[man] Can you find my son?

It would mean the world.

[woman] The main thing I would love him to know is he was wanted.

[Davina] In the last year, over 4,000 people from across the UK have contacted the "Long Lost Family" team... Do you know what her full name would be?

...asking us to find their missing family.

We never wanted him adopted.

He's lost and we want him back.

I just want to say sorry.

A girl could make one mistake, and I was her mistake.

[Nicky] Using trained intermediaries, DNA experts and investigators all over the world...

Please check this name.

...we find people... -Donna.

-Hello.

...nobody else could trace.

They loved you and they still love you.

We uncover incredible family secrets... Why would they be faked?

-This was her dying wish.

-Really?

So she wanted it?

[Davina] And answer questions that have haunted entire lives.

-Ta-da!

-[boy laughs] [woman] We all found each other in the end, pal.

-I can see myself in you as well.

-I know.

Louise has been found.

-They call her Carol!

-[woman] You're joking!

[Davina] This week, two unfolding searches... "It must have taken a lot of courage for you to keep looking."

I just didn't stop, Davina.

...that both end with a shocking discovery.

Ooh!

Blimey, I didn't expect that.

[dramatic music rising] Our first search is on behalf of a daughter desperate to find the father she never knew.

[woman] I had a dream that I met my father.

It felt so real and I woke up crying.

It's a part of me that's been missing, so I need to find him.

Oh, hello, good afternoon.

I've got several clients this weekend, I was just wondering if their care plans can be sent over?

[Davina] Thirty-nine-year-old Louise Stoppani is a mother of two and works in the care system.

Thanks.

Bye.

[Louise] What I love about being a carer is I'm giving somebody the life that they deserve.

I am dealing with families all the time and seeing bonds with fathers, with their children, and that's made me think I really need to find my biological father.

Louise grew up with her mum Dawn, her younger sister and John, the man she thought was her father.

I absolutely adored John and he doted on me as well.

As a child I felt secure, happy, yeah, it was lovely.

But when Louise was 7, her parents explained the truth.

They told me that John wasn't my real dad.

I just looked at them, cried and ran upstairs and just cried into my pillow.

I felt lost.

And I always thought, "Well, I've got another dad out there, but where is he?"

Louise was told that her biological father was a teenage boyfriend of her mum's called Paul.

And he'd actually wanted to be part of his daughter's life from the very beginning.

I think it was the third sort of window up there.

That's where I was born.

My mum said my birth father came to visit me here and cuddled me and he just looked so happy.

I wasn't a secret.

He wanted to know me.

Louise's birth father, Paul, and his family moved away from Rochester.

But he did try to see his daughter again.

Mum said one day, Paul knocked on the door.

She looked out the window, I was asleep and she panicked, so she didn't answer the door.

My Mum always says she blames herself 'cause she feels she stopped Paul from seeing me.

But I think it was being 16 herself and being scared, and I really under...

I do understand that.

But I think if the door was answered, he wouldn't have been a stranger.

Nearly 40 years on, Louise has one thing she needs to know.

He knocked on that door that day, why didn't he knock again or really try?

That's the big question that I'd like to ask.

We missed out on so much.

She's taken matters into her own hands, and with the help of her husband Stephen, Louise has tried to find her father.

-[Louise] Oh, lovely, thank you.

-There you are, darling.

[Louise] I've gone onto Ancestery.com.

I looked in the marriage register.

I've spent hours and hours -- there's nothing.

I would like a photo just to see what he looks like.

-Hmm.

-But it's the unknown, it's uncertain, isn't it?

[Stephen] Yeah.

And I'm sure he'll be very proud of you.

She thinks about her birth father pretty much every day.

She's always kind of got that little cloud over the top of her where she's asking questions.

[Louise] Life is so precious and I need him in my life.

And all them years where I've always felt like this lost little girl, it would just make me feel complete.

[Nicky] When we took on the search, our biggest challenge was the fact that we didn't have an exact date of birth for Louise's father.

Added to that was the fact that the name Paul Stephenson was a common one.

This was gonna be difficult.

Fortunately, we did know the names of Paul's parents-- Stella and Bill-- and the fact he had two sisters.

