- 6/21/2025
#CinemaJourney
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Short filmTranscript
00:00I don't know where I was born, but I was found in a car park, literally fresh out of the womb.
00:09Why was I left in another child's pram? Who left me?
00:14This place was the start of my life.
00:18Foundlings. People left as babies.
00:21In the most extraordinary places.
00:26Often in the first hours or days of life.
00:30Born without trace, the most fundamental aspects of their identities are missing.
00:37I don't know the date I was born, where I was born, who me parents were.
00:43Leaving lives overshadowed by questions.
00:47Do you think I was actually born in them toilets?
00:49Yeah.
00:50Yes.
00:53For over six years, we've been investigating these astonishing cases.
00:58Using DNA mapping and painstaking detective work, we unlock the past.
01:05That was the first time I ever seen my child as a baby.
01:08And bring the most important news.
01:12It's your first ever blood relative, right?
01:14Yeah, that's it.
01:15He feels so familiar.
01:18That changes lives forever.
01:27Hi.
01:27Simon Prothero was discovered in the late summer of 1966.
01:41Until we took on his case, he'd never been back to the children's home where he'd been left.
01:46I believe I was only a few hours old when I was found.
02:02Nobody's ever come forward.
02:03Simon wasn't handed into the children's home.
02:23He was left in an outside toilet block.
02:25As far as I know, there was nothing left with me, no, no, nothing, just as it was.
02:42I think this might be the place, because looking at the tiles on the wall, that's how toilets used to be.
02:51Well, I do honestly think that I have found it now.
02:59Yeah.
03:02It's a very quiet place.
03:05So far from the house, you probably would have heard a baby crying.
03:12Somebody must have seen somebody walking around there.
03:21I think my mother, she lived local.
03:29I don't think a stranger would have found this place.
03:34Yeah.
03:35It's just so much to take in.
03:38I want to know why she felt that she ought to give me up there.
03:47Yeah.
03:48That's what I'd like to know.
03:51I don't know where I was born, when I was born, what the circumstances were.
04:05I don't know who my mother is.
04:08Simon was adopted and grew up in a village just ten miles away from the children's home.
04:23He was told the details of how he was left when he was nine.
04:28His good friend Mark was born within days of Simon being found.
04:31Mark is one of the few people who knows Simon's story.
04:37Do you remember one morning I came in and you told me that what happened?
04:42He got found as a baby.
04:44I went home and told my mother, like, she was amazed.
04:47Mark's own mother clearly remembered Simon being found and the police search that followed.
04:52Because my mother had just had me and the police come in and knocked on the door and asked her to see me.
04:58The police obviously checked the records and whoever was born on that date or close in that area,
05:03they went round the houses then and checking on the mothers who had had babies.
05:09She was quite emotional, my mother was like, because it's like a bit surreal, isn't it?
05:13It's right to know, really, that obviously the police did take it serious and they were looking into it.
05:20Yeah.
05:20I'm glad I told him, to be honest, because I would never have known that the police were involved.
05:36Simon's adoptive parents have both now died, but he still lives in the same village where he grew up.
05:41Dad!
05:42My parents were very loving, fair play.
05:46Come on in.
05:47Oh, good boy.
05:48They were really good parents.
05:50They had a very good upbringing.
05:53I don't actually have any photographs of myself growing up as a baby through my childhood.
05:59I haven't got anything.
06:02But I have loads of lovely memories.
06:05In 1997, Simon married Helen, and they raised three children between them.
06:18We used to watch Long Lost Family all the time.
06:21I told Helen I was adopted, but then, as the years were going on, she knew by me that there was something that I was wanting to know a bit more.
06:30But it wasn't until Born Without Trace started taking on foundling cases that they realised, even without a paper trail, DNA tracing meant there was a chance to find birth family.
06:45I'm really happy.
06:46We'd watched the programme, and on the following day, I said to Helen, I'm going to try now and see if I can do some DNA testing.
06:54And that was the way forward.
06:56Helen encouraged Simon to apply.
