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

I just want my dad to be proud of me... to turn round and say, "That's my son."

[woman] It was a secret.

And finding my brother would put an end to that secret.

[woman] Who am I?

What is my background?

I need to know.

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

But that's where we step in... -We've found your brother.

-Have you?

[crying] ...offering a last chance to people desperate for help... You can stop looking, 'cause your mother's been found.

[crying] [Nicky] We've no idea where our searches will lead.

We've travelled the world, uncovering family secrets and finding people that nobody else could trace.

Laura?

¿Cómo está?

Buenos días.

[Nicky] That's your daughter.

Gracias.

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

-I'm your big brother.

-[laughs] I've always wanted a big brother.

[Davina] This week, two stories of women separated from family by circumstances beyond their control-- A daughter looking for her father who had an illicit affair with her mother...

In my heart, I knew that he was the dad that I always wanted, but we just couldn't be together.

...and a woman who struggled with the decision her mother made when she was a baby.

How could you keep one and then give one away?

[dramatic music ends] [seagulls calling] Our first search comes from Pembrokeshire and a woman longing to find the father she's dreamt about all her life.

Miriam Aragon Hay has never met her Salvadoran father, Victor Aragon.

The nearest she's come is a few flickering images in a documentary about El Salvador that her mother gave her ten years ago.

She just said, "Your dad's in it a couple of times."

[narrator] El Salvador, called after Christ the Savior...

I was like a little child looking, you know... [gasps] ...so excited.

Three quarters of the children under 5 years old suffer from malnutrition.

And then you get to sort of a scene of people singing.

-And then you see my dad.

-[all singing] That's my dad there, playing the guitar.

[all singing in Spanish] My brain was just like a sponge.

"Are his eyes like mine?"

"Does he speak like me?"

"Do we have the same mannerisms?"

To see a moving picture of someone that you've never met but is half of you, that is your daddy... it was mind-blowing.

[Davina] Miriam lives in Wales with her husband and three sons.

But, growing up, it was just her and her single mother, Veronica, and she knew nothing about her father.

I thought mums and children live together, and I didn't know what men did, but they were just in the background.

Miriam's mum never spoke about her dad, but as Miriam got older, she began to realize what she was missing.

I saw a lot of daddies with their daughters.

I used to fantasize about meeting my dad.

And then I started asking questions.

"Who's my dad?"

"Where's-- where-- where is he?"

And Mum would just either ignore me or say, "We don't need to talk about that."

If I asked any more, she'd always get very, very upset and walk out.

It was only when Miriam was 19 that her mother finally broke her silence.

She asked me to go for a walk.

And she said, "I've got something to tell you."

And I looked at her, and she said, "Before I had you...

I was a nun."

I took a breath, and I said, "Sorry?"

My eyes were opened.

Everything fell into place.

So, I was not only born out of wedlock, I was, you know, a nun's baby.

So, I was like a double taboo.

At last, I had a reason why everything was so secretive.

Unable to tell her daughter any more face to face, Veronica decided to write the whole story in a letter.

"I met your father on my very first night in El Salvador.

We reached the mission in Gotera after sunset, and there was your dad, painting the walls for a fiesta the next day.

He was just so lovely.

He laughed so readily, and his eyes were so dark and expressive.

He loved music and was a local mariachi.

I found myself more and more in his company.

I'd never experienced love like this, and it lit up my whole life.

When I did not see him for days, I actually ached with pain."

When I read that, yeah, I did spend the day just crying.

Actually, I was born out of love, and that gave me a lot of strength and courage.

The letter went on to reveal that when the couple discovered Veronica was pregnant, she was taken out of the mission and sent home from El Salvador.

They never saw each other again.

Other people might think, "Oh, it's a romance, a fairy story, it's a great story--" but it's actually not my story, it's my real life.

Desperate to make a connection with her father, Miriam took his surname, Aragon, and her mother gave her the on ly photograph she had of him.

I used to talk to him.

I used to sort of pray to him.

But he still felt like a figment of my imagination.

To this day, Miriam's been longing to know her father in person.

I do feel the connection, that invisible connection.