So we were able to identify a birth entry of the man we believe to be him.

But then, on searching the records, there seemed to be no trace of this man in the UK.

So he'd either moved abroad... or he was no longer alive.

There was a Paul Stephenson who died in 1990, but we couldn't be sure this was Louise's birth father.

So our next step was to track down one of Paul's sisters, Sharon.

Sharon confirmed what we'd suspected.

Her brother Paul had died and tragically when he was just 28 years old.

I'm going to see Sharon to find out what she can tell Louise about her birth father.

The search for her father has been a constant theme in Louise's life.

But what will it mean to her father's family?

What can her aunt tell her about Paul?

And did she have any idea about having a niece?

-Sharon, hi.

-Hi.

-How are you?

-I'm good, thank you.

How are you?

-Can't shake hands.

-No.

Long shake!

[laughing] So, you heard that Louise was searching?

Yeah.

What's your reaction to it?

When I found out, I was just totally surprised.

It was a very big mixture of emotions that she hadn't been in our life when my brother was alive.

Do you remember being told or finding out that your brother had a baby daughter?

I remember being told, yes.

And I know that my mum and my dad and my sister went and visited in hospital.

-Oh, really?

-Yeah.

-Your sister as well?

-Yeah.

Absolutely, yeah.

There was a meeting.

The fact that he cared for his daughter, and in fact not long after she was born, he turned up on the doorstep because he wanted to see her, that means so much to her.

Yeah.

That he wanted to stand by her as much as he could and be in her life as much as he could.

If your brother was still here, what would he think of this?

He would be really pleased.

It probably wouldn't have got as far as it has done now and I wouldn't be sitting opposite you now had he been alive because I'm sure that he would have kept in contact with Louise.

So... what was he like?

He was very charismatic.

He...

If you wore... wore something, he'd tell you, "You look nice."

He was a caring person.

It must have been awful when he left you so young.

Yeah.

It was.

Paul was in the drug scene.

I mean he held down a job, he was training to be a manager at Sainsbury's.

-Held that job down.

-Did he fight it?

-He did go rehab, yeah.

-He was in the grip of it?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Until he died.

How sad.

So young.

He was.

Wonder what effect Louise not being there had on him.

Who knows?

You just don't know, do you?

So when all this happened, I actually started looking at photographs.

Were there photographs of Louise?

[Sharon] Yeah.

-Oh, this is great.

-That's Louise.

And I've also got one of Paul about the time when Louise was born.

He's a good-looking chap.

-Well, he was, yeah.

-Yeah.

-[Sharon] We got on well, yeah.

-Yeah.

My brother and sister were closer, so Michele probably remembers different things about him.

She's quite upset that she's not here with us.

I'd love to talk to her.

Where does she live?

Omaha, Nebraska, in America.

[line ringing] -Michele, hi.

Hi.

-Hello.

How do you feel about the fact that your niece Louise has come looking?

Excited.

I wish I was there.

You know, I often thought about her.

Just sad that my brother's not alive to meet her.

Can you tell us anything about her?

She's married to Stephen, and she has two children.

She works as a carer.

Oh, wow!

She's a caregiver, practically like what I do.

-It runs in the family.

-[laughter] She's tremendously committed to it.

-Wow.

-I've got to show you the photograph of her.

Oh, wow!

Pretty.

Very pretty.

It's lovely.

[laughs] Very nice.

I think there's a family resemblance.

She looks a bit like you on there as well.

A younger you.

-Oh, gosh!

Poor her!

-[Nicky] And what would you like to tell her?

Just sad that her dad's not around, but we'll be here for her.

It's wonderful.

Thank you so much.

-It's been a real pleasure talking to you.

-And you.

-Bye, Sharon.

-Bye.

Bye.

I'm excited to meet her.

She's my brother's daughter so it's a link to my brother, so to speak.

Um, I'll be excited to invite her into our family because she's missed out on so much of sharing our family.

-Yeah.

-Mm.

[Davina] But before we tell Louise about her aunts... our second story comes from the Midlands and a man who was given up for adoption when he was just six weeks old.

[man] Anybody that's not adopted doesn't understand that you know nothing.