06:59Five days before Christmas, December 23, Helen was diagnosed with cancer, and that was quite...quite hard as a family for us.
07:14Yeah, and in September, then, she passed away, huh?
07:21It is hard, to be honest, but, um, she'd want me to carry it out as well.
07:41While our search team were looking for DNA connections, we knew that Simon had no childhood photos of himself.
07:51So, we scoured newspaper and television archives.
07:54After a lot of dead ends, we'd found what we were looking for.
08:06That's where I was found.
08:08This is the original newsreel from 1966.
08:21That was the first time I've ever seen my child as a baby.
08:43To me, it looked as if I was cared for.
08:47It's just so much to take in.
09:02Seeing me as a baby for the first time in 58 years, it's...
09:09Yeah, it's...
09:12Mind-blowing, to be honest with you.
09:15I hope that, by doing this now, that I do get my answers, because that's what I need now.
09:36Whoever left Simon outside that children's home clearly meant him to be found by people who could take care of him.
09:43We've also taken on the case of another foundling, left to be found by someone who knew exactly how to care for a baby.
09:54In May 1969, Lisa Dyke was discovered as a newborn outside a health clinic.
10:00She'd been put into another baby's pram.
10:03My story started the day I was found.
10:15What I need to know now is what happened before.
10:19Why was I left in another child's pram?
10:23Who left me?
10:24I assume it was my birth mother.
10:29I just want to know the truth.
10:34These houses stand on the site of the health clinic where Lisa was left.
10:38I feel that she must have been local, to have known about the clinic.
10:48I'm trying to think how she might have been feeling.
10:53Waiting to see somebody leave their pram outside and take that opportunity to put me in there.
11:00Just waiting for that perfect moment so that I would be found quickly.
11:10I can only assume that my birth mother was young, maybe frightened.
11:19I was only hours old.
11:21She must have known what she was going to do.
11:23When Lisa accessed her adoption file in 2005, she discovered not only where she'd been found, but what she'd been left with.
11:34I had a note pinned to me saying, please take care of her.
11:41I cannot and never will be able to give her a good home where she will be happy.
11:48She is just born and needs a doctor.
11:49Reading it here, seeing where I was left, it's quite emotional, actually.
12:03I feel quite close to her and the emotions she may have been feeling at the time.
12:09To actually have the original note means so much to me, because it's the one thing I've got that connects me to her.
12:25So precious.
12:28It just reminds me how much she wanted me to be happy.
12:32It takes the negativity of abandonment away, because I know she cared.
12:46Lisa now lives in France with partner Duncan, but she grew up in Hampshire, where her son Ryan still lives.
12:53And you. Well, I've seen you in ages.
12:54I know, I know.
12:55She had Ryan at 19 and brought him up as a single parent with the help of her adoptive parents, Sylvia and Brian.
13:10Nan and grandad.
13:11They're very happy, don't they?
13:12Yeah, they do.
13:13I could not have wanted better parents.
13:16My mum was just everything.
13:19Lisa always knew she was adopted.
13:21I'm not quite sure what I'm doing in that one.
13:23I'm obviously up to no good, I think, because I'm hiding behind the curtain.
13:26Do you remember this, Tenerife?
13:29It looks warm.
13:30Having Ryan at a young age made me reflect on my circumstances.
13:35I've thought about who my birth mother was over the years, but because I had such a wonderful mum, I would just put it to one side.
13:45Unfortunately, we lost her two years ago.
13:47Now, Lisa's decided to see if DNA can help her find answers, and potentially her birth family.
14:02I don't want to force myself into anybody else's lives.
14:06I just need to know what happened.
14:10I need to know who I am.
14:11Simon Frothero was left as a baby in the grounds of a children's home in South Wales, and our team has been working on his DNA.
14:33Hi there, Ariel.
14:34Nikki.
14:35What's the latest in Simon's case?
14:37We did Simon's DNA, we found a really enormous family group from North Wales, many, many children, and those children have all then gone on to have many, many children.
14:51And one of them, in particular, had already taken a test, a gentleman called Noel.
