.

-Please come in.

-Thank you so much.

Well, here we are.

Uh, how do you feel?

When I got the email, I froze on the spot.

I thought, you know, straight away, why?

Why do they want to see me after all these years?

Because they've missed you for all these years, and do you know what, they still do.

God.

That's what I wanted to know.

I'm determined I'm not going to cry in front of that camera.

I'm determined I'm not going to.

But it's going to come out.

I am...

I brought you this letter.

How they feel about you.

"Dear Dad, Paul and I have been searching for you for quite a few years now.

We just couldn't grasp that maybe our father would just walk away and not try and see his boys.

The thought of a reunion with you is probably one of the most nerve-racking things we can think of.

There's been so many big days and events you've missed over the years, and we'd love to share them with you.

Your boys, David and Paul."

-You all right?

-Yeah.

What did you think that they would be feeling about you over the years?

That they would resent me.

You know, probably turn into hatred.

It's a stupid thing, but, you know, revenge, like, comes to mind.

-Revenge?

-Yeah, you know, the type of revenge, resentment.

"Where were you when we needed you?"

type of thing.

It's just a guilt feeling, the thought that I've missed them growing up.

Hmm.

But there's questions that they will ask you.

And there's things they'll want to know.

I expect... questions.

I do, it's their right.

There was talk of maybe you had an affair and stuff like that, but that's...

I think that's kind of irrelevant to them.

I'll always take the blame, I won't blame anybody else.

Did you ever think about, "I wish I was there for them"?

Always.

My mother and father used to sneak to the school to meet the boys, trying to find out where they were, what they were doing.

And my line of communication actually stopped when my mother died.

I last saw the boys in 1983.

It wasn't under pleasant circumstances because, um, I went back due to the fact my mother had cancer.

I requested my ex-wife, please, will she just take the boys to go and see my mother?

The agreement was she would take the boys, but I mustn't try and contact them or talk to them.

I turned up at the hospital, my ex-wife had remarried, and David, the oldest one, he turned around and said, "Dad, is it all right if I go to the sweet shop?"

-You saw them with their stepfather?

-Mm-hmm.

I thought, well, okay, now they've got a father, you know, and they're calling him dad, so... okay, basically I'm not needed.

-Did you really believe that?

-Oh, yeah.

When I heard it, obviously it hurt me, but did I have the right to feel hurt?

What does this mean to you right now?

It's totally unbelievable, it still hasn't sunk in.

I've got a lump sitting here now, and I just don't want to let it out because I know I won't stop.

[contemplative music playing] [Davina] Before we tell David and Paul that we've found their father... our second story begins in Bristol with a woman desperate to find her mother who disappeared from her life when she was just a few months old.

[gasps] Do you know who that is?

That's Alicia.

Look how small you were!

You are having cuddles with Mummy, like you're cuddling your baby.

[Julia] I love being a mum.

It's the most rewarding thing I have ever done in my life, I think.

It's just the joy that they bring and so the happy times when the house is full of laughter and everyone is having fun, it's the best reward.

I think I've replaced what I have missed, growing up as a child, with my children.

[Davina] Forty-four-year-old Julia Evans has been searching for her mother for nearly ten years.

[Julia] I have no recollection of my mum at all.

Not a smell, not a memory, nothing.

Julia was raised by her father in a small town in South Wales.

Her mother was rarely mentioned.

I was brought up to believe that my mum wasn't in my life out of choice.

That's something that my dad said on more than one occasion.

"She's not here, she didn't want you."

I felt quite rejected and worthless.

Despite her mother's absence, growing up, Julia never felt close to her father.

[Julia] I don't remember sort of sitting, cuddling with him ever.

He was always the man in the background with a kind of a frown on his face.

Julia's father was a senior member of a devout Christian group that had broken away from the established church.

[Julia] God was the first thing in my dad's life.

We lived life according to the Bible to the letter.

We had no interaction with the outside world apart from what was deemed as necessary.

There was no television.

I was never allowed to go to the cinema or anything like that because it was just pure sin as far as they were concerned.

"You are blessed if you don't walk with the ungodly and sit with the sinners."

We actually had that on an embroidery cloth hanging on the wall.

[Davina] It wasn't until Julia was 16 that she rebelled against her strict religious upbringing.

[Julia] I didn't have the courage to stand up to my dad until I started working.