My life started from the time when I was adopted.

My adoption was wonderful, but would like to know about, you know, the family that I was born into, rather than the one that I was raised in.

I would like to know where I came from.

Forty-eight-year-old Jonathan Gaskarth runs his own construction company.

-Morning.

-Hiya.

You okay?

[Jonathan] I'm fine, thank you.

I love what I do.

I love seeing the... you know, how it changes people's lives when we complete a project.

-[cashier] Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

-[cashier] See you.

Bye-bye.

-Bye-bye.

He's lived and worked on the outskirts of Birmingham ever since he was adopted by Bill and Jean Gaskarth.

So this is where I came to when I was first adopted.

It will always, I suppose, be home 'cause this is where I grew up.

I don't remember a time when I didn't know I was adopted.

Um, it's never been a secret.

It was just never a big thing.

Mum and Dad have just been wonderful parents.

I never yearned for something that I didn't have because I had everything I needed.

Jonathan's now a devoted father to three girls himself.

I absolutely love being a dad.

I've felt this, this huge parental bond.

It's just bigger than anything I'd ever experienced.

But five years ago Jonathan faced the possibility of not being able to bring up all his children.

Nobody gets married expecting to get divorced.

And when it comes along, it's just heart-breaking.

Everything changed.

I went from spending every day with my children to nothing.

I felt like my heart had been ripped out.

At times, you know, I'd pull, I'd pull the truck over in the side of a country lane and cry my eyes out.

For the first time, Jonathan was struck by what his birth parents must have gone through.

It did make me wonder, um, how hard it must have been for my birth parents to give up a child.

You know, I don't know what the situation was for them, but I wanted to find out.

Adopted as a baby, it was only when Jonathan Gaskarth's own family unit split up that he began to wonder what his birth parents went through giving him up.

Although his daughters remain part of his life, he wants to know what happened to his birth mother and father.

-Hello.

How are you?

-Hello, Jon.

Hello.

We're fine, thank you, how are you?

I'm all right, thank you.

[Davina] To find out more, he's turned to his adoptive parents who brought him up.

...when you obviously applied to adopt me, um, and what kind of information you were given.

You were about six weeks old when you came to us.

[Jean] We had no information about you except the back of an envelope on which it said "four hourly feed."

-Okay.

-And at the top it said "non returnable!"

[chuckles] Your natural mother was 17.

She was called Carol James.

She was a student at the time, as was your father.

Whose name we don't know.

Were you ever told anything else about either my mother or father?

-No.

-No.

Okay.

And how are you guys feeling about me asking for all this information to go and look for them and, you know?

I'm sure you know that we definitely support you in this search.

We'll help you all we can.

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

[Davina] But this conversation is the furthest Jonathan has ever got with his search for his birth parents.

[Jonathan] I don't know how to go about finding them.

I have no idea how to access my adoption file.

I would like to think that they went on to have a happy life, to have other children.

I would love to meet them, you know, and find out for definite where I came from.

[water fowl squawking] [Nicky] When Jonathan came to us, the only information he had was a name for his birth mother, Carol James.

So that's where we started our search.

However, immediately we ran into a problem.

Carol James was such a common name, it threw up hundreds of matches.

We needed more information... Jonathan's adoption records.

Because of the pandemic, it took our intermediary a long time to access Jonathan's adoption file.

But when she did, we discovered something we would never have expected.

Ten years ago, Jonathan's birth mother wrote him a letter.

She'd left it in the adoption file for Jonathan to find, and it included her new name and address.

Our specialist intermediary reached out to Carol to tell her her son was searching.

I'm now meeting her in the town where she grew up.

For years, Jonathan hasn't known where or even how to begin searching for his birth family.

But all this time there's been a letter in his adoption file waiting for him from his birth mother.

So for Carol, what's it been like waiting all these years and never receiving a reply?

-Hi, Carol.

-Hello.

Hi.

Can't shake hands.

Can't hug.

-Stay where you are.

-Okay.

So... this is amazing, right?

Yes, it is.

I sort of haven't really caught my breath, I think.

I've always wanted to hear from him, but didn't think it would ever really happen, you know.