14:57He was, you know, DNA-wise and connected to Simon.
15:02That helped us enormously.
15:04A proper lead, then.
15:05It was a great lead.
15:07And through that, we were able to identify Simon's birth mother.
15:11We know who she is.
15:13That's brilliant.
15:14And she's alive?
15:15She is.
15:16How is she?
15:17When we first contacted her, her initial reaction was to ask, am I going to be in trouble for this?
15:24And I, of course, reassured her that that was not the case.
15:27She's carried fear for so long.
15:28She has.
15:30She finds it difficult to remember details, and I think it's really stressful to be asked lots of questions.
15:38How old is she?
15:40She's in her early 80s.
15:41So do you have any understanding of the circumstances that she was in when Simon was born?
15:47She was young, and she was not married.
15:50I don't think she had family support.
15:53And she has said that she could no longer live at home because she was pregnant.
16:02And there was a failed relationship, which meant that she was on her own, trying to make very difficult decisions about Simon.
16:13Does she have supportive family now?
16:16She does.
16:17They are aware of the situation.
16:19She's not ready for contact at this stage.
16:22It's very early days.
16:23I hope that in time that may come, but it isn't yet.
16:29So, as ever, a hugely sensitive situation.
16:33Yes.
16:34The extraordinary thing is Simon's birth mother doesn't live in Neath.
16:39She can't quite remember why she was in that area, but Noel does live in Neath, and he and the rest of his family would really like to meet Simon.
16:53It's such a difficult piece of news to give a foundling.
17:00We've found their birth mother, but she's not ready for contact.
17:05And I imagine that's going to be hard for Simon to hear.
17:08But there is basic information that we all have a right to.
17:14Who our birth family is, and where we come from.
17:18And I can tell him that.
17:19Oh, hi, Davina.
17:38Hi, Simon.
17:39Come in.
17:45Thanks so much for seeing me today.
17:48Oh, is that Helen?
17:52Yeah, that's Helen, yeah.
17:53Ah.
17:54Well, I know you've had a particularly tough time at the end of last year.
17:58Did she encourage you to search?
18:00Was she behind?
18:01Yeah, she was behind me.
18:02Yeah, 100%, yeah.
18:03I knew I had to carry on.
18:07I couldn't just leave it where it was then.
18:10I've come because I've got some news.
18:13OK.
18:14Your birth mother has been found.
18:20She's alive.
18:30How old is she?
18:31She's in her early 80s.
18:36Is she OK?
18:37She has a couple of health issues.
18:42Was she local?
18:44No, she wasn't local.
18:45She wasn't from Leith.
18:47Where was she from?
18:48She was from a very large family in North Wales.
18:53Oh, right.
18:54Your birth mother was in a brief relationship with your birth father.
19:02OK.
19:02But they had split up by the time you were born.
19:08Right.
19:08They weren't married.
19:10Right, OK.
19:12I know nothing with my birth father or nothing.
19:15We don't have any news about your birth father as of yet.
19:20Yeah, yeah, yeah.
19:20Ariel is navigating the situation with your birth mother.
19:28But at the moment, she's not ready for contact.
19:32OK.
19:34The only bits of things that I'm trying to think was, like,
19:37if I was from, like, North Wales,
19:39it's a long way to come from North Wales to Neith
19:41just to leave a baby, you know?
19:43Can't quite get my head around that one.
19:45I can understand why it was there,
19:48because it was a children's home.
19:50As a safe place to leave you.
19:51I think so.
19:52Yeah.
19:53And it must be frustrating I can't give you more.
19:55I do understand.
19:57I was hoping for some sort of answers
19:59and a little bit more on my background and things.
20:06Don't judge anybody, nobody on it, you know?
20:09But I would like to know.
20:11I think I deserve to know.
20:13I do.
20:15How are you feeling now?
20:17Um, I would like to meet her.
20:19But, I mean, obviously,
20:22there's a lot more than what it's ought to be,
20:24so it's ought to be.
