[Davina] Over the past four years, we've been reuniting people with their long-lost relatives.

They've found her!

[both screaming and laughing] We have found your mum.

Really?

I don't feel like I can breathe.

-Hiya!

-Hello!

I love to see you!

But the reunion is just the beginning.

Once a relative has been found, how easy is it to build a relationship, after a lifetime apart?

I was just hoping and praying that everything would work out.

Suddenly, there was this other person in my life, and that's a whole different relationship-- a sister.

[woman] I never, ever dreamt that it would work out so amazingly well, and I feel incredibly lucky.

In this series, we catch up with the families we've reunited to find out what happened next.

I think we're reliving our teenage times, because we missed out on that.

In your mind, it's always been the baby, but then you're confronted with the grown man.

And that's different.

Oh, goodness!

Hiya!

[Davina] This week, we catch up with three women who were reunited with siblings.

Each woman's search took an unexpected turn.

I could have fell off the chair.

I was absolutely shocked.

Delighted and shocked.

[woman] I've wanted to find her all my life, and now I've found her, she's not what I thought she was.

So, how have these new discoveries changed their lives?

When we first met, it was, "Oh my God, can I do this?"

Can I be somebody else?

I've never been anybody's sister.

[dramatic music ends] Since Long Lost Family began four years ago, we've reunited more than 50 families, with plenty of surprises along the way.

Cherry Durbin had been looking for her sister for decades.

But she had no idea what our search would uncover.

Cherry has two children and lives alone in Devon.

She was given up for adoption as a baby and was raised as an only child.

[Cherry] My adoptive parents were older parents, very, very loving.

I had a lovely upbringing.

But I always wanted a brother or a sister to-- to have somebody there.

That connection between siblings, it's obviously very, very strong, and I've never experienced that, and I would love to experience that.

Knowing her birth mother was originally from Jersey, Cherry traveled there in 1983 to try to find out more about her birth family.

It was just so exciting.

We felt as if I was coming home.

I kept thinking, "What's going to happen?

Am I actually going to find something out?

Might I pass somebody in the street who's related to me?"

In Jersey, Cherry made an exciting discovery.

Her mother had had another daughter.

Cherry had an older sister called Sheila.

[Cherry] I suddenly realized that I actually had somebody that was my-- my sister, [laughs] my own sister, my very own sister, and I so longed to be able to speak to her.

Cherry was unable to track her sister down, but she did manage to trace her mother, Daisy.

And she went to meet her.

[Cherry] It was overwhelming.

There were so many emotions involved.

There was sadness that had been all the years gone by.

Ultimate happiness, absolute ... fantastic happiness.

But any hopes that her mother would lead her to her sister Sheila were soon dashed.

It was very difficult to talk to her about Sheila.

Every time I raised the question of Sheila, it just drew a blank.

I felt it upset her.

Sadly, Daisy died soon afterwards.

But when Cherry approached us, her desire to find her sister remained as strong as ever.

The search for Sheila, at this point in my life, is everything.

If I met Sheila right now, I'd just want to give her a big hug... and hold her... feel she was there.

It would be wonderful.

Would change my life completely.

When we took on the search for Cherry's sister, we only had Sheila's birth certificate to go on, but, eventually, we managed to track her down.

She was living in Portsmouth, on the South Coast.

[Nicky] Until we got in touch with her, Sheila didn't know Cherry existed.

[Nicky] What do you think of the news that your sister's been looking for you?

I was surprised, in a way, but in another way, I wasn't, because I'd always thought there was a possibility that there was somebody out there.

I was brought up by my grandparents when my mother was evacuated during the war into England, and I was left on the island.

How much did your grandparents tell you about your mother?

Well, she'd left me before she left the island.

I was given to my grandparents when I was 9 months old.

But we did know that she was having a child when she left.

And after the war, when we met up again, my grandmother asked her about the family, and she said, oh, they'd been killed in an air raid.

Why-- why would she say that?

Well, I should imagine she was probably feeling too uncomfortable with saying that she'd had them adopted.

What do you mean "they"?

When my mother left the island, she was seven months pregnant-- seven or eight months pregnant.