While we were looking for you, we had access to Jonathan's adoption file and in that file there was a letter from you to him.

I wanted him to know that if ever he did try to find me that I really wanted to meet him too.

How did you feel about the fact that there was no answer?

I felt very sad really because I felt if he'd wanted to meet me, he would have been in contact with me.

It felt very hard that he hadn't.

He's never seen that letter, Jonathan, 'cause he hasn't accessed the adoption file 'cause he didn't know how to.

Oh, right.

Wow, that's a huge relief.

Yeah, yeah.

So tell me the story.

Okay.

Um...

I was 16 and I found out I was pregnant, which was a bit of a shock, and literally within, um, days of my telling my parents, my dad organized for me to go into a mother and baby home here in Stratford.

Never really even been away from home on my own, you know, and I was terrified.

And then from there I went into hospital and had him.

How long were you with Jonathan for?

I think about ten days.

It was very hard because I decided the only way to give him a fair life was to have him adopted.

And I didn't want to get attached to him because I know I wouldn't do it if I did.

Do you remember the last time you saw him?

Yes.

Yeah.

Um, yeah, and that's like imprinted in my brain.

I had knitted a little jacket and some booties and mittens, and I had to dress him before I left him.

I don't think I stopped crying for about a week.

You know, I just think, it's just unbearable to think that I'd... that I'd abandoned him, that's what it felt like.

It was the hardest sort of thing that I'd ever done in my life.

I just felt I couldn't give him what he needed.

Jonathan also wants to know about his birth father.

So what can you tell me?

We met each other when we were at school and we were like sort of always together, childhood sweethearts.

-Did he know about Jonathan?

-Yes.

He came to the hospital when I was in hospital and he felt really sad, and, um, helpless really.

He was a good person.

I think he was, like we were both young and didn't really know how to cope.

And after I had Jonathan adopted, we got back together and eventually we did get engaged and we were gonna get married.

And then, um, he was killed in a road accident.

Oh, no!

-How old was he when he died?

-Twenty.

-God!

-Yeah.

Losing him like that must have been awful.

Even now it still feels unreal that it did happen, but, um... yeah.

Sad for Jonathan as well that he's not gonna be able to meet him.

He regretted it as much as I did, you know.

After Jonathan's father died, what happened to you?

I think I'm very lucky because I have had a family of my own and a husband and two lovely children.

They've always known about him and they all want to meet him.

Has Jonathan been in your thoughts over the years?

I have a box at home that I've written letters to him that... knew he'd never get, but-- or might get, but, you know, on his birthday and Christmas and when different things have happened to us.

-You wrote letters to him over the years?

-Yes.

I felt I needed to do it partly for me, partly to sort of, as though I was talking to him.

I think, I've always loved him and that's probably what, um... probably hurt the most.

Because if I didn't want him, it wouldn't have mattered, would it, you know?

Sorry.

Um...

But, um... Yeah, it's the guilt, really, I suppose, thinking... that he wouldn't know that I'd loved him and wouldn't know that I wanted to keep him.

Sorry.

[exhales sharply, clears throat] I'm not used to airing it in, um, in public.

[laughs] Well, his mother and father, Bill and Jean, created a wonderful family environment and loving family.

He has had an amazing life and so happy.

That's lovely.

I hope that you have a photograph of him.

I do have a photograph of him.

There he is.

[Carol] Gosh!

I have to put my glasses on.

Oh, wow!

Oh, that's fantastic.

Hm.

It's amazing, it's something I wanted to look at for... forever really.

Sorry.

Um... Yeah.

[laughs] It's, um, it's very special.

And I can't wait to meet him.

[Davina] Louise Stoppani came to us in the hope that we would find her birth father who last saw her as a baby nearly 40 years ago.

Sadly, our search revealed that he had died in 1990.

We've told Louise of her father's death without the cameras being present.

Louise will never be able to meet her father, but we have found his family-- two aunts-- who never forgot her and can tell Louise all about him.

I'm going to catch up with her at a pub near her home in Rochester.

-Hi, Louise.

-Hello, Davina.

-It's lovely to meet you.

-How are you?

Yeah, good, thanks.

Take a seat.