20:25But, um, well, I just can't take it all in, to be honest.
20:30No.
20:30I have got something else to tell you as well.
20:34We've found another branch of your family.
20:37All right.
20:38And they are in Neith.
20:40In Neith?
20:41Yes.
20:42Oh.
20:44Theirs was the DNA match that set us off on the right path.
20:49And the member of that family that we're talking to
20:52is a man called Noel.
20:54He'd be able to tell you a bit more about your extended family.
20:57I would like to meet him and maybe see what he does now and things.
21:03From having a thing to find out the middle of the extended life
21:07and family is close by.
21:11Quite a bit earlier.
21:14But, uh, yeah.
21:17Everything's about nothing there.
21:20You've got to look at it now.
21:23By the way, anyway, so...
21:24Good.
21:27Before Simon meets his newfound relatives,
21:36for our other searcher, Lisa, there's been a huge breakthrough.
21:41So, Ariel, what can you tell me?
21:43Well, we've made loads of progress.
21:45And we got to a family that we believed Lisa to be connected to.
21:50We asked a family member, Lynn, to undertake a DNA test.
21:55We believed that it was likely that she was going to actually be Lisa's half-sibling.
22:05And look at that.
22:08Shared DNA, 45 to 52%.
22:12So, same parents.
22:16Yes.
22:16Full sister.
22:17A full sister.
22:18Yeah.
22:19We can tell Lisa, who her birth mother and birth father were.
22:24Sadly, they have both died.
22:25Oh.
22:26But, um, Lynn, uh, has, uh, siblings, and therefore, so does Lisa.
22:34So, and here we are.
22:36All four siblings.
22:37Yeah, look.
22:39So, we've got Lynn and Jen and Tim, two sisters and a brother.
22:43So, from her life being a void and knowing nothing about her past, all of a sudden, three, four siblings.
22:50Just extraordinary.
22:51Tim and Jen were born before Lisa, at one and two years before.
22:56And Lynn was born three years later.
22:59And we think what happened was that they had parted at the time that, uh, Lisa was, was born.
23:08And they were reconciled.
23:10And then they were reconciled and had Lynn.
23:12Yeah.
23:12And then parted again for good.
23:15So, Tim and Jen and Lynn, were they brought up together?
23:19They were brought up together.
23:20Well, for Lisa, it's going to be tough to take her on board and to hear it.
23:24I suppose a very natural question would be, why me, out of the, the, the four?
23:31And yet, on the other hand, there is the potential joy of finding that you're one of four, uh, full siblings.
23:41But also, hearing about Lisa is tough for Lynn and Jen and Tim as well, isn't it?
23:48Yes, their parents having another child that they didn't know about.
23:52Everything they thought is now seen in a different light, isn't it?
23:57Yes.
23:57There's been this, um, secret within the family that makes them have to revise their perception of what their family was.
24:09For more than 50 years, the only thing Lisa Dyke has known about her birth mother is that she left her to be found in another baby's pram.
24:34Police are still searching for the mother of the baby girl abandoned in a pram outside the health clinic in Millham Street, Christchurch, last week.
24:42She was never traced, never came forward.
24:46Effectively, I'm still unclaimed, 55 years later.
24:49But now we've identified Lisa's birth family, her mother and her father, and three full siblings, who grew up in the Christchurch area where Lisa was left.
25:06This is not the first time that we've discovered foundlings whose parents were a couple and had other children together.
25:16It's always been a really big shock for the children when they find out.
25:20I wonder how Lisa's siblings are dealing with this news.
25:25I'm meeting all three of them.
25:26Hello, Nicky. Come on in. Hi, Tim.
25:32How are you? I'm fine, thank you.
25:34Yourself? Thanks very much for having me.
25:38Great to meet you. Hi, Lynne.
25:40Hi, Nicky. Hi, Jen. Hi, Nicky. Hi.
25:43Hi, Tim. Hi.
25:45So what did you think when Ariel got in touch?
25:48Shock. Disbelief.
25:51Can't explain it. It's very, very surreal.