We're talking about the date of 1940.

Cherry, she was born in 1943, so I knew that Cherry couldn't be that child, that there had to be another one.

But all of this I've only known since I've had these calls.

So, when your mother left the island, she was seven months pregnant... Mm-hmm.

...and if we work out the timing, that-- that's not Cherry.

-That's right.

-So, there is another sister?

-Or brother.

-Or brother.

Yes.

Somewhere.

There's another child-- there was another child somewhere, apart from Cherry.

So, what happened to your and Cherry's father?

Well, he wasn't my father.

I was illegitimate.

So, you believe that you're Cherry's half-sister.

Yes.

Yes.

I'm not her full sister.

I know I'm her half-sister.

What a state of affairs, isn't it?

[both laughing] It was incredible to discover that there was another sister or brother out there, who Cherry knew nothing about.

Eventually, we traced Cherry's sibling, a sister, Valerie, to Alicante, in Spain.

She was married with two children and knew nothing about her sisters.

Valerie had also been adopted as a baby.

[Nicky] First things first, how surprising was this?

[Valerie] I couldn't believe it, to start with.

I thought, "Surely not."

I've always thought there was only just me.

Did you have brothers and sisters growing up?

No.

No, I was an only child.

So, yes.

They say an only child is a lonely child, and it's true, really.

But to find you've got two sisters at this time of the life-- there's such a lot to talk about, isn't there?

Have you got a photograph?

Would you like to see a photograph?

I'd love to see a photograph.

My goodness me!

I could cry.

We are alike, aren't we?

Oh, dear!

Oh, that's fantastic.

She looks lovely.

Oh... Now I want to see the other one, please.

[laughs] So, there is Sheila.

Wow!

Wow!

It's amazing.

Absolutely amazing.

Now they feel like real sisters, you see, now I've seen these.

Two sisters to love.

It's a lovely feeling.

They're mine.

It's lovely.

[Davina] Back in Devon, I went to tell Cherry the amazing news.

Hello, Cherry.

How are you?

-Fine, how are you?

-It's lovely to meet you.

-Do come in.

-Thank you, thank you.

Your search, your story, has been quite a complicated one and knowing how much it means to you, it's meant a lot to us to try and take it on and see if we can help you.

And we have found Sheila.

Honest... you've found her?

Oh!

Oh, that's w-- That is...

It's amazing.

[both laugh] Would you like to see a picture?

-Oh, please.

Please.

-I have a picture of her.

-Here we go.

-Oh, I can't believe it.

[laughs] She looks like my mum.

[laughs] Oh, that is absolutely wonderful.

We went off, and we did some more digging.

Yes.

And we unearthed something quite incredible.

What?

That you have another sister.

[laughs] Oh... What's she called?

She's called Val.

Oh...

I've got two sisters!

[laughs] I just don't know what to say.

Would you like to see a picture of Val?

Oh, please, please.

Oh, my giddy aunt.

That's me.

Oh, look at that.

[laughs] So, what did she know about her past?

-Nothing.

-Nothing?

Just that she was adopted.

Oh, it's just utterly amazing.

I've got two sisters!

Oh, that's just so marvelous.

It's absolutely marvelous.

[sniffs] A week later, we arranged for the three sisters to meet for the very first time.

[sentimental music playing] Oh... Oh, look.

Oh!

[Val] Oh, what a moment, eh?

[Sheila] Hello.

It is wonderful to meet you.

[Val] Oh!

Oh, this is lovely.

[Cherry] Oh, it's only taken 70 years!

-Yes!

-Oh, it's so wonderful.

[Val] It is, it's absolutely wonderful.

-I've got sisters!

-Yes, and me.

It's wonderful.

-Shall we go sit down?

-[Val] Oh, shall we?

Let's go sit down, let's go sit down.

-[Cherry] Wonderful.

-[Val] Yes, it is.

[all talking, laughter] We've got so much to talk about.

[Cherry] I know, I know!

-[Val] Yes.

-[Cherry] Absolutely fantastic.

It's just like seeing yourself walking down the street.

I just can't believe it.

And they're so bubbly, and they've got the same sort of sense of humor.

