They found her!

That is where you're gonna meet your brother.

-We've found her.

-Oh!

Your brother's in there.

Over the last nine years, we've helped more than 200 people find long-lost relatives.

Oh!

But meeting is just the beginning.

-Hi!

-Hello.

-Thank you for not hating me.

-No.

How easy is it to build a relationship after a lifetime apart?

-Hi.

-Hiya.

When someone comes into a family, it can turn the family upside down.

You can't just suddenly get a new mother, it doesn't work like that.

This is the series where we find out what happened next.

This week... Lovely to see you.

...three stories of siblings brought together after decades apart.

There's an unusual twist, as uniting one side of a family uncovers secrets on the other side...

This is the first time I'd seen my father's name.

...leading to a whole new reunion.

Oh, this has got to be him.

And a long lost brother walks his sister down the aisle.

Who gives this woman to be married to this man?

I do.

But new relationships can open old wounds.

[woman] This sounds really selfish, but knowing what I went through, I felt like, I can't go through this again.

[dramatic music playing] Our first story began in 2016 with a man desperate to find his missing brother.

Are you having toast as well or...?

I am.

Fifty-three-year-old Richard Beckley grew up on a farm in Kent, with his parents and two siblings.

[Richard] This is a picture of myself, my brother Andy and my sister Rachel.

I had a very happy childhood.

I was very close to my mum.

She was an incredibly kind and open person.

I did feel like she shared everything with me.

But in 2002, six years after his mother Margaret passed away, Richard discovered that she'd kept a huge secret.

An uncle revealed that in the years before her marriage, Margaret had two children who she'd given up for adoption.

[Richard] It was just staggering because I knew my mum.

I thought I knew everything about her.

-Love you.

-Love you too.

Richard immediately started searching for his lost siblings.

And within weeks he was able to trace his eldest sister, Jenny.

[Richard] We went to where she lived, and I remember walking in and seeing her and thinking, "You are the spitting image of my mum."

It was uncanny.

-Hello.

How are you?

-Hello.

-How are you?

-Good to see you.

[Jenny] Meeting him for the first time was a little bit unnerving because it was just so unexpected, but it was just amazing.

Jenny has been an important part of the family ever since.

But there was no trace of the other child, a boy named John.

[Richard] It's been wonderful having Jenny and her family in our lives, but we know nothing about John whatsoever.

Richard tried everything, but 14 years on, he was still no closer to finding his missing brother.

[Richard] One of the things I've always done is have a little toast to him wherever he is in the world and just say... "Good luck."

It's really important to find him.

We just wanna make the family complete.

[Nicky] When we took on Richard's search, our specialist social workers were able to access change of name records and discovered that John had been adopted by the Nickling family in Manchester.

We contacted his adoptive family and they told us that John was no longer in this country.

He had emigrated when he was 19 to Australia.

Now a widower, John agreed to meet me at his house in Brisbane.

-Hey.

-Hi.

-John.

-John.

-Nicky, welcome.

-Nicky.

Nice to see you.

-It's a real pleasure to meet you.

-Thank you.

What was your reaction when you found out that Richard was trying to find you?

It's amazing.

I never thought I would find out there was other family members.

Do you have blood family anywhere?

No, no.

The only family I've ever known is my adoptive family, and that was it.

What was your adoption like?

Was it happy?

Yeah.

I'm so lucky that I had adoptive parents who were so good and looked after me.

I think I was under ten years old when my mother told me that I was adopted, and she said my parents were killed in a car crash.

-Really?

-And then all of a sudden something life changing like this comes along and you find you've got blood family somewhere.

Um... it's, you know, a lot to take in.

So, there is your brother... -Richard.

-...Richard.

Goodness!

I feel something.

I feel a connection or something straight away.

I don't know why but... unbelievable.

Richard is 14 years younger than you are and he grew up with two other older siblings and prior to your being born, your mother, Margaret, then had a little girl, who'd been given up for adoption as well: Jenny.

Jenny.

Oh, goodness!

Another family.

[laughing] Oh, amazing.

I thought I was the only one in the world.

[Davina] Richard had spent years trying to bring his family back together.