25:53Yeah, when they told us, I thought, gosh, I couldn't speak. I was just so shocked.
25:59So if Lisa says, why do you think this happened to me?
26:02We would definitely say 100% that there must be.
26:05There must be no reason.
26:06But what that reason is, we don't know.
26:08What was your mum and dad's relationship like?
26:11Towards the end, it was fractious.
26:14My mum loved our dad.
26:16Oh, yeah, that adored him.
26:18What was your home life like? Was he around?
26:20For me and Jen, it definitely was around.
26:22Yeah, not so much for me.
26:24He left when I was seven.
26:26He was a merchant seaman.
26:29Drove lorries.
26:30When he left, my mum, she was just really upset.
26:34I think her love for him was so strong.
26:35When our dad left us, she had to work a lot, so we were latchkey kids.
26:40So there was always some sort of worry wasn't there.
26:43That social service might get involved and be taken into care at any time.
26:47So you might have been terrified she would lose all of you.
26:50Yeah, I can see that actually, definitely.
26:54I remember once finding her on the kitchen floor, just crying.
26:58And it was just like life got on top of her too much.
27:01So your mum left Lisa in a pram and there was a note there for another mother to find.
27:08And Lisa, of course, when she reads that note, knows that she was left with great care.
27:15I have a copy of it.
27:16Have you?
27:17Yeah.
27:17Can we see it?
27:20Yeah.
27:22I think it is hers.
27:23I really don't want to believe it.
27:38It's really difficult.
27:39I really don't want to believe it.
27:42Sorry.
27:43No, don't worry.
27:44It's so hard.
27:46It's so tough.
27:48She was a good mum.
27:53Please take care of her.
28:06I cannot and never will be able to give her a good home where she will be happy.
28:16She's just born and needs a doctor.
28:19I don't know if I'm struggling the most just because I'm the youngest and I would have been born after.
28:26I just don't want anybody to think that she's left one but then had another one and I'm that child.
28:35I think it's got a lot to do with mum and dad and their relationship.
28:41Do you have any photos of your parents?
28:43Yes.
28:44That's my mum.
28:46Because she looks like you.
28:48Yeah.
28:49She loved the beach.
28:50She loved the sun.
28:51Did she?
28:52Yeah.
28:58And that's your dad?
28:59Yeah.
29:00Who looks like you?
29:01Yeah.
29:02He's a good looking man.
29:04Yes.
29:05That would be part of the problem.
29:06He'd like to have fun.
29:07Yeah.
29:08Put it that way.
29:09Presumably he knew about this?
29:11He must have.
29:12Mum couldn't hide the pregnancy for nine months from my dad.
29:15He must have been there to help.
29:17I was born at home with my dad.
29:20Dad.
29:20Delivered.
29:21Delivered.
29:21Dad.
29:22Okay.
29:23Yeah.
29:24Maybe my dad delivered Lisa as well.
29:27Who knows?
29:28Who knows?
29:29You see what she looks like.
29:31That's what I'm looking for.
29:31Yes.
29:32She's one of you.
29:33Oh my.
29:34Oh goodness.
29:35Oh.
29:36Oh.
29:36She looks like you, Dad.
29:43You could be a twin.
29:47Wow.
29:50Definitely our sister.
29:52Lisa had a great adoption.
29:54Holds no animosity towards her mother.
29:57Looking now, thinking about it, I wish mum could be alive.
30:00I think it'd make her really happy.
30:02I'm excited.
30:06Really excited.
30:14Simon Prothero, found as a newborn baby in the grounds of a South Wales children's home,
30:20now knows who his birth family is.
30:23After 58 years, there's still a lot to take in.
30:28My birth mother is still alive.
30:33Hopefully we do get to meet.
30:37It would mean a lot.
30:38Today, he's going to meet some of his birth family who still live nearby.
30:58Me and Ellen used to watch along with our family for years and years.
31:04It's just a shame, really, that she's not here to be with me.
31:08But I know she still is.
31:11Saying, come on, you've got to do this.
31:12I'll carry on.