December was the Christmas party at work and I asked my dad if I could go, and the answer was absolutely not, emphatically no.

But I went anyway.

But Julia's defiance marked the beginning of the end of her relationship with her father.

For the first time in my life, I felt alive, and I was having all this fun.

So, what could possibly be so wrong about it?

He said to me that I was definitely my mother's daughter and, uh... spawn of the devil.

I remember sitting there and sort of thinking, "If you're going to compare me to my mum and say that I'm my mother's daughter, then maybe she's not such a bad person that you all made out to be."

[Davina] Julia Evans was raised by her father in a strict Christian community in South Wales.

Her mother left the family home when Julia was just a baby.

There has always been something missing out of my life, and there's always been that big void.

At 17, Julia found herself without any family at all when her father shunned her for going to an office party.

My dad didn't speak to me.

From the December Christmas party till the April when I left home, he did not speak to me once.

So he didn't speak to me ever again.

After leaving home, Julia had no way of tracing her mother.

Her father had always refused to discuss her mum.

[Julia] I knew that her name was Ann and that's it.

I was never allowed to ask any questions, there was never any photos.

It was as if she never existed.

The only thing that I can assume is that she left the church so therefore she was dead to them.

It's now been nearly 30 years since Julia left home.

She's still no closer to tracing her mum or finding out if she ever regretted leaving her behind.

Maybe I wasn't rejected.

Maybe I was wanted, but it was just impossible for her to be around.

Even though I've never known her and I've never seen her, she's been in and out of my thoughts for years.

So...

I'd like to know that I was in her thoughts too.

Because of the secrecy surrounding her mother, the only thing Julia was able to base her search on was her mother's name, Ann Elizabeth Rees, which in reality is too common to be of much help.

If we were going to find her, we needed more information.

We went back to where Julia had grown up, hoping to find a lead to her mother's whereabouts.

Discreet inquiries unearthed rumors that she may have moved to the Oxford area and possibly gone on to have more children.

There were also rumors that Ann had died.

Going on the assumption that she'd moved to Oxfordshire, we contacted every registration office in the area trying to find any records listing the death of an Ann Elizabeth with the maiden name of Rees.

Unfortunately our worst fears were confirmed.

Julia's mum had died in 2009 aged just 59.

It appeared from the death records she had remarried to a Mr. Boulter.

And further checks revealed they'd had a son called Robert.

Now, if Robert was also Ann's son, it meant that Julia had a brother she hadn't even known about.

We contacted Robert and he confirmed that Ann Elizabeth was indeed his mother and that he also had a younger brother, Allan, a second sibling that Julia knows nothing about.

They agreed to meet me at Robert's home just outside Thame in Oxfordshire.

The one thing that Julia's always wanted to know is that her mother never forgot about her.

And even though, tragically, she's passed away, I'm hoping that her two sons, Julia's brothers, at least knew about their sister and might be able to give her the answer that she needs.

[dog barking] -Hello.

-Hello.

-I'm Nicky.

-Hi.

Hi.

Nice to meet you.

-You are?

-Rob.

-Rob?

-Yes.

-Can I come in?

-Yes, please.

Thanks very much.

Ooh!

Did you know, as you were growing up, about Julia?

-Yes.

-[Allan] We always knew about her.

-What were you told?

-Not a lot, really.

[Rob] No.

A lot of it was kept quiet.

And every time, especially when I started growing up and started asking questions, Mum would just sort of shy away from it.

Did your mum explain why she... she didn't go back for her and try to make contact?

It was more to do with her ex-husband and everything was kept hush-hush.

We didn't really know too much about it.

Bit of a dark secret, yeah.

-Mm-hmm.

-[Nicky] I would love to know more about your mum and see a photograph of her if you-- [Rob] Yes, we've got some photos, yeah.

That was a good three, four years before she passed away.

[Allan] Yeah.

[Rob] And that's probably the only one we've got of her smiling.

-[laughing] -What was she like as a mum?

-She was fantastic.

-[Allan] Yeah, brilliant, yeah.

Great cook, and she was a chef all of her life.

-Was she loving?

-[Allan] Yeah, of course.

-Oh, yeah, very caring, yeah.

-[Allan] Yeah, she was always there for you.

[Nicky] Did she ever express to either of you regret that she hadn't taken Julia with her?

It was more the point that she couldn't.

She was always afraid of what would happen, to deal with Julia's dad.