Oh, it's wonderful, absolutely wonderful.

Wouldn't it be lovely to have been brought up together?

-Oh, yes.

-Can you imagine the mischief we would have got into?

And being the eldest, I would have had my way.

-She'd have been the bossy one.

-I would.

And I'd have been the baby.

[all laugh] I've waited 70-odd years to be bossy.

Yeah, you are.

[laughter] [Val] It was wonderful.

I think we've got to make up for time.

[Sheila] It was amazing.

Just shows if you've got a family, you've got a closeness somewhere.

It's just like that, you know.

I just can't believe...

I just can't believe... -[Val] It's lovely, isn't it?

-[Cherry] I can't believe... [Cherry] I've got a family.

I feel I'm free for the first time.

For the first time, for-- Oh, for a whole lifetime.

It's just wonderful, it really is.

Two years on, and the sisters are in touch almost every day.

And Val comes over to the UK from her home in Spain to see them as often as she can.

Today, she's flown in for their now-annual family reunion.

When we first met, for me, it was almost being physically and mentally and emotionally overwhelmed, because here it was, and they were sisters, and they were family.

It's, "Oh, my God, can I do this?

Can I be somebody else?"

I'd never been anybody's sister.

Helen and Graham and Cole are on their way.

-[Valerie] Oh, good.

-Yeah, they're on their way.

[Val] The night before I met my sisters, I was saying to my husband, "I don't know if I can do this.

I want to go home.

Take me home, take me home."

[laughs] Fresh cream doughnut.

[laughter] [Sheila] I'm Big Sis.

We've got Big Sis, Middle Sis, and Baby Sis.

So, I'm now the big one.

[laughs] Having all grown up as only children, the sisters have been getting used to becoming siblings in their 70s.

No, this is fulfilling my bucket list, us sitting here having a cup of coffee.

-[Val] Aww, that's... -Sitting with my sisters, that's something I've always, always wanted to do.

-[Cherry] There you go.

-[Val laughs] I can die quietly now.

[laughs] [Cherry] Sorry.

[laughs] -I'm off.

-Yeah, we're all off.

There is definitely a connection between us three.

[Val] Oh.

You look a baby there.

[Val] I speak to Sheila on Skype every week, and I speak to Cherry most days on the telephone.

[Val] These were taken in the '80s of Sheila.

[Sheila] When I talk to people, I say, "Oh, I'm Skyping my sister this weekend."

I can't do anything on Sunday evenings.

I'm Skyping my sister.

Just to be able to say "my sister" is really lovely.

-That's amazing, isn't it?

-[Val] It is, actually.

[Cherry] It's that smile again, isn't it?

-[Val] Yes, it is.

-[Cherry] It is that smile.

-And the same here.

-We've got the same mouth.

[Sheila] Look at the color hair.

-Yes.

[Sheila] That's what the years do to you.

[Val] I know.

To be that age and know what we know now.

[Cherry] Oh, yes.

We would have had... [Cherry] The more you delve, the more we find there's an underlying current of being the same.

We're all very strong personalities, all three of us.

We're all bossy.

Planning this year's reunion put the sisters' relationship to the test.

When we was organizing this get-together, there was a slight disagreement.

[laughs] Well, we had one episode when I got cross.

[laughs] And it was really about this weekend's gathering, because the two of them had arranged it all, and I hadn't been consulted.

Yes, I was very upfront and nasty.

[laughs] She said, "I've got to tell you how I feel," and, of course, Val flounces off in a huff one way.

I did say things that I shouldn't have said.

She said she was never going to arrange anything again, so, we... yes.

But there we are, we got over it.

The next Sunday, we spoke on Skype as though nothing had happened at all.

So, that was our first disagreement.

[laughs] Sisters.

[laughs] [Val] Now, we really know each other, so, I think, you know, the occasional little disagreement doesn't hurt, does it?

[laughs] The sisters' three families met for the first time last year.

Tonight, they've joined together again for the big family reunion.

For me, it's just life-changing.

There's an excitement in life again.

I now look forward to every day, because I've found out who I am.

I'm part of a trio, which is something I'd never experienced before.