Hello, Richard.

How you doing?

-You all right?

-I'm good, really good.

And I was finally able to give him the good news about his brother.

We've found him.

Okay.

That's, um...

I didn't expect that.

Where is he?

-He's in Australia.

-He's in Australia?

He's in Australia.

He's in Brisbane.

So... How did he feel when he found out?

He was completely blown away.

-Yeah?

-Because, um, he'd been told that he'd been given up for adoption because his parents had died.

So he was so moved that you've been looking for him for so long and that you hadn't given up.

-That is so hard for him to... -I know.

It makes the kind of searching kind of worth it because of what he'd been told, because of, you know... -He would never have known.

-Yeah.

Isn't that incredibly unfair, you know, to have to be in that situation?

[Davina] I want to show you something.

That's your brother.

Wow!

[laughing] That's incredible.

[sighs] He looks really familiar.

He looks like a member of the family.

That's my brother.

I can't wait to meet him.

One month later, John made the 10,000-mile journey from Brisbane to London to meet Richard and his three other siblings.

[laughing] Oh, my!

Oh, hello, mate.

At long last, eh?

[laughing] -Richard.

-So good to see you.

-So good to see you.

-Rachel.

John!

-Jenny!

How are you?

-Hello.

So lovely, lovely to see you.

Come on, sit down.

-[John] Been a big morning for all of us.

-Yes.

[sighs] Goodness.

-It's amazing.

-It really is.

Four months ago I was mowing the lawn and going to work like everyone, and all of the sudden, everything's happened, it's... Well, you realize how much it means to us that you have finally joined us after all this time.

It's amazing how it's all just sort of... -Fallen into place.

-Yeah.

[Davina] Having thought he was all alone in the world, it was completely life changing for John to meet his brothers and sisters.

But none of them could have imagined the family secrets he would go on to uncover.

-Toast to all the family!

-[cheering] Sixteen months after they first met, John has returned to the UK to spend time with all his siblings.

[John] Not having a family for 68 years and all of a sudden they were there, was just incredible.

Gives you a feeling of belonging.

[laughs] -That's mum looking at flowers.

-That's about 1983.

[John] That's a really nice one.

[Richard] It is.

It's been pretty amazing.

And it's made such a difference to all of us.

And getting to know his maternal family has given John a new thirst for knowledge about where he's from.

[John] I feel close to my birth mother through my siblings, but now, because it was successful, that inspired me to go on and find out more about my father's side.

Since meeting his siblings, John has accessed his adoption paperwork for the first time.

Unusually, it not only contains details about his birth mother, but about his father too.

[John] Thomas Ferguson, aged 38, farmer.

This is the first time I'd seen my father's name.

So that was a really good start, you know.

The paperwork reveals that John's father Thomas met his mother whilst they were working on neighboring farms.

[John] "The baby's mother knew the father for three years.

He's a married man and she was very much in love with him."

It gave me the impression they were a couple who really loved and cared for each other.

"His wife knows about this, but he's not gonna divorce her."

But I can see, it was never gonna work.

It was a sort of doomed love affair from the word go.

John has no photographs of his father and very little to give any sense of the man he was, except for an indication that he took responsibility for John by paying for his upkeep.

So this shows to me that he, he still had concern about my welfare and things like that, which was, again, more encouraging sort of information for me that, you know, this is a man worth finding.

[birds singing] But the trail leads John to the place he was dreading.

[John] It's important to sort of see where my father was buried.

Let him know I'm sorry I missed him in life.

The grave is unmarked and offers no further information about John's father.

But he's not prepared to stop here.

[John] I need to find as much as I can about him.

It'd be really great if I could see a photograph of him and hopefully meet some people who knew him.

I mean, it's something I need to do.

[Nicky] And that's when we stepped in.

John's father, Thomas Ferguson, had no other surviving children.

But our search revealed there were living relatives.

Thomas had nieces, Elaine and Gloria Ferguson.

We used marriage records to find their current surnames.

We contacted them and they had lots of information about their Uncle Thomas.

I'm on my way to tell John about this exciting new development in his quest.