She was probably told, "That's it, go away," and that was it.

-So she was afraid?

-Yeah.

[Allan] In a way, there was always that part of fear.

Mum always used to mention about Julia and what she's doing.

"I wonder where she is," and all this, and we've had pictures of her.

-What pictures are they?

-Mum had them in her possession.

-Um... -[Allan] On the wall.

-Yeah, and she used to keep them in frames.

-Really?

Well, that's going to be incredible for Julia to know that she was part, in a way, of your family.

-Can I see some of them?

-Yeah, we've got them here.

[Allan] There are four of them where she looks really young, and they are all the same, and there's one where she's older.

If Mum knew that Julia had left her dad, I think it might have been different.

I think Mum would have definitely made things different.

It's just sad it's all happening now, you know.

Mum's no longer around.

I'd quite like to have seen how Mum would have been, to be honest.

[Nicky] Well, here is a photograph of your sister.

Wow!

-She looks like Mum.

-Yeah.

[Allan] She definitely got Mum's nose.

[laughs] Yeah, she's definitely got Mum's features and her eyes as well, I think.

Yeah.

[Allan] Looking at it myself, it's like I already know her.

-Can we keep that picture?

-Of course.

Not knowing what your own mum was like, we've got a lot to say.

[Allan] We can give answers in the best way, really.

[Nicky] Well, that's going to mean everything to her.

[Davina] Out of respect to Julia, we have informed her of her mother's death without the cameras being present.

Despite the sad news that Julia's mother has died, she has agreed to still meet with me, and I'm hoping that the news that she has two brothers, who have always known about her and who have answers to her questions, may bring her some comfort.

-Hi.

-Hey, hello.

-How are you doing?

-Come in.

I'm fine, you?

Yes, I'm all right, thank you.

Thank you.

-Take a seat.

-Thanks.

So, Julia, I'm really sorry that... we couldn't give you better news.

Yeah, it's kind of sad that I'll never meet her, to have been a part of her life, even for a short time.

[Davina] I've got a picture of her.

Oh, cool.

Oh, wow.

Oh, wow.

She looks really happy, she looks like a nice person.

Had you ever seen a picture of her before?

No, never.

You'd never been allowed to see one or there had never been any lying around...?

No, there was never anything of my mum at all.

Well, we got that picture via your two brothers, Robert and Allan.

I have brothers?

Wow.

I've got a picture here, if you'd like to look.

-[Julia] I'd love to.

-[Davina laughs] [Julia laughs] Ooh.

[Davina] They always knew about you.

-Really?

-Yeah.

Your mum talked about you.

[sniffles] She had pictures up of you.

They were up all over the house.

And they feel that she would never have left you willingly.

Okay.

I can understand that.

The way that my dad was, I understand so clearly why she couldn't come back, but to know that she still talked about me and had photographs and... things that, you know, I feel like she would have wanted to come back, but... She would, oh, my God, yes.

They couldn't believe it when they saw your picture, how like your mum you are.

They'd love to meet you.

Oh, that'd be great.

-The boys have written you a letter.

-Really?

-Would you like to read it?

-Yes.

[Davina laughs] "Hi, Julia.

We are so happy to finally fill that missing part of our lives and get to know the sister that we were always told about.

Mum never went a day without thinking about you and that's why you were always known about in our lives."

Oh, gosh.

"We are all looking forward to meeting you and getting to know more about you."

It's good to have family, it's good to know you're not on your own.

[Davina] David and Paul Shannon last saw their father nearly 40 years ago when he walked out on the family.

We finally found him 6,000 miles away in South Africa.

For the brothers, this search has always been as much about making sense of their past as it has been about looking for their dad.

And I'm hoping now that we've traced Dave, that they'll be able to draw a line under everything and get the answers that they need and enjoy building a relationship with their dad.

Hi, guys!

Playing football with the dogs?

Who's winning?

-The dogs.

-Not us.

-How are you doing?

-Very well, thank you.

-I'm Davina.

Hiya.

-Davina, hi.

-Lovely to meet you.

-And you.

-Hi.

Nice to meet you.

-And you.

-Shall we go in?

-Yep.

Brilliant.

This search, who sort of instigated it?

Was it something you did together or on your own?

I was looking years ago, didn't really talk to you about it.

It's never been spoken about in the family at all.

[Davina] Why not?

Because of the split with my mother and my dad.