I've always had to stand on my own, but now I don't.

It's brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

[Cherry] My hopes for the future?

That I live long enough to really, really enjoy it.

I just want to go forward as a family, and that is so lovely.

[laughs] So lovely.

Our second story features Maureen Saville, who came to us two years ago, looking for the mother who'd abandoned her as a toddler.

Maureen lives alone in Liverpool and has two grown-up sons.

She spent the first 17 months of her life with her mother but has no recollection of her.

[Maureen] There's just no memory at all about her.

I don't know what she looks like, no photographs.

And it's such a... a nothingness there.

Growing up, Maureen was desperate to fill the void her mother left.

At home, when the family album used to come out, and we all look at all the pictures, and then this picture would come up-- that's me dad sat on the wall outside our prefab, and I'm sat on his knee-- and each time it came up, I used to look at the door, because in the doorway there, you can see a pair of legs.

I thought that was me mother.

She was just a figment of my imagination, shall I say.

One day, when Maureen was nearly 18 months old, her father returned from work to make a dreadful discovery.

What me dad told me, a neighbor at the back came round to tell him, "Your Maureen's been crying all day."

And he said, "And I went in, and you were in the cot, and you'd dirtied yourself.

It was in your hair, and all over you... and she'd gone."

I don't know how she put me in the cot and walked out that door.

No, I don't know how she done that.

And I wasn't a little sleeping baby.

I was 17 months, and I can look at my little granddaughter with her curly hair and her beautiful face, and I...

I don't know how she put me in the cot and walked out.

I don't know.

For the rest of her childhood, Maureen's mother was rarely mentioned.

I suppose, deep down, I felt like I couldn't ask about her.

I should have been braver, I suppose, and stood there and said, "Dad, I want to know."

But in them days, children weren't... children weren't told anything.

She's my mother.

She must have loved me.

It's what mums do.

But the one thing I want is to just look at her.

I just want to look at her.

[Nicky] We began searching for Maureen's mother, Monica, and soon discovered the sad news that she'd died in 1995.

But we also found out something else.

Monica had gone on to have two other children.

Maureen had a half-brother and sister, Mike and Sue, who she knew nothing about, living more than 200 miles away, in Somerset.

When you heard that your sister Maureen was looking for Monica, your mother, what was your reaction?

Shock.

To think that we had another sister out there that we never knew we had.

You never knew?

-No.

Not at all.

-About Maureen?

-[Sue] No, no.

-Not at all.

To think that my mum, after leaving Mike and I as young children, and she'd already done it previously to another daughter...

Your mother abandoned you, when...?

-Yes.

-When I was 3 and she was 5.

It hurts me to think what my mother done.

[Mike] Oh, definitely.

And it hurts me-- It's like reliving it all again.

And it's cutting deeper, realizing that she'd done it to another daughter.

-Shattering.

-Very shattering.

Mmm.

Why did she leave?

-I don't know -We don't know.

No, never knew.

But through your life, you thought, "Who is this woman who is our mother?"

That was the thing for me.

I wanted to find out who my real mum was.

So, when Mike was getting married, he wanted to trace her.

He succeeded.

And did you go and meet her together?

Yes.

The very first time we went out and met her.

Um, we thought-- she was going to tell us all about what happened, and it was all going to be great.

But it didn't turn out like that.

There was no love, no hugging, no "Oh, I am sorry," or nothing.

No remorse whatsoever.

-Have you got a picture?

-[Mike] Oh, aye, yeah.

-[Mike] There she is.

-[Nicky] There she is.

This women left quite a trail of destruction, didn't she?

-[Mike] Oh, yeah, definitely.

-[Sue] Very much so.

Do you want to see a photograph of your sister?

-[Mike] Oh, definitely.

-Yes.

I would love to.

[Sue clears throat] [Nicky] There she is.

-Oh, my goodness.

-[Mike] She looks just like you.

I don't think so, I think she looks like Mum.

[Mike] Oh, she does look like Mum, doesn't she?

[Sue] Oh, she does.

It makes it all so real.

[Nicky] You've got a lot to talk about.

We have, haven't we?

Can't believe it, I really-- Now I've seen a photo, I can't wait to meet her.