John knows he'll never meet his father, but I can now show him a photograph of Thomas, and he'll get the chance to meet his cousins who can tell him everything they can about his father.

Thanks.

I've arranged to meet John whilst he's in the UK, at his adoptive sister's house in Manchester.

-Brilliant to see you.

-How are you, Nicky?

-Pleased to meet you again.

-You're looking really well.

[John] Thank you.

So much has happened since last year.

A lot's happened, tremendous amount.

So you've managed to get some information about your father.

If you weren't to find out anything more, if you were to stop now, what would that feel like?

If I didn't try to find a little bit more information about him, it would be something that would be haunting me in the back of my mind.

Well, we've managed to find relatives on his side, cousins.

That's a surprise again.

[laughs] [Nicky] Would you like to see a photograph of Elaine and Gloria?

They knew him well, and they loved him.

And they used to spend their summers on the farm with him.

And you'll be able to find out so much from them as well.

And they're really keen to meet you.

It's simply amazing.

Elaine and Gloria.

Can't get much better than this.

-[laughs] -Well, they really wanted you to have a photograph of your father.

Let me show you this.

[John] Ah, goodness.

[Nicky] That is your father.

Look at that.

That's wonderful.

Now I can put a face to that character in my head.

[Nicky] Did you ever think in your wildest dreams that you would ever see your father's face?

[John] No.

No.

That's amazing.

It's really... [laughs] ...stunned me for a while.

[laughing] And I thought I was beyond being stunned after all that's happened.

It's great.

Yeah, goodness.

Family.

[birds singing] [Davina] Today, less than 24 hours after learning of their existence, John is going to meet his cousins.

Bit nervous, but this is a first connection, living connection with my father.

He's become a very interesting man to me.

Elaine and Gloria are waiting for him at the farm in Cheshire where his mother and father first met.

[Elaine] Oh, this has got to be him.

-Hello!

[laughs] -Gloria!

Gloria, yeah.

Oh, you're a darling.

-Hello, Elaine, how are you?

-Hello.

-Pleased to meet you.

-Oh, so am I.

-Such a pleasure.

-God, you look like your dad.

-Just like your dad!

-Come on, let's sit down.

Oh, it's amazing.

It's unbelievable.

-You have to pinch yourself.

-I know.

It's funny how I feel like I've known you.

Isn't it strange?

You know, when you come round that corner, it was like your dad walking round there.

Did you spend time with my dad round here on the farm?

Oh, yes, summertimes.

He used to sit us on the tractor.

We used to go round these fields.

-What was he like?

-He was a character.

He was a lovely, lovely man.

He did want to adopt you.

He loved you so much, but circumstances, he just couldn't do it in them days, you know.

It's a good feeling, he cared, and to know that... -But we knew him... -[Gloria] And he did care.

It means a great deal, that.

He wasn't just sort of abandoning me.

Oh, no, definitely not, no, no, no.

It makes a big difference, that.

I was loved.

And so it changes things a lot.

It gives you that sort of inner peace, which is good.

-That's my dad there.

-Yeah.

[John] I recognize him already, see?

-Yeah.

-You can have them.

Oh, thanks.

[Elaine] It's been wonderful.

It were easy talking to him as well.

-Reminiscing.

-Yeah.

Marvelous to reminisce.

Yeah, as if we'd known him... -All our lives really.

-Yeah.

Talking to them about, you know, their memories of him, it sort of, it makes it all the more real.

[laughing] If I could have picked two cousins, that's them.

They're beautiful people.

Oh, it's been an unbelievable year.

[Elaine] I bet it has.

[John] Two years ago, I didn't have any birth family at all.

And all of a sudden now I've got this great big extended family.

Um, all I can do is remember all their names!

[laughs] Sadly, fairy tale reunions are sometimes followed by difficult realities.

And for our next searcher, it seemed that the darkest period in her history was repeating.

[woman] This sounds really selfish, but knowing what I went through...

I felt like, I can't go through this again.

Four years ago, Tracey Collins came to us looking for her brother, after one of the worst moments of her life.

[Tracey] Dad was in hospital.