Thanks for talking to me.

I am so sorry about the news of your birth father.

-How have you been?

-Heartbroken.

'Cause I've been searching for such a long time.

And I've never stopped.

Never stopped.

-Especially the age that he passed away.

-So young.

It was a bit of a shock.

It's given me the answer to think, well, that's why he hasn't found me.

But that makes me feel even more sad, that he never had that opportunity.

Well, we know that you've got a lot of unanswered questions about your birth father, and we're hoping that you can get answers to those questions because we have found his sisters.

-Really?

-Yeah.

Oh, gosh, sorry.

It's okay.

That would be so lovely for them 'cause they've... they've lost their brother and they're gonna have a part of him.

Sharon and Michele, they're both so happy to have been found, and they would love to meet you.

Oh, my God, I'm so excited.

They had a happy childhood.

They all grew up together.

But then when he was a teenager, he sort of fell in the wrong crowd.

-Yeah.

-And the drug taking started, and really from then he was just fighting that battle.

-Oh, bless him.

-Mm.

And he did try.

He did have a stint in rehab.

Oh, well, well, that's amazing, 'cause not everybody gets that far.

And when he died, he really was giving life a go and he'd got a job and he was trying to come good.

Aww!

Would you like to see a picture of your birth father?

Yes, please, yeah.

I've always wanted to see what he looks like.

Oh, my goodness!

Oh, bless him.

[Davina] He looks really happy in it, doesn't he?

-He does.

And I've got his smile.

-And he looks well.

-Yeah.

-Oh, I'm gonna treasure that.

I'm just so sorry he had such a troubled life.

Mm.

But there's no doubt that when you were born you were very important to him.

-Mm.

-Also your aunt's had a few pictures of you.

Oh, lovely.

What does that mean to you, knowing that it wasn't just your birth father, but his whole family, they never forgot you?

It's just a dream come true, it really is.

I know it's sad he's not here, but I've got closure.

I've got a photo of him, and I'm gonna meet his sisters.

So Sharon lives in Cambridgeshire.

-Oh, really?

-Mm-hmm.

And Michele, she lives in Nebraska... -Oh, my goodness.

-...in America.

Yeah.

-And she's also a carer.

-Oh, wow!

And Michele would love to meet you online.

'Cause she's in the States, she can't come over at the moment.

I would absolutely love that.

I just can't believe it.

-I really can't.

-I've got pictures of your aunties.

-Have you got pictures?

Oh!

-Yeah.

So this is Sharon.

[Louise] Oh, my goodness!

She looks lovely.

And this is Michele.

Oh!

I can't believe I'm sitting here looking at them.

Your aunties will be able to show you so many family photos.

They want to tell you everything.

Oh, I can't wait.

They did actually write you something together.

Thank you, Davina.

"Hi, Louise.

Well... What a great moment this will be when we meet you, to have someone..." This is what exactly I thought.

"...related to Paul after all these years.

It must have taken a lot of courage for you to keep looking."

I just didn't stop, Davina.

"And I hope by meeting up with us both we can give you the answers that will help to complete your life.

From your two long lost but now found aunts, Sharon and Michele."

They're so lovely.

It feels like I can breathe.

-Yeah, I feel really at peace.

-Mm.

And I'm so excited.

[Davina] After 20 years of searching for her birth father, Louise is going to meet his two sisters, her aunts, Sharon and Michele.

[Louise] Today means everything.

It's exciting because I'm getting to meet a part of my father.

And I'm gonna find out lots about him.

I'm just so excited.

I'm really...

Sorry.

It's a dream come true.

Sharon has travelled from Cambridgeshire to meet her niece.

[Sharon] I'm feeling a bit anxious, hoping that it's going to go very well.

I want her to know that her dad was a lovely, caring person.

These are for Louise: there are photographs of Paul from like baby age right the way up until he was about 22 or 23.

Paul's other sister, Michele, will join the reunion online from America.

They're getting together not far from the hospital where Louise's birth father last saw her as a baby.

-Hello, Sharon.

-Hello.

I'm sorry, I really wanna cuddle you.

Long cuddle.

-These are happy tears.

-Good.