We told Maureen that her mother had died without the cameras being there.

Then I went to give her the news that she had a half-brother and sister who really wanted to meet her.

-[Davina] Hi.

-Hello.

-How are you doing?

-I'm very well, thank you.

Are you alright?

-[Davina] Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you too.

-I'll take you through.

-Thank you.

I wanted to start off by just saying how really sorry I am that we couldn't give you good news.

I wanted to look into her eyes.

-[Davina] Mmm.

-I want-- -I've got a photo.

-[Maureen] Go way.

[crying] Oh, my god.

[sniffs] We got that photo from your younger brother.

Go way.

So, your mum went on to have not only another son but also another daughter.

You've got a little sister too.

Wow!

Would you like to see a picture of them?

[crying] -[Maureen] Did they know?

-No idea.

And they were-- they were also left.

She left when they were very little.

But, you know, I think that your mum, Monica, just wasn't cut out to be a mum.

I understand the term "not maternal," but I can't feel that.

I can't feel not to be maternal.

[sniffs] It's just sad.

Sue and Mike did find her a few years back and had a sort of relationship with her.

It was complicated.

But they have got lots that they can tell you about her, and I think, you know, your hunger is for information, isn't it?

Yeah.

Would you like to meet up?

Yes, definitely.

Definitely, yeah.

A week later, we arranged for Maureen to meet her brother and sister for the first time at Stanley Park, in Liverpool.

-[Sue] Oh, don't start.

-[Mike] Don't start.

[muffled speech] Oh!

Let me just look at you.

Oh, you're so cold.

[kiss] [Sue] Come and sit down.

We've got so much to talk about.

[laughter] [Sue] When I found out that she'd previously done that, -I felt all your hurt.

-[Mike] Oh, definitely.

[Sue] It was awful.

[Mike] Yes, we found her, but it never turned out like I wanted it to turn out.

It was like you was meeting a total stranger.

She never had that... -Maternal instinct.

-No, none at all.

You can't change the past, that's gone.

[Maureen] I think this is more about just going forward now.

All together.

It's okay, it's fine.

It makes us really try that bit harder now with this relationship, with the brother and sister that you didn't know you had.

-New beginnings.

-Yeah.

-Oh, definitely.

-New beginnings.

[Mike] Onwards and upwards, as they say.

[Sue] Yes, yeah.

[Davina] Over the past two years, Maureen, Mike and Sue have been getting to know each other.

And despite living at opposite ends of the country, they try and see each other as often as they can.

Today, Mike and Sue have traveled up to Liverpool to visit Maureen.

-Hello, love.

-[Mike] Hello, darling.

[Maureen] Getting to know Mike and Sue, it was like it was meant to happen.

They're a lovely family, and I just love them to bits.

It feels right for them to be part of my life.

[Sue] When we met Maureen, you could look into her eyes, feel the love and the bond, and it was just a lovely feeling.

Do you know, as a child, when you think you must look like... Mike and Sue have been helping fill in the gaps for Maureen about the mother she never knew.

[Maureen] Because you met her, and, obviously, you experienced the fact that she didn't want to know.

And...

I didn't have that, you see, and... um...

I'm still... [Mike] You're between a rock and a hard place, really.

[Mike] I can see where Maureen is coming from, because, before I was married, I had a mission to find me mum, and that's what Maureen's still doing.

Because she never had the chance to actually meet Monica, she's still trying to find something out there which... Is it still out there?

I don't know.

[Sue] I think if I was Maureen, I'd be thinking, "Well, she's done it to me.

She's done it to two more children."

And I don't think I would want to know any more, but I know everybody is different.

[Maureen] I'm still trying to find out who she was as a person.

Maureen has found it hard to come to terms with some of the things she's learnt about her mother.

Sue sent me some photographs, and there was Monica in a nurse's uniform, and it says "Outside the Royal Infirmary."

The first thing I done was I sent away for the marriage certificates, 'cause you find out all this information on a certificate-- age, address, occupation.

And when I saw "occupation," Monica's occupation was she worked on a maternity ward in a hospital, as a trainee nurse... looking after... looking after babies that belong to other people... and I was shocked by that.