31:13To protect Simon's birth mother, we're not identifying exactly how Simon and Noel are related.
31:36Simon?
31:37All right.
31:37All right.
31:38Yeah.
31:38Yeah.
31:40Yeah.
31:41A shock for you, isn't it?
31:42Yeah, it is a bit of a shock, yeah.
31:44A shock for us, too.
31:45Yeah, a bit.
31:46This gentleman here is my brother.
31:48This is John.
31:49Yeah, that's him, man.
31:50And that's my sister, Wendy.
31:51I'm Wendy.
31:52Hello.
31:52Hello.
31:53This is me, too.
31:54This was me as a baby.
31:57Same hair.
31:59Oh, that's nice, isn't it?
32:00Nice to have a hat, isn't it?
32:03And some bug, I won't eat, huh?
32:04You're a lovely little baby.
32:06What happened?
32:08I don't know what happened.
32:12Paralel.
32:12You upset the baby, you know?
32:14Ah.
32:15Who was you born, do you know?
32:17Ah, 66.
32:18Because if one thinks you're remembering, you're going to work up, isn't it?
32:20You're going to remember it, don't you?
32:22Yeah.
32:22They would have been 14, then.
32:26Yeah.
32:26And the mother and father never mention anything, do they?
32:29We used to have people coming down to stay occasionally and that, you know?
32:33Yeah, yeah.
32:33Different cousins and that.
32:36I feel a little upset.
32:39We can't help him on the why.
32:41He knows the where.
32:43Now knows the who.
32:44But we don't know the why.
32:46We think that's your mother when she was a child.
32:49Oh, all right, thank you.
32:54Oh, she's a pretty young girl, eh?
32:57Fabulous red hair.
32:59I used to have ginger, eh, as a kid.
33:01Oh.
33:02I love him.
33:02I can see how this happened, eh?
33:05It must be in the genes with both red heads.
33:08It's a wonderful thing.
33:13We've already exchanged addresses.
33:16I'd love to meet this family and get together.
33:20I hope he's happy with us as a family.
33:25There are three generations here today to welcome Simon into the clan.
33:29You recognise this woman, don't you?
33:31Yeah.
33:31My son, Mark.
33:33Hey, come on.
33:34All right, good to meet you.
33:35Yeah, I know you did.
33:36By the time we had them all up, the children and grandchildren, there's about 30 of us.
33:40Tilly, his daughter.
33:41What?
33:42Are you OK?
33:43Amelia, his daughter.
33:45What?
33:45Two rugby teams.
33:48My daughter, Deborah.
33:50How you are?
33:50And you?
33:52Samantha.
33:53I'll probably take a day to go around them all.
33:55And Alex.
33:57Yeah.
33:58I've had a few answers.
34:00Um, I'd like to have a few more, but it's been good.
34:05It's been, it has been a good day.
34:07When Lisa Dyke came to us, she only knew that she'd been found as a newborn baby, with a handwritten note that appeared to be from her mother.
34:27We've now found her birth family.
34:39I'm going to be delivering enormous news to Lisa today.
34:43As well as telling her about both her birth parents, she'll also find out that she has three full siblings, a brother and two sisters.
34:58Sadly, her birth mother and father have died.
35:01We've told Lisa away from the cameras.
35:08Hi, Lisa.
35:09Hi, Davina.
35:11Lovely to meet you.
35:11And you.
35:12Come on in.
35:15I am so sorry for the news we had to bring you.
35:22How have you been?
35:24Um, it was sad.
35:27It was sad to hear, hear that they both passed away.
35:30I half expected that kind of news, but hearing it, it still shakes you a little.
35:39Your birth mother's name was Christine, and she was 25 when you were born.
35:46Oh, OK.
35:47Older than I thought she would be.
35:49I thought she'd be younger.
35:51Did she live in Christchurch?
35:53Yeah.
35:53She lived really close to where you were left.
35:55OK.
35:56Your birth father's name was Brian.
36:00OK.
36:01They were in a relationship when you were born.