I remember mum going off to get some teas and coffees, and Dad grabbed my hand and said, "There's one thing I wanna do when I get out of here.

You need to promise me you won't tell your mum.

But we're gonna find your brother."

[Davina] Tracey was born in 1977 and grew up thinking she was an only child.

[Tracey] It was a happy childhood.

Mum and Dad and I were very close, but I don't think they could see how lonely I was.

I just remember constantly saying to my mum and dad, "I wish I wasn't, you know, the only child, and I wish I had somebody else."

When Tracey was 17, her parents made a shocking confession.

Before she was born, they'd had a son called Thomas who they'd given up for adoption.

[Tracey] I had all these questions buzzing around in my head, but mum had said, "Don't ask me any questions.

It's too upsetting.

We were never gonna tell you.

It was always gonna be a secret."

But Tracey's father was more open.

[Tracey] His face just dropped and he just sobbed into his hands.

And I just remember him saying over and over again, "It was the hardest thing I had to do to give my son away."

He kept saying, "We had no money, there was no work out there.

We had to do what was right for him."

Just months after this conversation, Tracey's father suffered a stroke.

And as she sat at his hospital bedside, he made her a promise.

[Tracey] And I just remember him just holding my hand and smiling and saying, "We're gonna find him.

I know how much he means to you."

I had this amazing feeling inside thinking and just excitement and just thinking, "Oh, my God, I'm, you know, I might get to meet him."

And then mum and I went home, and I just remember being woken up by the phone ringing.

And, um, it was... it was dad's doctor.

And then he said, "Unfortunately your dad passed away in the middle of the night."

I felt like my heart had just been ripped out.

And I felt so bad for thinking it, but he knew where Thomas was.

In the years that followed, Tracey's mum was diagnosed with cancer.

During her long and painful illness, the subject of Thomas was too sensitive to raise.

But when her mother died, Tracey was alone.

[Tracey] I need to find my brother, to be able to look up and say to mum and dad, you know, "Look, he's here, he's all right."

[Nicky] We used a specialist to access change of name records and discovered that Tracey's brother was now called Christian.

He had also grown up as an only child and was living with his parents in Lincolnshire.

-Hi.

-Mr. Nicky Campbell!

-It is.

-Pleased to meet you.

-Christian, how are you?

[laughs] -Come on in.

[Nicky] So how do you feel about all this?

A little bit blown away.

I don't feel like my feet have touched the ground.

Certainly don't feel as alone in the universe anymore.

Yeah.

I believe you've had a few problems in your life?

Well, a few years ago everything collapsing, everything.

And having come through it, suddenly this couldn't have come at a better time.

I just think that is amazing.

[Nicky] That's your sister.

[Christian] Amazing.

I can see a family resemblance.

Thanks for this.

-Hello.

-[woman] How'd you get on?

Let's not keep you in suspense.

Oh, my God!

-She's lovely, ain't she?

-[man] She is, she's gorgeous.

She reminds me of somebody.

[Davina] Tracey had spent 20 years searching for her brother.

And at last I was able to tell her he'd been found.

-Hello.

-Tracey, how you doing?

All right, thank you.

Come on in.

[Davina] Thank you.

When mum died, it just felt like I was the only person left.

All I want to know is that he's okay.

He is okay.

He's been found.

Oh, my God!

Has he got a good life?

He is very happy, and he's in a good place now.

But he was working really, really hard, and he had some sort of a breakdown, and, you know, this could be very healing for him to meet a full sibling.

-Would you like to see a picture?

-Please.

[Davina] There's your brother.

Oh, my God!

He's got mum's eyes.

[Davina] Has he?

[Tracey] He looks so lovely.

[geese honking] Just one day after hearing the news, Tracey met Christian at a park where she and their parents had spent many happy times.

Hello.

It's so good to meet you.

It's been a long time coming.

[Tracey] I needed to be able to tell you that when mum and dad had you adopted, it was just for you, they did it, purely for you, just to be able to give you the life that you deserved.

-Yeah.

-Because they loved you more than anything.

You needn't have any doubt or any worry, I've had such a good upbringing.

I've such loving parents, you know.

I've carried that for a lot of years.