And if he has been wondering about me and thinking he's got a little girl somewhere, the other side of the world, I need to meet him.

Just to let him know that I'm okay, and that I'm proud to be his daughter.

The last place Miriam knew her father was for certain was Gotera, in El Salvador, but the history of that country since then is going to make our search very difficult.

[gunfire] [Nicky] Only two years after Miriam was born, a violent civil war broke out in El Salvador... lasting 12 years and killing over 70,000 people.

The war left the country in chaos and drove over a million people from their homes.

After such upheaval, we didn't know if any records of what might have happened to Victor would still exist.

But what we had on our side was Victor's connection to the church.

When Miriam's mother met Victor, he was working for a Catholic mission.

Would someone in that community know what had become of him?

Using a series of church networks, we managed to get in contact with a priest who'd worked in El Salvador and had known Victor.

Although he remembered Victor well, he'd lost track of him years ago.

But he still knew people in the area, so he put out the word that we were looking for him.

And, luckily, someone came forward-- Victor's brother.

He told us Victor had left El Salvador, but he gave us a number and address for him... in the United States.

[fast-paced music playing] During the civil war of the 1980s, many people from El Salvador fled to the Washington, D.C. area of America.

[siren blaring] Victor had married, and his wife escaped the war in 1987 and came here to join family.

A few years later, Victor was able to follow.

For Miriam, Victor is someone who's always been out of reach, like a character in a story.

But what she longs for is the real man, a chance to know her dad.

But how will he feel?

Forty years on, Victor has five more children-- but does he ever think about his eldest daughter, who he's never had a chance to know?

-Oh, hi, Nicky.

-Victor, how are you?

-Nice to meet you.

-Very nice to meet you too.

-Would you like to come in?

-I'd love to, thank you.

[Nicky sighs heavily] -[Victor] Yeah, here we are.

-Here we are.

-Was this a surprise?

-Yeah.

This is very important for me.

All her life... since she born, I-- I waiting for this.

-Waiting for this day?

-Yeah.

Have you thought about her over the years?

Yeah.

Always.

I always say, "Someday, I gonna met her..." And the day is come.

Is right here, right now.

Tell me about when you met Miriam's mother.

Oh.

I was working the-- the convent.

I paint walls and cut grass, and...

When I saw her first time, I say to myself, "Oh, she's beautiful."

And did you fall in love with her?

Yeah, yeah.

By her side, I feel like in the heaven.

When you say it-- you smile when you say it.

[laughs] Yeah.

Yes.

But we couldn't show us-- our love to nobody.

You know what I mean?

Because, you know, she was a nun, and...

But, uh, the first time I kiss her, is... After that, we couldn't stop, yeah.

And, uh, that was the story of our love.

So, how did you find out that she was pregnant?

What happened?

She start to suspect, "Maybe I am pregnant, and I don't know."

They-- they took her to San Salvador for to make a test.

To the city?

To the city, because, you know, in my town is-- if she go to the hospital, people will know this thing is going on.

-And she's nun.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's why we must to keep in secret.

The other sisters take her to San Salvador, and she told me the night before that if the test is positive, she gonna go from San Salvador to England and never back to my town.

And that what's happened.

-And she never came back?

-Never come back, yeah.

Heart-breaking.

Oh, yeah.

That was very hard for me.

I felt very, very bad.

I wanted to go, but was impossible for me.

I was poor, I had no money to go over there, and nobody helped me.

I couldn't be with my daughter, to see her grow.

[sighs] So, did you ever hear anything more about Miriam?

Yeah, yeah, the other sisters sent their picture for the baby.

I asked them if I can keep the picture.

They tell me no.

-That you couldn't keep it?

-No.

They wanted to-- to keep it secret.

What was it like seeing her face?

It was... sad, because I couldn't have it.

I couldn't keep the picture.

So... You have picture of her?

Yeah.

Ah.

-[Nicky] There's your daughter.

-[sighs] It's my daughter.

Oh, boy.

She's beautiful.

Yeah.

Beautiful girl.

Yeah.

How I missed her!

Man.

Yeah, she's beautiful.

I'm proud of this.