This has been a long time coming, Sharon.

It has, absolutely.

Oh, bless.

[laughs] [Louise] I just had a warm feeling in my belly.

Yeah, I just felt a connection.

I can't stop staring at you, sorry.

[Sharon laughing] I couldn't believe that I was seeing her.

We've got a lot to catch up on and a lot to chat about.

This is for you to take away.

It's photographs and all sorts in there.

Oh, thank you so much.

Here, this is you and your dad.

[Louise] Oh, this is amazing.

So that obviously is the fashionable hairstyle.

[laughing] I just was gonna say that!

The Mohican.

Oh, it's absolutely amazing.

As soon as we saw that one of you and I was going through and found that one of Paul, I mean, you could almost be twins.

I just can't believe how much I'm like him.

To see photos of my father, it's overwhelming.

I feel really close to him.

I'm sure if Paul was still alive, he would be here.

He was a lovely brother.

It's just a shame that Michele can't be here as well.

-[line rings] -Hello, Michele.

Hello.

How are you?

I'm really, really happy.

I just feel at peace, and talking to Sharon, there's a connection already.

How are you feeling, Michele?

Over the moon!

Over the moon.

Something of Paul, you're something of Paul's.

I think he would have been over the moon, I'm a hundred percent sure.

[Louise] I feel like I've always known them.

I cannot explain it.

They're my family, and I just feel so happy.

I don't wanna say goodbye.

[Michele laughing] Well, it's not goodbye, it's, "I'll see you soon."

And here's a hug.

This is from America.

-Oh.

-Love you both.

Oh, I love you too.

Bye, Michele.

-Bye.

-Bye.

[Sharon] It's a new journey for me and my sister, and it's a beginning of a new journey for us all to go forward together.

I think my brother Paul would be proud of his daughter.

It's just been a really special, special day.

One of the best days of my life.

I've got everything that I've always wanted.

I've got my dad's family.

-It's exciting.

-[Sharon] It is, yeah.

-The rest of our lives to look forward to.

-Yeah.

Forty-eight-year-old builder Jonathan Gaskarth is searching for his birth parents, who he hasn't known since he was adopted at just six weeks old.

Unfortunately, we've discovered that his birth father died not long after Jonathan was born.

We've told him this news away from the camera.

But now I can tell him that his birth mother has been found.

And not only is she desperate to meet him, but she spent years waiting for him to come and find her.

-Hey, Jon, how are you?

-Hello.

-Do come in.

-Thank you.

Thanks very much.

And thanks for talking to me.

I'm really sorry that we had to give you that news about your birth father.

-How have you been?

-I'm okay.

You know, I came into this understanding that any possibility could happen.

-Yeah.

-Potentially they might not wanna meet me, that something could have happened to one of them.

Well, John, we have found your mum.

Okay.

Right, then.

Brilliant.

And is she okay?

She's good.

She got pregnant at 16, and she told her parents, and they just sent her away to a mother and baby home, and she had her pregnancy there.

Mm.

That's, that's harsh.

Mm.

It was a very difficult time for her.

She felt like she'd abandoned you.

But at the time she felt that it was the right decision for you.

It was.

The last thing I would ever, ever have wanted her to feel like is that, you know, to worry that she'd made the wrong decision, because absolutely, for what was best for me as a child, I've always thought she made the right decision, totally.

I also have to tell you that it was from Carol that we were able to find out about your birth father.

-Okay.

-She really wants you to know that they talked about you and they both really regretted having you adopted.

They both knew that there wasn't any other way to do it.

-Yeah.

-They did stay together.

Really?

God!

-Mm.

-And how long did they stay together?

Until he died.

-Oh, my God!

-He died at 20.

-He died... -Twenty!

Jesus!

[exhales sharply] -So that's hard, man.

-Mm.

Oh!

See, that's almost been my worst fear.

I wanted them to go on whether it was together or separately, to have happy lives.

[Davina] Mm.

-That's tragic.

-Mm.

That's... God!

That's... oh, I feel so sorry for her.

Oh!

-Did it get better?

-It did.

Good.

Carol did move on and have a happy life.

-She met Paul.

-Okay.

And they're married and still together.