And just to be able to say that to you was just such a relief.

It's now been four years since Tracey and Christian first met, and brother and sister have been making up for lost time.

Hello.

-[Christian] Looking forward to some fish and chips?

-[Tracey] Oh, yeah, definitely.

[Christian] It felt right, Tracey to be my sister.

And it was like, like the lights had come on.

Come on, boys, don't let me down.

No, no!

[laughing] We do bring out the silly side in each other.

-Come on.

-Catch it!

I'm a big kid at heart so, to be able to have a big brother I can do it with is great.

I've never had someone who I found it as easy to talk to.

[birds squawking] -Yes!

-You've definitely got the better chips!

[laughs] Having lost both her parents at a young age, meeting Christian has meant that Tracey has had the chance to be part of a family again.

-[man] Who is it?

-Hello.

-[man] Hello!

-[woman] Come in.

Are you all right?

She's become close to Christian's adoptive parents, Michael and Janis.

[Janis] It just felt so natural that she came into our lives when she did.

-Looking real well, Tracey.

-So are you.

Nice and slim.

I wish I was.

[laughter] I had a strong feeling that Tracey was going to be very special in our life.

Janis put her arms around her and said, "If you want me to be your mum, I'll be your mum."

And that was it.

Come and sit down.

Come on then.

[Tracey] They just all made me feel so incredibly welcome.

I do think of them as my kind of second chance family.

Ah, this looks lovely.

Tracey recently separated from her husband, and Janis, Michael and Christian have invited her to spend Christmas with them.

[Tracey] Oh, it's been a long time since I've decorated a Christmas tree.

It's just been hard to do it since mum passed.

Are you happy with the Christmas up here with us then?

[Tracey] Yeah.

It's lovely.

Thank you for making me feel so welcome.

He's always spent a lot of time on his own.

Since Tracey came on the scene, he's opened up a lot more.

He's definitely a lot happier.

Christmas can begin now the tree is done.

Yep.

Presents.

Yeah!

[laughs] But for Tracey, developing feelings for this new family means sharing not only the good times... Oh, wow!

That's brilliant!

...but also the bad ones.

[Michael] These are my cancer treatment pills.

Take four of these every morning, four at night.

They don't taste very nice.

I've always been fit and well.

One day I went for a check-up, and they found polyps inside my bowel that turned out to be cancerous.

And since then I've been on, um, chemotherapy.

[Janis] Like Michael, I'm having chemotherapy as well.

I've got chronic lymphatic leukemia.

It makes me very, very tired.

I miss doing things like going out, going shopping.

I mean, I love shopping, and I love walking, but I just cannot walk now.

-So your chemo's affected your nails a bit, hasn't it?

-[Janis] They're awful.

[Tracey] Seeing both Janis and Mike, two such lovely people, go through such a horrible disease, it just knocked the stuffing out of me, I think, because we've become so close.

You deserve a little bit of pampering after what you've been through.

It always reminds me of doing mum's nails.

[Tracey] When you love and care for people so much, you just feel helpless because there's nothing that you can do apart from help them with everyday things.

How much do I owe you?

[Michael] When we're not here, it would help Christian quite a lot.

I think he could cope a lot better knowing that he's got Tracey behind him.

[Christian] I'm always grateful for Tracey being there.

I don't know what it would have been like without her.

[Tracey] Having a family back around me again to share the good and the bad times with, hopefully more good than bad, but just... just knowing that you're there for each other is lovely.

But I wanna be a part of their lives, you know, for as long as I can be.

One of the best things in life is to share important milestones with your family, and that's all our next searcher really wanted when she came to us nearly five years ago desperate to find her little brother.

[woman] All these pictures I have here of myself.

But they're all of me on my own.

Eighty-one-year-old grandmother Pauline Wood was adopted as a baby and grew up with her adoptive parents as their only child.

[Pauline] I felt very, very lonely.

And all I wanted was a brother or a sister.

Somebody to play with.

Somebody I could confide in.

But in her late twenties, Pauline made a shocking discovery.

[Pauline] My mother happened to mention my birth parents had got married and as far as they knew they'd had a son.

Well, it was a tremendous shock.