36:06That's shock.
36:08That's definitely different from what I'd expected.
36:10I expected her to be young and potentially not able to keep me,
36:16because maybe concealed my birth.
36:17So it's completely different.
36:20Do you know why she felt that she needed to give me up?
36:25That's a story.
36:27OK.
36:27You have siblings.
36:29Oh, gosh.
36:30Full siblings.
36:33Full siblings.
36:36Now, that's something I didn't ever think I would have.
36:50Did they know about me?
36:52No.
36:52No-one knew about you.
36:56Wow.
36:56You have a brother.
36:59Mm-hmm.
37:00He's called Tim.
37:01OK.
37:02He was born in 1967.
37:04Two years older.
37:06Then you have a sister.
37:08She's called Jen.
37:09Mm-hmm.
37:10She was born in 1968.
37:13Another year older.
37:15Yep.
37:16Then there was you.
37:17Yep.
37:17Then there was a three-year gap.
37:20OK.
37:20Mm-hmm.
37:21And then there was Lynn.
37:23Mm-hmm.
37:24And she was born in 1972.
37:27Younger sister.
37:28It's...
37:35It's...
37:37It's...
37:38I'm trying to process it.
37:41I feel like I've gone from having nobody to now having...
37:47Three full siblings.
37:52All very similar ages.
37:55Hmm.
38:00It makes me happy to know that they were in a relationship as well.
38:05I mean, he wasn't around much.
38:07Right.
38:07He was in the merchant navy, and then he had jobs that, you know, were on and off that would take him away often.
38:12But your birth mother loved him.
38:15Yeah.
38:15They did finally split up after Lynn was born.
38:19Mm-hmm.
38:19And there wasn't much money.
38:21Mm-hmm.
38:22She worked three jobs.
38:25Mm-hmm.
38:25To try and put food on the table.
38:28That meant the kids were sometimes on their own, and they remember growing up with this fear of social services coming around to take them away.
38:36Yeah.
38:38Wow.
38:38I can start to see, perhaps, now what the picture was, to understand why she felt that she couldn't keep me if he wasn't always there.
38:49This is your birth mother, Christine.
38:52Oh.
38:54Oh.
38:55Oh.
39:02Wow.
39:04Down by the beach.
39:08Dark hair.
39:09Yeah.
39:10Oh.
39:12Can you see any resemblance, do you think?
39:15A little bit, I think.
39:16I think there is a little bit here.
39:17Tasty.
39:18Yeah.
39:19Definitely.
39:27Wow.
39:29Oh, bless her.
39:31I'd love to hear all about her.
39:33I really would.
39:34This is your birth father, Brian.
39:46There's a look there, isn't there?
39:47Mm.
39:48You are a mixture of both of those people.
39:52Definitely.
39:57Do my siblings know about me now?
40:00They do.
40:00It was a huge shock.
40:02Shock?
40:02Yeah.
40:03But they are happy.
40:04Really?
40:05Yeah.
40:18Wow.
40:20I've got photos of them, if you'd like.
40:22I'd love to see them, yeah.
40:23I would really like to see them.
40:25I'm going to kick off with the firstborn.
40:27Your brother, Tim.
40:28Oh, my God.
40:36He feels so familiar.
40:39It's like, oh, that's just really strange.
40:43It's a strange feeling.
40:46This is your big sister, Jen.
40:49Oh, wow.
40:51Wow.
40:52Wow.
40:53Oh.
40:55Oh.
40:58That's how I smile.
41:05That's how I smile.
41:08This is Lynn.
41:13Oh, bless.
41:15Oh, bless her.
41:16Your little sister.
41:17My little sister.
41:18Oh.
41:20Oh.
41:24Wow.
41:28Oh.
41:29Oh, they all look fantastic.
41:31They're lovely.
41:35That's your birth family.
41:37Yeah.
41:3755 years ago, I was left as a foundling.
41:57I never, ever anticipated finding a full sibling, let alone three.