Yeah.

Can I keep it?

Yep, that's yours.

Wonderful things that life give you.

She's written you a letter.

Oh.

Would you like me to read it?

-Yes.

-Okay.

Right.

"Hi.

I've never met you, and to be honest, I know very little about you, but I do know you're my dad."

[Victor] Yeah, yeah.

"Growing up, I longed to have my daddy.

I wonder if you've thought of me..." Yes, I do.

"...known anything about me... wanted to find me."

-You see that last bit?

-Yeah.

"Your little girl, Miriam."

Your little girl, Miriam.

Boy... Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's... the most for me.

[Victor] Miriam, Miriam.

Alright.

I gonna meet her.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

[Davina] But before we tell Miriam her father's been found... Our second search is on behalf of a woman troubled by a decision that was made nearly 50 years ago.

[sentimental music playing] When she was born, Annie Siobhan Simms was put up for adoption by her birth mother, Joan.

"I, Joan Wallace, mother of Siobhan, born 2nd of the 8th, '67, confirm that I wish my child to be adopted."

What was she thinking when she signed that?

What was she going through?

Because I look at that letter and think, my whole life changed because of that letter, and there's her signature on that.

With that signature, she changed everything.

Annie now lives in Hampshire with her husband and two daughters.

But she grew up with adoptive parents Margaret and Dennis Allen as an only child.

-[Annie] And this says it all.

-[laughter] [all] Standing alone in the sea with a ball.

[Annie] Just waiting for someone to come and play with me.

I was very happy growing up.

But it was just me.

I've got no brothers and sisters, and now, my parents are gone.

I don't have anyone to share any memories with.

When this was taken, this was a treat, because it was my special day.

My parents celebrated my adoption day, the day that I was brought home to them.

We used to have presents and a card, and they made a special thing of it.

Despite the celebrations, Annie couldn't help thinking about what her adoption meant.

I knew I was adopted, but that also always meant that I knew that someone didn't want me.

And as I got older, I did feel a bit like, why didn't my mum try and keep me?

And then I thought, well, if I go and get my records, I can at least see what had happened.

Annie applied for her adoption file.

It was then she made an unexpected discovery about her birth mother, Joan.

"Joan is a good mother to Kim, her first illegitimate child."

I had no clue there was a sister.

My sister.

I always just thought it was just-- just me.

It says, "She does not feel able to keep her second child, as she has had difficulty finding employment and lodgings in Folkestone for herself and Kim."

I sat and read through it and read through it again, and... [sighs] I did feel a little bit like, how come you kept that one, but you didn't keep me?

I did feel like that for a little while.

How-- how could you keep one and then give one away?

Then, when Annie had children herself, she began to think about how difficult that decision must have been for her birth mother.

When I had my second daughter, I really thought about it, 'cause I thought, "Well, I am a second child, she's a second child."

I don't feel any different to how I felt with my first child.

I feel just as much love.

So, it must have been awful for her to do that.

I wanted to find out, well, [sighs] why?

And I thought, "Well I've got all this information.

There's addresses, there's names.

I probably can go and find her."

[seagulls calling] Annie started by visiting he r mother's last known address in Folkestone, Kent.

So, this is where Joan lived when she signed my adoption papers.

This is where it all happened.

It did make me feel a little bit closer to her from just a name on a piece of paper.

But when I came, it was too late by then, because everyone's moved on.

These are flats, and people move, and there wasn't really a trail that I could follow from here.

Over 20 years later, Annie is still no nearer to finding her mother, but her need to understand what happened has never gone away.

I think if Annie finds her birth mother, it will be good for her, because it will give her answers to questions that she's had for the whole of her life, and it will make her a much happier person.

I think I need to know why she made the decisions she made.

Ultimately, my mother didn't want me.

And why was that?

I will always want to know.

Um... Because, yeah, it changed my life.

Her decisions changed my life.

[Nicky] When we took on Annie's search, we had her mother's full name, Joan Wallace, and her date of birth in 1947.

It seemed like it should be straightforward.

[Nicky] But although we managed to track Joan up to 2010, after that date, the trail went completely cold.