All those years of loneliness, and then to find that I could have had a brother of my own.

With the help of her late husband, Pauline set out to find her brother.

We found a birth certificate: Colin George James.

My brother.

I wanted to know did he look like me?

Did he have the same... [sniffles] ...hooter?

Where was he?

How am I going to find him?

I used to imagine being on a railway station waiting for a train to come in and he was gonna get off the train.

When she came to us, Pauline was approaching a life changing milestone and her search was more important than ever.

When 81-year-old grandmother Pauline Wood came to us, she'd been trying to find her little brother Colin for over 50 years.

And her search had a new urgency.

She and her long-time partner Chris hoped to get married, but she wanted to have her brother at the wedding.

[Chris] Hello, love.

When we do get married and Colin is there with her, at that time, I think that will make her day, her life, complete.

If he was in agreement, I'd get him to give me away.

If... if that was... if that's relevant to somebody of my age!

It would be wonderful.

[Nicky] We took up the search, and after several months of scouring records, we eventually found Colin living in West London.

But when I went to meet him, there was a surprise in store.

Hello.

-Colin.

-I'm Colin.

And this is one of my sisters, Sandra.

-One of your sisters?

-Yes.

-I wasn't expecting this.

-[laughing] It's lovely to see you.

Lovely to meet you, Sandra.

Right.

I've just got to get over my little shock there.

[laughter] Um...

I don't know where to start.

So your mother never... Said a word.

-Never said a word.

-[Sandra] I knew.

I knew.

Mum told me years and years ago that she had a little girl and that she'd had this little girl adopted.

But she was very upset.

Why didn't you tell Colin, for example?

Um, because it just seemed quite a closed subject.

I didn't know nothing at all until two weeks ago.

It's just...

I still can't take it in.

Oh, my... [Davina] Colin and Sandra also have another sister who didn't want to appear on camera.

So after a lifetime without any family of her own, Pauline had three full siblings.

-Hello.

-Lovely to meet you.

-Come in.

-And I was able to give her the good news.

Your brother has been found.

Yes?

Really?

Oh, God!

Oh, that's wonderful.

[Davina] I've got a photograph.

[Pauline] Oh, gosh!

Oh, for goodness' sake!

[Davina] There was someone that did know about you.

-Yes?

-Your sister.

-I've got a sister?!

-You've got a sister.

-[sighs] -Sandra.

[Pauline] Good heavens!

Wonderful.

Absolutely wonderful.

Chris and I are thinking of getting married, and they can all come to the wedding.

-[sobbing] -Oh!

Tell me all about it.

-[Pauline] It's my brother.

-After all these years?

-[Pauline] I've got a sister.

-My golly!

[Pauline] How wonderful.

I've got a family.

I've got you.

We told Pauline about her other sister and they arranged to meet privately.

But first she travelled to London to meet Colin and Sandra in a pub not far from where they grew up.

Hello, love.

[Pauline] After all these years.

Oh, sorry, love.

-Hello, sis!

-[laughing] [Sandra] At last.

I don't believe it.

It's absolutely wonderful, I found Colin.

But I've got a sister.

Sit down.

I can't believe I'm staring at you.

-Can't believe it.

-[Colin] All these years.

[Pauline] It's just one of those things we've got to learn to live with, isn't it?

And get on with what, what we're going to do together.

[Colin] Of course, yeah.

And got more news.

I might get married.

-That's lovely.

-Wow!

I've got a brother to give me away.

-I would.

-[chuckles] Pauline, Colin and Sandra have been in each other's lives for almost five years now.

Surrounded by the close family she's always dreamt of, Pauline is finally able to make preparations for her big day.

[Colin] Oh, it's like a maze up here, isn't it?

-[Pauline] Yeah.

-[Sandra laughs] I think it's a right turn up here.

[Colin] Yeah, okay.

Today, the siblings are all meeting up at Sandra's house in Slough.

Hello.

I've found the family that I always longed for.

-Lovely to see you.

Mwah!

-Hey, Colin, nice to see you.

Well, it's been lovely having a new sister.

Worth coming all this way for that cuddle!

