Long Lost Family: What Happened Next?

[phones ringing] Do you know what her full name would be?

Have you checked all Irish databases?

[Davina McCall] Over the last 12 series, we've taken on more than 700 searches for long-lost children...

I just want to find my baby.

...absent parents... My mother is in my thoughts all the time.

...and separated siblings...

I have to find my brother.

I just can't let him go.

We found family members who'd been missing for decades and relatives people didn't even know existed.

I knew there was going to be twists and turns.

I said it.

Darling.

[Davina] ...but meeting is just the beginning...

It's all a mystery, complete mystery to everybody.

[Davina]...and searching doesn't always go as planned.

It may be the last time I see my daughter.

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

This week, we catch up with two searchers who had life-changing reunions with siblings... [Joselyn] James!

[James crying] ...and there are more revelations to come.

Hello.

[keyboards clacking] In 2021, Joselyn Taylor came to us, hoping to find her brother, James.

That search turned out to be one of our most extraordinary to date, with one search turning into another-- and now, another.

[Ben] How old were you when you got adopted?

I was a baby.

[Davina] 67-year-old grandmother Joselyn Taylor was born in the West Yorkshire town of Otley and has been profoundlyDeaf since birth.

She was adopted at 11 months old from a children's home.

Joselyn grew up as an only child with her adoptive mother, who lived above a sweet shop.

Hi, Joselyn.

What can I get you?

I'll have a latte.

[shop assistant] Bye.

Just over 20 years ago, Joselyn started to search for her birth mother and brother but unearthed the onerecord she didn't want to find-- her mother's death certificate.

Knowing her brother was called James Pullan, around two years ago, Joselyn joined a DNA database and was delighted to get a sibling match.

But the person on the database was called James Ford.

[general chatter, typing] [Nicky]James hadn't logged onto the DNA site for several years, but we were able to find him living in France.

-Hey, James.

-Hello, that's me.

-[Nicky laughs] -Come in.

-Nice to meet you.

-Thank you.

How do you feel about the fact that your sister Joselyn has been looking for you for so long?

Over the moon.

It's something I've always known.

You've always known?

Always known it.

When I was a lad, my mother took me to a photographic studio.

I was posed with a baby for a photograph, and I suspected then that my mother's given birth to a second baby.

She couldn't cope with both of us.

She was unmarried.

And she had two or three jobs sometimes to keep food on the table.

-Sounds like a good woman.

-She was.

I was loved by my mother.

So, it's... no doubt she would have cherished Joselyn, too.

Now, Joselyn has been looking for you for an awful long time.

One of the things she did was put her DNA onto the website.

And she's left messages for you, but you have not responded.

Oh, dear.

Oh, dear.

That makes me feel terrible.

I was looking for my father I never knew.

Unfortunately, the right connections weren't coming through.

So, after three or four years, I stopped subscribing.

I bet you're dying to see a photograph of Joselyn.

Oh, I'm most certainly.

Wow.

Oh.

Super.

Yep.

Can't wait to see her again.

[crying] Yeah.

Oh!

[Davina] We'd found James, and we also agreed to take on the search for his birth father.

And in the meantime... two years after Joselyn had first tried to contact her brother, I was finally able to give her his reply.

[Davina] Hi.

Hello.

Come in.

[door closing] We arranged for a sign language interpreter to join us.

We have found your brother.

He really wants to see you.

He did.

He knew about you when he was a young boy.

He vividly remembers your birth mother organizing a shoot with a photographer... What?

...where he held you in his arms.

Really?

He's given me a photo of your birth mother.

This is your birth mother, Lois.

There's James.

[Davina chuckles] The very next day, Joselyn prepared to meet her bigbrother, James.

I just wanted to hope everything goes well.

[Joselyn] Thank you.

Sixty-seven years after James held Joselyn for a few moments as a newborn baby, the siblings were finally reunited.

Well... [Joselyn] James.

[James crying] [James sighs] Oh.

Fantastic.

-I know.

Sorry about that.

-It's fine.

I went hiding in France.

I wasn't on the run.

No.

I'm really pleased you found me, though.

I've often thought of you.

I have.

I saw you for... 10, 15 minutes for a photo, then you were gone.

[laughs] And I can't hold you in my arms like that.

Well, our mother would have been very, very pleased.

[general chatter, phones ringing] Joselyn and James were reunited, and we'd had success searching on James's father's side, introducing him to three siblings.

But the experience of finding out about half of her family has raised new questions for Joselyn.

[water running] Joselyn has been inspired by James's search for his paternal family to look into her own birth father.

[appliance whirring] Joselyn looked again at the DNA results she had initially used to find James and discovered she had a new match.

But there was one clue to help shed light on Lee'slink to Joselyn.

[Nicky] The database showed a match between Joselyn and Lee Mitchell.

We needed to work out how they were connected, so we contacted Lee and asked his parents if they'd be willing to take a DNA test.

They were, and when the results came in, we hada strong match.

Lee's mom, Patricia, is Joselyn's half-sister.

Patricia's told us that her and Joselyn's father, Peter, passed away.

So, I'm meeting her to find out more.

Patricia is married and lives in Spain.

I'm catching up with her while she's in the UK visiting family.