So, we decided to try another tack.

We launched a search for Annie's sister, Kim.

We knew from the adoption file that Kim was almost two years older than Annie.

There was no record of a Kim with the maiden name Wallace born in 1965.

But our search brought up one intriguing result-- a Helena K. Wallace.

Could this "K" stand for Kim?

We ordered her birth certificate and discovered that she was the daughter of a Joan Wallace who lived in Folkestone.

Helena Kim Wallace was Annie's older sister.

We traced Kim.

She had grown up with her mother.

So, we could then get contact details for Joan, who now lives in Bristol.

Joan had another daughter, Lucy, who, very sadly, died last year.

But I'm on my way to meet Joan and Kim.

As a mother of two daughters herself, Annie has spent years wondering how her birth mother could choose to keep one daughter, while giving the other up for adoption.

So, what caused Joan to make that decision at the time?

[beep] [woman] Come on in.

Okay, thanks.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-Hi.

-How do you do?

-Very well, thank you.

-Come in.

-Hi.

-This is Kim.

-Hi, Nicky.

-Kim.

-Do come in.

-Thank you.

Fantastic.

What was it like getting this news that Annie was looking for you?

I was overwhelmed, excited.

I can't-- and I can't describe how I felt.

Because when I found out about it, it was on the day of my other daughter's inquest.

'Cause she died last year.

I'm sorry to hear that.

Yeah, Lucy died last year.

I've always thought of Annie and wondered how-- if we could ever get in contact.

Because I loved her dearly, you know.

-[Kim] Yeah.

-Yeah?

Yeah, we've-- we've always hoped.

Even my sister Lucy, definitely.

We talked about Annie.

Obviously, she did have a different name.

-Siobhan.

-Siobhan, yeah.

Siobhan, yeah, that's what I called her.

Irish name.

She's always been part of our lives.

-So, you knew you had a sister?

-[Kim] Yeah.

Ever since I was a little child, yeah.

Lucy and I used to wonder what she was doing, what she was up to.

If she looked like either of us.

So, she's kind of been here all the time?

-Yeah, she has.

-Yeah.

So, what happened?

You had Kim, and then you had Siobhan.

Annie, as she became.

You know, I had Kim, and I was living with my mum.

But when I had Siobhan, she wasn't having another child in the house.

She was upset enough about Kim.

But I said, "Well, I'm gonna have her.

I'm gonna keep her."

And so, I got a bedsit, and I asked them if I could have her in there, and the social services said, "No, it's not big enough, and you can't have two children."

Yeah?

They just said, "You've got to have her adopted," and I couldn't seem to say-- do anything to stop it.

It was so heart-breaking.

And if you can imagine how heart-breaking it was, it was just awful.

Do you remember holding her and all... Oh, yeah.

I remember all of it.

She was such a beautiful baby.

She was so good.

She just-- she never cried.

She was just amazing.

So... Have you wondered, Kim, what Annie might be thinking about all this?

Well, yeah, I mean... You know, I can't begin to think how she must be feeling, you know, about-- with mum keeping me and not her.

It's awful, I wish I'd kept her.

[Joan] Yeah.

[crying] I just-- I just couldn't.

I tried.

I think, you know, there's a lot of guilt.

Yeah.

I feel really guilty.

-Do you?

Do you feel guilty?

-Terribly guilty.

I have done all my life.

Well, all-- since I had her, I've had terrible guilt.

And ashamed that I had-- that that happened, you know?

But it's all come right, hasn't it?

It has.

I keep thinking, "Is this a dream?"

[laughs] I just keep thinking, "What does she look like?"

Would you like to see a photo of her?

Oooh!

[laughs] [Nicky] Here we are.

Oh, my God!

She's blonde like me.

[laughs] She looks like you, Mum.

She looks like me.

-[Kim laughs] -Isn't she?

[Kim] Yeah.

Wow.

Hi, Annie.

[laughs] -Ah.

-[Kim sniffs] Oh, God.

It makes me think I've missed out on her whole life.

[sighs] Bless her.

She was a sweet little thing, she was.

Huh.

How amazing that I just... you know... Oh, I hope she can forgive me for letting her go.