[Colin] And it's nice to see her every time.

I just want to put my arms round her.

She is my flesh and blood.

[Sandra] Oh, you!

He's got them all!

As a child, Pauline longed for a playmate.

Oh, four... And now she has two.

They've got that tremendous sense of fun.

Well done, darling.

And I think it's rubbed off on me a little bit.

[laughter, indistinct chatter] We have a high old time together, you know, yak-yak-yak.

[chuckles] -[Colin] Domino!

-[Sandra] Oh, you devil!

Pauline and Chris have now set a date for their wedding.

[Pauline] It's been fantastic being able to invite Colin and Sandra to my wedding, and particularly to have Colin give me away.

Years ago, I wouldn't have even dreamed that I could write something like that to my brother.

-It's lovely the way things have turned out, isn't it?

-Definitely.

Very exciting.

And Colin isn't the only one with an important role.

Sandra is on hand for wedding dress advice.

-Oh, yes.

Now we're talking.

-Yes, that's nice.

I always wanted a sister, and never in the world thought I would ever have on.

How about this one, Pauline?

[Pauline] She's loving, she's kind, she's fun.

Makes a statement, doesn't it?

[Pauline] Makes me feel I belong.

I'm big sis.

It's wonderful, I can tell her anything and she tells me anything.

[Pauline] When you're thinking of something important as getting married, you think how wonderful it would be if I had all my family round me.

-And what do you think?

-[Sandra] Oh, wow!

That's the one.

Yeah, Chris is a lucky man.

Definitely the one.

Very nice.

[Pauline] I'm just so excited.

Never thought it would happen.

When 81-year-old Pauline Wood asked us to find her long lost brother Colin, she dreamed that he would give her away on her wedding day.

And today that dream is finally coming true.

[Pauline] To actually have Colin come today and walk me down the aisle, being my support and my brother and my companion, is absolutely fabulous.

It's meant everything to me to have a proper family.

[stylist] How you feeling?

You feeling nervous?

-Not really.

Excited, yeah.

-Are you?

That's good.

Colin and Sandra have travelled from London to the Isle of Wight where Pauline grew up to be with her on her special day.

[Sandra] Hello, beautiful lady.

-All right, sweetheart?

-Mwah!

[Colin] You do look lovely.

She does, beautiful.

I'm not very good at this lark.

-I never thought this day was ever actually gonna come.

-No.

It's a lovely day.

She looks amazing.

Oh, God, that's not very straight.

Oh, dear!

[Pauline snickers] -Ooh, are they a bit obvious?

-Turn round, darling, and I'll just buff your cheeks up a little bit.

[organ playing] [Pauline] To have Colin on my arm... and then to look down the aisle and see Chris waiting for me, be surrounded by family and friends, it was everything that I'd dreamed about.

Morning, darling.

-You look absolutely gorgeous.

-Thank you.

[officiant] So we begin by asking, who gives this woman to be married to this man?

-I do.

-Very good.

[Colin] I couldn't believe I was walking her down the aisle.

But I was so proud for doing it.

But I'll never forget it.

[Pauline] He just clutched my arm.

I think he was probably more nervous than I was.

[organ playing] Chris, will you take Pauline to be your wife?

Will you love her, comfort her, honor and protect her as long as you both shall live?

I will.

[Pauline] I, Pauline... -"...take you, Chris..." -...take thee, Chris... "...to be my husband."

...to be my husband.

-"To have and to hold."

-To have and to hold.

"In the presence of God, I make this vow."

In the presence of God, I make this vow.

You may kiss the bride.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. and Mrs. LeFèvre!

[cheering] [Sandra] It just makes the entire family complete now.

And to be a special day like this, you know, on her wedding day, you couldn't get anything better than that, can you?

Let's get a good shot.

-I'm gonna get... -Yeah, you know.

It's just the bonding, getting better and better each time.

It's lovely.

I'm just so glad we're here.

[Colin] We're very close now, very close.

I know that we will be very happy for the rest of our lives.

[Pauline] People that I've dreamt about as a child, suddenly I'd got them there surrounding me on one of the most important days of my life, yeah.

[peaceful music playing]