It was obviously quite acrimonious, and my mum was really bitter about it so she's never, ever...

I suppose she's never forgiven him.

You only get that sad about something that you really cared about.

It's strange to see the family photos.

Everybody so happy in them, and all we'd ever heard was the negative side of the split, and never the conversation about kind of what we actually did over there, and, you know, the happy times that we had, it was never even broached.

She's openly admitted that she was heartbroken by it, she did love him, really love him.

[Paul] Just so many unanswered questions.

Well, you'll be able to ask him, because we've found him.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-We've found your dad.

-What's he said about it?

-What's he said about...?

-About us.

He's never, ever stopped thinking about you guys.

And he was so thrilled that he was found.

That's-- Uh, yeah, I just can't...

He did want to be in your lives and like you said, it was a very difficult split from your mum.

-Yeah.

-And he remembers the day in the hospital.

Yeah, we didn't know who he was... [Davina] When he saw you guys there.

And he remembers it vividly, but for him, it was one of the most heartbreaking days of his life, actually, because he heard you call your stepfather "dad," and he sort of felt then that he was no longer needed, that he'd been replaced.

I think he has a lot of things that he wants to talk to you guys about and a lot of answers that he wants to give you.

-Would you like to see a picture?

-[David] Yeah.

Oh, God.

[Davina whispering] He looks like you.

-I've always been told.

-Mother always said that as well.

We've been told so many bad things that you don't really conjure up...

I don't know, I don't know how to describe it.

-[Davina] You hadn't allowed yourself to sort of picture him?

-No, not at all.

-He's written you a letter.

-Has he?

[Davina] Would you like to read it?

Yeah, I'd love to.

God.

[sighs] "Dear David and Paul, what an unbelievable surprise.

When I got the email saying that you were looking for me, I froze on the spot when I read it.

It's the most fantastic thing that's happened to me.

I last saw you as two boys and now you're both grown men, and to see you both again would be like a dream come true for me.

Until we meet, all my love, Dad."

-Is he found?

-Yes.

-They've found him.

-[woman] Oh, my God!

Yeah.

I'm so pleased.

I just can't process it, it's just unbelievable.

It's fantastic, absolutely fantastic.

[contemplative music playing] [Davina] Today for the first time since they were young boys, Paul and David will finally get to meet their father.

Hello.

Hello.

Hello.

You ready?

-Goodbye.

-Bye!

It's nearly 40 years, and... it's...

It's getting to know someone all over again that kind of... You know, as kids he's just, that's your dad, that's fine, he's always there.

And then suddenly when he's not there for a lifetime, it's... you know, he's got to be there, and it's kind of hard to comprehend.

[Davina] Their father Dave has made the 6,000-mile journey from South Africa to be reunited with his sons.

They've arranged to meet each other at Manchester Airport.

[woman over loudspeaker] Flight AA-055, final call... Somewhere out there they're there, and I am basically...

I'm panicking, genuine.

When I see them, I just don't know what my reaction is going to be.

I don't know.

I don't know them, they don't know me.

We don't know each other because it's been so long.

I'd just like to get this over with now.

This tension is... yeah, it's been... it's been a long time.

At last.

It's bloody good to see you.

Oh, God, you don't know what this means to me.

You have no idea what this means to me.

We've said from the start of this, what's happened has happened.

Marriages fail, you know, things happen, it doesn't matter.

Well, I won't even ask what your mother's reaction is.

It was anger at first, but she's accepted now that this is what we want and this is what we need, and she's fine and she's... she's good with it all.

I can be quite honest with you.

I said, "Why after all this time?

Is this like a revenge thing?

And even if it's revenge that they want or anything like that, I don't care, as long as I-- you know, as long as I can just see."

-It was never revenge.

-Never, ever thought of things that way.

We've both always said it's been a piece missing from our lives and it's something we needed to know, and we needed to know who you were.

I've had two pieces missing from my life for a long, long time, and it ain't gone away.

Things happen, don't they, and it's... All we can do is look ahead to what's in the future now.

And I think it's brilliant that we can do that.

We've found you now, haven't we?

There are a whole new side of the family to meet.

I'm choked.

Every part of me is totally choked.

[father] I hoped that it would turn out like this and it has, and now I've got them, I'm not going to lose them again.

That is for sure.

That is for sure.

Biggest worry was, standing there waiting, was... how are we going to react, how he's going to react, what's going to happen?