-And they did-- -The next question's obvious.

-Did they have kids?

-They did.

Yeah.

Oh, God!

Okay.

Mm.

Both of your half siblings know about you.

And they're really looking forward to meeting you too.

That's brilliant.

Okay.

Ten years ago Carol found out that she could actually leave you a letter, um, which she did, in your adoption file.

Good God!

[Davina] And it's been there, sitting there.

So she was very, very worried that you'd read it and didn't want contact.

I kind of feel like I've let myself down a little bit that I hadn't done that.

-Mm.

-You know, it sounds to me like, you know, I've... worried her.

Oh, man!

I think... well, I think the first thing I'd like to do is make sure that she knows that there's absolutely no resentment there.

It's really gonna mean a lot to her.

Good.

Oh!

Blimey, I didn't expect that.

Have you ever wondered what she looks like?

-Yes.

-Do you wanna see?

I do.

I really do.

[Davina] This is your mum.

[Davina laughs softly] [Jonathan] Wow!

Oh, my God, that's my nose!

Cor blimey!

Thank you.

Just one day after discovering his birth mother's been found, Jonathan is on his way to meet her for the first time.

It's a bit surreal at the moment, you know.

For 48 years I've had very little information about where I came from.

So to be at a point now where you're finally gonna get the answers is pretty incredible.

[Carol] I've brought a box with different letters and bits and pieces that I've collected over the years to give him.

It's important really 'cause it explains that, you know, I've thought about him all my life.

Mother and son are reuniting at a hotel just outside Stratford and not far from where they last saw each other.

Carol's been accompanied by her husband Paul.

I love you.

-See you later.

-It'll be all right.

Okay.

Good luck.

-Bye.

-Bye.

[Carol] It feels quite strange really, but exciting.

I'm very nervous, yeah.

I've got butterflies in my stomach, so...

I'm trying very hard on the exterior to be stoic and strong and everything else, but it's really difficult.

I think it will be hugely emotional when we first see each other.

-Hi.

-Hello.

-Hi.

-How are you?

Can't hug.

I'm really sorry about that.

'Cause I would love to give you a big hug.

Oh, yeah.

Wow!

[laughs] -Long time coming, eh?

-It has.

It feels like it's been forever.

One of the things I really wanted you to know was that you weren't, you know, sort of a one-night stand and that was it.

You know, it wasn't that we didn't want you, it was just that we thought you could have a better life.

-And I can't thank you enough for that.

-Being adopted, yeah.

And, you know, I had an incredibly happy childhood.

That's lovely to know that.

You know, I felt terrible for not coming to find you earlier to tell you I was okay.

And I just think now's a... now's a beginning.

-Now's a fresh start, you know.

-Yeah.

We all get together, get to know each other.

-Yeah.

-And make up for lost time.

Yeah.

This box has got lots of things inside there that, you know, your original adoption papers and... and some letters that I've written to you when I was just thinking about things.

-Blimey!

-Yeah.

[Jonathan] Um, "February 2013.

Today I thought so much about you.

Um, I don't want to impose in your life, but I wish so much that I knew what you were doing.

I think of you every day and hope that I will meet you one day."

Wow!

To now have these and be able to read through and know how you were feeling is, is just incredible.

I mean, it's, it's huge.

[Jonathan] It's hard to put into words what that meant to me.

It's wonderful to know, you know, that you were never forgotten.

I feel like someone's lifted a massive weight from my shoulders, yeah.

It's very special to think that I've got to know him for real rather than just imagine what he might look like and everything else.

-[Simon] How you doing, mate?

-[Jonathan] Hello.

Nice to meet you both.

Very nice to meet you too, sir.

[Carol] Yeah, to have all three of them together, it's wonderful.

And I'm so pleased it's happened.

I've got two mums now.

It's interesting.

-[laughing] -[Becci] I've got two big brothers.

-Yeah.

There you go.

-[Simon] And I'm a weird middle kid!

-[Jonathan] Oh, you are.

-I was the oldest before!

I just think this is a starting point, and from here, you know, hopefully really get to know each other.

'Cause I'm really over the moon.

Awww!

[chatting, laughing]