[Davina] Before we tell Annie that Joan and Kim have been found, I'm going to see Miriam Aragon Hay.

Miriam spent 20 years trying to find her Salvadoran father, Victor.

Miriam's seen a photo of her dad.

She's even seen him on a documentary.

But she's never met him.

And I'm on my way to tell her that she will.

-Hello.

-How you doing?

-[Davina] Nice to meet you.

-Oh!

Would you like to come in?

-[Davina] Yes.

-Ah, brilliant.

Come on in.

[Davina] Look at these flowers.

[Miriam] I know, they're lovely, aren't they?

So, thanks so much for seeing me today.

It's my pleasure.

I know you've grown up without a father figure.

Yeah.

I started dreaming about, who is he, and I wonder if he ever thought about me.

And really missing that father figure.

What is it that you want?

I just want him to know that I always felt like we've got a-- like an invisible connection.

Like an invisible thread that has reached round the world.

Well, you'll be able to tell him that.

Because we've found him.

We've found your dad.

[crying] Thank you.

Is he okay?

-Yeah, he's really good.

-Right.

Is he still in El Salvador?

-No.

-Oh, right.

-He's in the States.

-Oh, right.

He moved in 1990.

-Wow!

That's a long time ago.

-Yeah, yeah.

Um, he's a painter/decorator for a small firm in the States.

And he went on and had five children.

He's got four boys and a girl.

[crying] To have that-- have a big family to-- to share my love... Ah, it's amazing.

And he's always thought of you.

I'm sure it was as difficult for him as it was for my mum.

Oh, I think it really was.

He saw a photo of you.

Um, the tragedy was that they didn't let him keep it.

-That's terrible, isn't it?

-Terrible.

And, you know, I'm sure he'll want to tell you everything.

Yeah.

Yeah.

[Davina] He's written you some words.

"My dear Miriam, I am writing to tell you how happy and emotional I am to know that I am at last going to meet you.

When they told me that my daughter Miriam was looking for me and wanted to know me, it felt as though the ground disappeared from underneath my feet.

I said as strongly as I could, "Yes!

Yes, I want to know her."

I can't wait to see you.

Victor, your father."

[soft music playing] [crying] [sighs] That's really good.

I knew he was a good man in my heart.

I've got a picture.

-Do you want to see it?

-Yes, please.

Here's your dad.

Oh, look at him!

Aw.

Oh, it's amazing.

It's beautiful to-- to know that he's there, and-- and he's real, and he's alive.

And I used to pray to him and pray that he'd send me his love in other ways, 'cause he couldn't be with me.

[Miriam] It's amazing.

Mother of two Annie Simms was given up for adoption and grew up as an only child.

But Annie discovered her mother, Joan, had another daughter, Kim, Annie's older sister.

For years, Annie's felt the enormity of the decision her birth mother made and the number of lives it's affected.

But now that we've found Joan and Kim, their lives are gonna change all over again, because they're gonna get the chance to come together as a family.

-Annie?

-Hi!

-Hi!

How are you?

-[Annie] Nice to meet you.

-Are you alright?

-I'm fine.

Do you wanna come in?

Yes, please.

[Davina] Thanks for seeing me.

One of the things that struck me the most about your story was when you discovered that you had a sister.

-Yeah.

-What was that like?

Well, I was just so shocked, because I think when you think about being adopted and your mum giving you away, you don't ever think there's any other children.

[Davina] No.

And it-- you just think you must be the first one.

Because how could-- she-- when she's already done it once, how could she then give her second one away?

There's something in me that really needs to know.

You can ask her all about that.

-What?

-We've found her.

-Really?

-Yeah, we've found her.

Is she alright?

Yeah, she's fine.

Really?

What about my sister?

We've found her, too.

[laughs] Oh, God.

[laughs] Did she stay with my mum?

She did?

Oh, my goodness.

Oh, wow.

Oh.

Gosh.

Oh, gosh.

So, did... Did my sister know about me?

Since as long as she can remember... -No!

-Kim has known about you, yeah.

She knew-- I thought-- I thought that they would have just... Not at all.