But you just didn't have to think about it, it just happened.

The thing that surprised me is that he had the fears about us as, and...

I'd kind of never thought of it from that side.

The past is past, it's gone, can't change it, but we can change what happens in the future.

[Davina] Forty-four-year-old Julia Evans has never known her mother, Ann.

She's spent most of her life hoping that one day she'd meet her.

Sadly we discovered that Ann died four years ago, but our search also revealed Julia has two brothers.

Today she'll meet them for the first time.

[Davina] Hi.

How are you doing?

Hello!

I am very conscious of the fact that I might just babble.

I want to know everything all at once.

-I'm pretty sure... -All about you and all about Mum.

...that they'll babble and they'll want to tell you everything.

This whole experience, what do you think it's going to do for you?

[Julia] It feels like I will have a little bit of a sense of belonging.

I have family that actually know about me and want to know me and want to meet me, rather than the other side of the family that sort of just shunned me because I walked away from the church.

Um...

It just... -It means a lot, doesn't it?

-Yeah it does.

It really does.

[peaceful music playing] [Davina] The brothers want to meet Julia in Porthcawl in South Wales.

It's got a significance, this place, doesn't it?

-Yes.

-Yeah.

This always meant loads to Mum.

Where she grew up, where she always wanted to be.

-She learnt to swim off the pier.

-Yeah.

If Mum is looking down on us, I think it would mean the world to her as well, seeing it all happen.

-So, it's over to you now.

-Yeah.

Brilliant.

You're going to sit for a while and she'll be in.

Okay?

-Right, brilliant.

-Great stuff.

-Brilliant.

Thank you very much.

-Cheers.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

How you feeling?

Um, really nervous, really excited.

Yes.

It's going to be amazing.

So, your brothers are just up there in the cafe, okay?

-Okay.

-Good luck.

-[Julia] Hi.

-Hello.

-Hi.

-[Julia] Hello, hello.

-You all right?

-I'm fine, thank you.

Oh, my God.

-Nice to meet you.

-Yeah, and you.

-I'm Allan, by the way.

-I'm Julia.

-And you're Robert?

-Yeah, that's right.

Hi.

[gasps] Oh, my days!

Sit down.

-Finally!

-It's cold, isn't it?

-It's freezing.

-[laughs] It is and I am slightly windswept.

Yes.

Gosh.

I loved the letter because I didn't know whether Mum had actually talked about me.

No, we had always knew about you.

-She always spoke about you.

-Oh, wow.

Mum always told us that it was never an easy decision for her to ever go.

If she could have took you with her, she would have done.

The way she always said it was that she really had no choice, to actually go.

I can understand from the reaction from when I left home how bad it would have been.

Yeah, I can't imagine how it's been for you, obviously.

Makes it sort of different.

But we always knew we had a sister.

And no matter where we lived, your picture was always put up.

-Was it?

-Yeah, on the wall.

Before yours?

[all laughing] Have to show us up, you know what I mean?

It's a shame you haven't got to know her.

-Yeah.

-You know.

You are very, very alike.

-Yeah?

-Mm.

Very much.

I just couldn't get over how much you look like Mum.

-You'll see her face... -Really?

-And your personality seems like Mum's as well.

-[Julia] Yeah?

-Yeah.

-[Julia] What do you think she would think about us three sitting here now?

-Well, she'd think it was amazing.

-Yeah.

I think that is what she'd want, is the family all together.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

Yeah.

She would be looking down now and she'd be very proud, and also crying her eyes out.

Aw!

[Rob] If Mum was here today, she'd be so emotional, I think.

Mum would be so proud of the way Julia is and the way, you know, she's her own woman.

She's just like Mum.

Welcoming her to our family is going to be so amazing.

[Julia] Even though she's no longer here and I don't get to meet her, it's like I get to know her.

I no longer feel that rejection and that hurt of not knowing Mum and Mum leaving and not wanting anything to do with me, it was... Yeah, it's more like I'm at peace with myself probably for the first time in my life.

[Davina] Next time on "Long Lost Family"... a son whose life has been haunted by the belief he was rejected by his mother.

[man] I seemed to think that she didn't want me.

If you're not wanted, it hurts.

And a woman finally ready to confront her past and find her daughter.

[woman] I've carried this secret for years and years and years.

You've got to face your demons, haven't you?

[peaceful music playing]