My natural reaction was, "You couldn't look after your own."

I wanted to find her all me life, and now I've found her, she's not what I thought she was, and I'm hoping somebody's going to come along and say, "Well, actually...

There was a reason why she didn't do.

She couldn't be a mother, because..." But there's nobody coming forward to tell me any different, is there?

Having spent years looking for answers, Maureen's feelings about her mother remain unresolved.

[Maureen] Even now, hand on me heart, I can't say how I feel about her.

I have all my family photographs on every wall in the house, and I couldn't honestly put Monica with everybody else, but I couldn't put her in the drawer either.

And I bought her a nice little frame.

After all these years, when you've wanted to see this woman, I couldn't hide her away.

She belongs there now.

All that I've found out now about Monica, it was still worth going through the whole emotional rollercoaster, because Mike and Sue are half the story.

I've got my half, and they've got their half.

I've got a relationship with them now that I'm more than happy with, yeah.

Our next story features Fiona Dunn, who was adopted as a child.

When she came to us two years ago, Fiona believed her birth mother was dead, and she wanted help finding her younger sister, Maureen.

Fiona lives with her husband in Blackburn.

She was adopted as a baby and knew very little about the circumstances surrounding her adoption.

[Fiona] I felt a conspiracy, 'cause nobody would speak about it.

And then I just gave up asking, because nobody would tell me anything.

It was only when Fiona was 32 that her grandma let her in to a family secret.

We were sat chitting and chatting, and Gran said to me, "Maureen's coming for a tea on Friday.

Would you like to come?"

So, I said to her, "Who?"

She said, "Your sister."

I said, "I didn't know I had one."

And she said, "She's your natural sister.

You've got the same mum and dad."

I remember thinking, "I've got a sister, and they've kept her but give me away."

That's all I kept thinking.

And I said, "No, I don't want to meet her.

No, I don't, thanks."

I think it was jealousy, 'cause they kept her and gave me away.

It was a deep feeling of rejection I had.

And I could sit and just cry, and I'd just think, "You weren't wanted."

Three months after telling her about Maureen, Fiona's grandma died.

At the funeral, Fiona saw her sister for the first time.

My mum just whispered in me earhole and said, "Oh, Maureen's over there."

And I just glanced up and noticed this girl at the back of the church.

And for that fleeting second, I thought, "Oh, she looks like me."

And that's all I saw of her.

And we didn't speak, I didn't say hiya or nothing.

Do I regret it?

Yes, I do.

But I just couldn't at the time.

Sad, 'cause we've lost so many years of our lives that we could have perhaps had fun with.

I want to love her and just give her a cuddle and tell her I'll be there for her and say I'm sorry.

I just wanna tell her that.

[Nicky] When we took on the search for Fiona's sister, we found a Maureen Livesey living in Preston, just 10 miles from Fiona.

Maureen confirmed she was Fiona's sister, and she also told us something else incredible-- Contrary to what Fiona had been told, their mother was still alive.

When did you first discover that you had a sister?

When I was 21.

I did see her when me grandma died.

And I so wanted to go over to her and talk to her.

I thought, "Well, I can't do.

I don't know what reaction I'm going to get.

-She did see you.

-Did she?

But at the time, she wasn't ready for it, because she felt resentment, she felt angry, and rejection.

And she has regretted that... -Has she?

-...the rest of her life.

I do want to know her.

She's my sister.

You know?

I've always felt guilty, because I've always had my mum.

But she didn't.

What Fiona heard about your mother was not good.

Me mum's not a bad person.

She really regrets what happened.

Me grandma made me mum give her away.

Me grandma dominated her.

And because me mum lived with me grandma, she was dependent on her... me mum had no choice.

Here she is.

Oh... Oh, my goodness!

We're similar, aren't we?

She's put some thoughts in a letter for you.

I'm shaking.

"Hello, Maureen.

I bet this is a surprise to receive a letter from me.

I have deeply regretted refusing Grandma's offer to meet you, and I hope I can make amends."

Oh!

"I never met our mother, but, hopefully, if we meet up, you can tell me about Mum.