You had another sister, but very sadly, she passed away about a year ago.

Oh.

But both of them thought about you nonstop.

You've never been a secret.

Oh.

-Wow.

-What does that mean?

Well, it means everything.

I'm not an only child then, am I?

[Davina] No.

Oh.

Wow.

[laughs] Um, okay.

[laughs] So, uh, how about my mum?

What happened to her?

When she got pregnant a second time, her mother said, "Look, we can't look after another baby.

I've said yes to the first one, but we just can't."

So, there was no way that she was able to look after you by herself.

She didn't have housing, she didn't have anything like that.

And I know you've wondered, you know, whether this was a decision that she made lightly, but I can tell you that it certainly wasn't.

And it was really tough for her.

Yeah.

Yeah.

She's feeling worried about what you think of her, because she had to make an awful choice.

Yeah, of course I forgive her.

There isn't anything to forgive, though, really.

She did what she had to do, and that's a really tough thing to do.

-That'll mean a lot to her.

-Yeah.

[Davina] There's your mum and your sister.

Wow!

[soft music starts playing] Yeah.

Yeah.

I am glad they stayed together, because it would be awful to think that she had to give two babies away.

Oh.

Wow.

I don't have my adopted parents anymore, so, it's like I'm on my own, and that's-- that makes me feel like I'm not on my own.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Three weeks after I told Annie the news about her mother and sister, she's returned to Folkestone to be reunited with them.

-How was your journey?

-It was fine.

Thank you.

-You alright?

-Yeah, yeah.

So, today's the day.

It is.

I'm ever so nervous.

Joan and Kim haven't seen Annie for nearly 50 years, since Joan gave her up for adoption.

[Nicky] Have you thought about what you want to say to her?

I just want to give her a hug and say I'm sorry.

I really am.

You know, all my life, I've thought about it, you know.

What about you, Kim?

I just feel excited, really.

I can't-- You know, I just feel happy that we're finally gonna meet.

Can't wait.

Just like, "Ohh!

Let's get there."

[Davina] So, what do you want to tell your mother?

Well, I guess I can tell her that she doesn't need to worry about how I feel, 'cause I feel-- She must be frightened about that.

Oh, well, I hope not, because I want her to know that I was always loved, and I had a happy childhood, and I've had a happy life.

I've got my great kids.

None of that would have happened.

And what's it feel like -to be meeting a big sister?

-I've never had a sister before.

-[Davina] It's so exciting.

-...brothers and sisters.

Yeah.

I-- it's bizarre.

I'm not used to that.

I'm used to being out on my own.

[laughs] [Nicky] Right.

Just watch your head.

[Davina] The family are meeting at a hotel just round the corner from the bedsit where Joan and Kim were living when they last saw Annie.

[Nicky] All the best.

Yeah.

Thank you, Nicky.

-Thank you, Nicky.

-Good luck.

Take care.

[Davina] Well, I'm gonna leave you here.

-Okay.

-Um, I'm gonna say goodbye.

And you're gonna meet them in the hotel over there.

[Annie] Okay.

Thank you so much.

Good luck.

Okay, thank you.

[contemplative music playing] Oh!

-[Annie laughs] -[Joan] Oh!

-I don't know who to cuddle.

-[Kim laughs] [Annie] Hello!

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

Don't get upset.

[laughs] -You're my big sister.

Hello!

-Look at you!

[kiss] [Kim] Ohh.

Oh, it's lovely to meet you, Kim.

Oh, my goodness.

-You okay?

-Yeah, are you okay?

Yeah.

Annie, I've just gotta tell you, I've felt really guilty all my life for having to have you adopted.

I've just had this guilt all the time in me.

Well, you don't need to feel guilty.

I just have, 'cause I didn't want to give you up.

I don't know how you survived that.

I don't know either.

Just can't get rid of it.

It's just there.

Well, it'll go now, won't it?

It will go now, 'cause I'm fine.

-[Kim] Yeah.

-I did alright.

I'm glad you're alright and you're not too-- You don't awful about me or anything?

No, absolutely not.

-I never felt awful about you.

-Oh, good.