42:02I'm very nervous about meeting them today, but I can't wait to ask them all about my birth
42:10mum, what she was like when she was bringing them up, to feel a bit closer to them all.
42:18Tim, Jen and Lynn have travelled to a hotel in the New Forest to meet the full sister they
42:23never knew existed.
42:25It's strange.
42:27Everything's changed.
42:28Gosh, so nervous.
42:30There's so many questions that we're never going to get the answers to, but we know our mum.
42:35We know that she wouldn't have done it if she had any other choice.
42:41It's time.
42:42Today is welcoming her to our family and just saying, this is us.
42:46It's great to meet you.
43:08Hi, I'm Lynn.
43:09Hi, Lisa.
43:11Hi, Lisa.
43:12Lovely to meet you.
43:15You too.
43:16Hi.
43:17Hi.
43:17Hi.
43:18Jen.
43:18I use a mess.
43:22I love you to meet you.
43:23Jen.
43:23Lovely to meet you.
43:27You all right?
43:28Yeah.
43:28Yeah.
43:31I'm just so sorry to put this bombshell in suddenly into your life.
43:35We're so sorry it's taken so long.
43:37We're all shocked.
43:38We honestly did not dream that our mum would have done that.
43:44That you were left.
43:45It just, I think that's what shocked me the most out of all of it.
43:50It was the first, yeah.
43:51It was how it happened.
43:52Whatever your mum did, she did the right thing for me.
43:56She made sure that I was found very early.
43:59And I thank her for that because I've had this really, really happy childhood.
44:05So, no regrets.
44:07Moving forward, you know, it's one of those things.
44:09She had her reasons and I completely respect her for that.
44:13It's so nice to hear you say that, actually.
44:15Because she would have felt that she had no choice.
44:19Yeah.
44:19The decision she made.
44:20So, I hope, you know, you take some comfort for that.
44:23It's still difficult though, isn't it?
44:24It's probably half of you, Lynn, being younger than me.
44:27But because she left me and the feelings that she probably had after that, she probably thought she would never want to do that ever again.
44:37Yeah.
44:38Yes.
44:38It just touched my heart a little bit, the way she spoke about mum.
44:43Very understanding.
44:44She said some lovely things and that just put me at ease.
44:49Can you tell me a little bit about her?
44:51She was a strong, very strong woman.
44:54She was very independent.
44:57Didn't want any handouts or anything like that.
44:58She would do it her own way.
44:59Yeah.
45:00I think I might have got a little bit of that, actually.
45:03We've all got that.
45:04I've definitely got it.
45:06Such a warm conversation.
45:08It's just very natural.
45:09I can't stop staring.
45:11I'm really sorry.
45:12No, you're just so honestly.
45:14So, if she walked through the door, you could see that she was part of our family.
45:18And hopefully, long may she be part of our family.
45:21I'm doing the staring now.
45:23I'm like staring at you guys, you know.
45:25Yeah.
45:26You've got to look at my son.
45:28Ryan is looking forward to meeting you.
45:30It's emotional, but it can only be a positive emotion.
45:34Hiya.
45:34Hiya.
45:35I'm all right.
45:35You all right?
45:36This is Lynn.
45:37Welcome, Ryan.
45:38Hi, Jen.
45:38Hi.
45:38Oh, hiya.
45:39Good to see you.
45:40Hi, Ryan.
45:41Nice to meet you.
45:41Nice to meet you.
45:42It's really nice to meet you all.
45:43Nice to meet you.
45:43Yeah.
45:44Yeah.
45:44I don't feel so alone.
45:47I have actually got a family history that goes back past me being found.
45:54Cheers.
45:54Cheers.
45:54Cheers.
45:55Cheers to family.
45:56Family.
45:57And to the future.
45:57And to the future.
45:58It's incredible.
45:59Comedians Joe Brand and Julian Clary push the comedy to one side when they explore their
46:08respective family's history on DNA Journey tomorrow night.
46:11At nine o'clock, and Sean Bean stars in the historical drama Shard Lake.
46:16It's streaming now on this TV player.
46:19I'll see you later.
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