I have lots of questions to ask, as I am sure you have too.

Take care.

Love, Fiona."

It's been too long.

[Davina] Maureen was keen to meet her sister, so I went to tell Fiona the good news.

-Hello.

-Hi, Fiona.

Come in.

Welcome.

-[Davina] How are you?

-Fine, thank you.

[Davina] Good.

I know that your feelings towards your sister... haven't always been like they are now.

-No.

-How and when did that change?

When I got to the age of about 40, I started thinking, "She's your sister."

She wasn't the one who gave me away, for want of a better word.

Well, we've found her.

Oh, no.

Oh, you have?

Oh!

[foot pounding] Oh!

Sorry, you took my breath away.

Oh, how delightful!

Oh, thank you.

Thank you so much.

Is she willing to speak to me?

-She'd love to speak to you.

-Oh, brilliant!

Oh.

She was incredibly moved to get your letter.

My goodness!

Oh.

Would you like to see a picture?

I would absolutely love to.

Yes, please.

It's quite uncanny.

Really?

Is she like me?

Oh...

Yes, she is!

Oh!

Oh, fantastic.

She's not as many wrinkles as me.

[laughs] Oh, that's lovely.

I have got one more quite big piece of news for you.

-Bad?

-No, not bad, but it's a big piece of news.

[Fiona] Yeah?

And that is that your mother is still alive.

[gasps] Really?!

Oh, my goodness!

Wow, I've got a mum as well, that's... Wow.

Oh, I can't wait now.

I'm so happy for you.

Yeah, I think I'll be an emotional wreck for the rest of the day.

A few days later, we arranged for Fiona and Maureen to be reunited.

Oh, goodness!

Hiya.

Hiya.

Oh... Oh, gosh, I've waited so long for this.

[Maureen] You're not the only one.

[Fiona] Oh, flipping heck!

Oh.

How nice.

Oh, I never thought I'd see this day.

-[Maureen, inaudible] -Oh, Maureen.

I do apologize, you know, for never ever... [Maureen] No, don't apologize.

I did say if-- if Maureen doesn't want to meet me, I can understand, I refused her years ago ... Yeah, no, no, no, no, no.

If she doesn't want to meet, that's fine.

I understood that, but I'm so glad we did.

-I've always wanted to meet you.

-[Fiona] Have you really?

-Always.

-[Fiona] I know... [Fiona] All the gremlins have gone now, and I feel like a weight's been lifted off my shoulder.

I feel like I could make her my best friend, actually, as well as my sister.

Mum, she never wanted to give you away.

It was me grandma that made her.

My mum was told, "You come home with that baby, then you get kicked out."

-Really?

-Yeah.

-And so-- she had no choice.

-Yeah.

And I have to tell you from me, she loves you.

I love her as well.

And I've thought about you both so often over these years.

I'm just so pleased she's still alive.

-Yeah.

So, you can meet her.

-Yeah.

Yeah.

Give her a chance to get used to it first.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Two years ago, we introduced Fiona Dunn to her sister Maureen, and they discovered that they'd spent their entire lives living just half an hour away from each other.

The sisters speak regularly and meet up every week.

[Fiona] I had this empty void in my life, where I thought-- you know, I didn't know my past, I didn't know my heritage, I didn't know... anything.

And I feel like I've found a part of my life that's been missing.

[Fiona] This way... As soon as she walked through that door, that was it.

Hiya, sis.

-Hiya, you alright...?

-Yeah, I'm fine.

[Fiona] It was just as if there was a big explosion.

You could see the fireworks going round, and it was absolutely lovely.

[Fiona] Come on, Marley.

Marley... To look at us both, you'd think we were twins.

And it was just like we knew each other.

We got there eventually, kid.

We have, and it's brilliant.

[Maureen] We have a cup of tea and have one natter, then another cup of tea and another natter, and that's every week.

[chatter] I feel that we could tell each other anything.

Over the past two years, Fiona has been getting to know Maureen's children as well.

[Fiona] Your grandchildren, they alright?

Oh, they're cheeky.

[laughter] [Fiona] I can't put me finger on it, but there's just something there between us that says, "This is your sister, and you know what she's talking about."