You mustn't, 'cause you can't go through life thinking that.

[laughs] I've always thought of you as my little sister.

-[Kim] Always.

-Aww.

And Lucy always thought of you as her older sister.

She was always talking about you.

-[Joan] She was.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-[Joan] Yeah, all the time.

[Kim] She would have loved you.

-Would she?

-[Kim] Yeah.

It's a shame.

It's like I missed her.

Yeah.

I've lost one daughter, and now I've found another.

I think it's amazing.

[both laugh] It is lovely to hold her.

Yeah.

It was lovely to feel her in my arms... to be able to say that we're sisters.

It doesn't feel like I haven't known them.

It feels like I've always known them.

It's really, really nice.

These are pictures of me when I was a baby.

I won first prize in most beautiful child in Britain.

-Did you?

[laughs] -100 pounds.

Oh, it must be in the genes then, mustn't it?

Yeah!

[all laugh] She is part of me, and she always has been.

And she's beautiful.

I'm not an only child anymore.

I've got a sister.

I've got my mum back.

And it feels great.

[Davina] Miriam Aragon Hay was born of a love affair between her mother, who was a nun, and her Salvadoran father, Victor.

She's spent a lifetime imagining her father, but, today, she's going to meet him for the first time.

Every little girl needs their daddy, and I've never had that.

And that's what I missed.

That's what I missed, that strength.

That solidness.

He is half of me.

[seagulls calling] Victor's travelled 3,500 miles from Washington to Wales to meet Miriam.

This will be the first time I gonna see my daughter.

Because it feel like is my baby girl, always.

Father and daughter are meeting at a local pub not far from Miriam's house.

I just want to open my heart to him and be there for him and be able to build something together.

Hello.

Miriam.

-[Miriam] Oh, yes, how are you?

-Good, how are you?

[Miriam] It's lovely to see you.

Oh, it's 39, 39 years I have waited for this.

I know, it's a long time, isn't it?

Yeah, yeah.

Ah.

It's me, I'm here.

-I can see me in you.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Give us another hug.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Sit down.

-Yeah, yeah.

Shall we have a sit down?

How are you?

-Good.

-Alright?

[laughs] I am excited.

Since you born, I-- I am waiting for this time.

Did you know we'd find each other?

-Yeah.

-I knew we'd find each other.

-[Miriam] I knew it.

-Yeah, yeah, I knew.

I say, someday, I gonna-- I gonna meet her.

Because you are always in me.

Since you born, you are in my mind.

Every day.

-Aww.

-My little girl.

Now it's wonderful to-- to have you... My whole life, I've thought about you, and I never thought for one minute that you didn't love me or didn't want to see me.

And I just knew we had a connection.

And when I was about 25, I changed my name to Aragon.

Miriam Aragon, I am.

-Did you?

-Me, yeah.

It was the only thing I had of you.

And I really wanted you to be part of my life.

And so, I'm Miriam Aragon.

Oh, boy.

Yeah.

-Oh, boy.

-[laughs] You okay?

Yeah.

It's like a dream.

-Yeah.

-Very happy.

I'm so happy.

I'm really happy.

I feel like it was meant to be.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

[Miriam] That's all what I've always wanted, really, is to have that bond.

And I felt that he was definitely a part of me, and he felt that I was a part of him.

[Victor] I know my little girl.

I know my-- my daughter.

[Victor] I feel like-- her father.

I feel very proud.

So, what are my brothers and sisters?

-'Cause it's only me.

-You want to see-- I brought a-- Yes, please, if you've got a picture.

This is when I was 50.

-This is Miguel.

-Yeah.

This is Beatriz Maria.

-Ah, she's beautiful.

-This is Julio.

This is Henry.

-This is Nelson.

-I can't wait to meet them all.

And have you got any grandchildren?

Yeah.

I got like nine over there and three-- and three over here.

And three boys, yeah.

That's Rich with Theo and Beau.

That's Max.

He's nearly 12.

What a beauty he is.

[Miriam] I feel that we have a really deep connection.

It was lovely just to feel that he was there, real, and like he is my dad.

[peaceful music playing]