I want to carry on like that and be the sister that we should have had 59 years ago.

We are going to Benidorm together.

[Fiona] I've not packed yet, but, uh... you can only take a very small suitcase.

It's going to be good.

It's going to be lovely.

She is my best friend.

She is, really.

She's not getting away again.

[laughs] But that's not all.

Soon after her reunion with Maureen, Fiona finally met her mum, Pat, now 84.

And over the past two years, they've been getting to know each other at last.

-Hiya.

-Hiya... -How are ya?

-I'm okay, thank you.

Good, you're keeping well?

[Fiona] I first called her mum after about the fourth week, and I was embarrassed.

I thought, "I'm calling her Mum, she might not want to know me."

-[Pat] Are you alright?

-I'm doing alright.

She said, "I don't need flowers and chocolates every time you come."

and I said, "No, and I don't need bracelets and earrings and things like that.

I think that's when I started thinking, "She is your mother, Fiona."

[Nicky] Fiona and her birth mother, Pat, have been apart for 59 years.

I went to meet them both to find out what it's like to start a relationship after having been separated for so long.

Oh, welcome, welcome...

Thank you.

I'm Nicky.

-Really nice to meet you.

-Yes, nice to meet you.

-[Nicky] Who'd have thought... -[Pat] Yeah.

...one day that you'd be sitting with each other?

-Exactly.

-[Pat] I never thought... -It's amazing, really, isn't it?

-[Pat] Yeah.

-[Fiona] It's amazing.

-You're holding hands...

I know...

I know.

[Pat] A bit more complete now, though.. What were you afraid of before you met?

Her turning her back on me.

And thinking that, "Oh, is that...?"

And probably have a cup of tea and say, "Well, I'm going," and never see her again.

And I just remember looking out and thinking, "That is my mother."

I think the first visit, we were just hugging, and I remember feeling wanted.

I never got cuddles and kisses at home when I was younger.

And that was a bit of a shock.

And I thought, "God, they do want to know me."

But I just feel like I'm coming home.

-That's an amazing phrase.

-[Fiona] It is.

I've always felt it's where I should be.

-[Nicky] Where you belong.

-Yeah, very peculiar.

I feel my roots are here.

This morning, I thought to myself, "She's my daughter."

She's mine."

I've had her, and I know her.

[Nicky] It's incredible to think of-- this tiny little baby, the last time you saw her, and then, the next time you see her, 59 years later... Mm.

I know.

I've lost all them years with her.

I suppose there's nothing I can do about it, is it?

Just I'm sorry, but it wasn't my fault.

[Nicky] You still feel that pain of all that?

[Pat] Oh, I did then.

Because when we went to the house, and me mother said, "Come on, hand her over.

Right, come on."

That was it.

So, of course, I didn't cry then, but I did during the night and what have you, you know.

"I've given my baby away... my baby.

I wonder what she's doing.

I wonder where she's gone."

Things went through me mind, you know.

It took 59 years, but that's gone.

You start afresh.

So, it's almost as if the 59 years didn't happen.

-[Fiona] Didn't happen, no.

-[Pat] I'm great now.

I've got her.

That's enough.

That's enough for me.

As long as it doesn't start, I'm alright.

-It's very slow.

-What's slow?

The cancer.

I've got it in me lung, and just a bit here.

And I don't even think about it.

[Fiona] I was absolutely gutted.

I'd just found her.

It's only been 18 months.

She's got cancer.

Even though she's not been there all my life, I've still got to be there for her.

-Oh, it is nippy, isn't it?

-It is.

[Fiona] She's filled an empty void in my life, and Maureen as well.

You know, I feel like I've met my family now, what I never had for years.

And I can look at Maureen without speaking, and we both laugh.

Same with me mum, I can look at me mum and just laugh, 'cause Maureen will do something.

[Maureen] We're always laughing, all three of us.

And it's just like we're a whole complete family now.

[Fiona] We're getting that little niche together, you know, the closeness of the family, and I just hope it can last for another ten years.

Then I've had-- at least I've had 12 years with her.

I hope it just continues as it is until the day she dies.

[peaceful music playing]