Joselyn's search for her brother James has been a catalyst for so much more.

Now there's Patricia, another sibling for Joselyn.

But what can Patricia tell her about their birth father?

And did she know anything about Joselyn?

-[Nicky] Ah!

Patricia.

-Hello, Nicky.

-How are you?

-Pleased to meet you.

I'm fine, thank you.

Have a seat.

Really nice to meet you.

[Trish] Thank you.

[Nicky] Is it Patricia or Trish?

It's Trish.

I prefer Trish, thank you.

Has this been a shock?

Pretty much, yeah.

A big one.

A big one.

Okay, how big is this?

[sighs] It's massive.

But it means a lot to me and my family.

Did you have any idea about Joselyn's existence?

No, not at all, because I didn't know my father, so, why would I know Joselyn?

You didn't know your father?

No.

No, not at all.

Never, ever saw him.

Never met him.

At all.

There was myself and my sister, twins, and an elder brother, David.

When we were babies, my father, he left to go with someone else.

So, he's your birth father, but he was never a dad?

Oh, absolutely not.

No.

What about your own siblings?

They've all passed now, so, I'm the last one.

There's just me left now.

-And you had a twin?

-Yeah.

That's heartbreaking.

Yeah, it's really difficult.

Do you have a photograph at all of your birth father?

[Trish] Yes.

This is the only one that we could find, because, obviously, not having anything to do with my father, I have nothing.

My mother and father on their wedding day.

[Nicky] Mm.

And they were married in Ilkley, in West Yorkshire.

And where were you born?

Otley, which is the next... next small town along from Ilkley.

That's where Joselyn was born.

-In Otley?

-Yeah.

-Really?

-Yeah.

Oh, my word, I might have even passed her in the street or anything, not knowing who she was.

It just means so much to me.

I don't know for why, but I want to so give Joselyn... peace of mind to know that she did have a father there, and, unfortunately, he treated her the same way as he treated us.

That hurts.

But I can't wait for her to know what little I do know.

And we've got blood between us now, so it would be absolutely lovely to meet her.

It's really quite exciting.

[Davina] But before we tell Joselyn the incredible news that she has another sibling to meet, we catch up with our next searcher, who, at the age of 18, made a life-changing discovery.

[film reel ticking] 52-year-old father of three Roy Sibblies was brought up by his Jamaican birth father, Eccleston, and Eccleston's wife, Joan, who Roy believed was his mother.

I haven't seen any of these for well over 40 years.

[Roy] I feel a nice, warm fuzz running through my body when I think of my mom and dad and my childhood years.

[Roy laughs] Those red shorts, how lovely.

I never had any reason to think or feel that anything was out of the ordinary.

[Davina]But all that would change at 18, when Roy needed his birth certificate to enlist in the Royal Navy and asked his father, Eccleston, about the names on it.

[Roy]My dad said, "Now is probably as good a time as any to tell you that your mom, Joan, isn't actually your mom."

-Hello, son.

-Dad, you okay?

-Alright?

-Yeah, not so bad.

-Give me a hug.

-Nice to see you.

[Davina] Eccleston revealed that Roy's birth mother was a woman called Janet, who he'd been in a relationship with as a young man.

[Eccleston] She was such a nice person.

She told me that she's in the family way.

So I said, "Well, I got to marry you."

She said, um, "No, I don't think my parents would like it.

Why do you think her parents wouldn't like it?

Because of my color, I expect.

[Roy] I was born in '69, so there was quite a lot of racism going on at the time.

To give a baby up because of the color of their skin, that cuts really, really deep, to the core.

And it's important for me to know whether she regrets her decision.

[Davina]Not wanting his son to be put up for adoption, Eccleston decided to bring up Roy himself.

Do you have any ill feelings towards Janet -for not wanting me?

-No.

No.

I really respect her, and I love her.

She gave me the best prize which anybody would have.

-Aw, that's so sweet.

-[laughs] I wish you could find her, really.

Here's hoping.

[Davina] Following the death of Joan, the mom who raised him, Roy tried to find his birth mother but without success, leaving him with unanswered questions.

[Roy] Why did she let me go?

Has she ever had feelings for me?

Do I have any other brothers or sisters?

I want to know.

I need to know.

[general chatter, typing] [Nicky]We took up the search for Janet but sadly discovered that she'd died just a few years ago.

Roy would never get the chance to meet his birth mother.

Janet had two younger children, a girl and boy, Jo ad Dan, who lived close to each other on the South Coast... and they agreed to meet me.

[knocking] -Hi, Jo.

-Hi, Nicky.

Hi.

Come in.

-[Nicky] How are you doing?

-I'm good, thank you.

Are you?

[Nicky] I'm really well.

-Sorry to hear about your mom.

-Thank you.

I wonder what she would think of... of this.

She'd be over the moon.

Yeah, she would have been thrilled, 'cause although we kind of knew of Roy's existence, never in a million years did we think we'd get the opportunity to meet him.

How did you find out about his existence?

Mum had a conversation with me that she'd had a baby when she was 19, but she wasn't able to keep him.

And then, on Roy's birthday every year, she always used to say, "Happy birthday.

I wonder what he's doing."

It was her biggest regret that she wasn't able to keep him.

Did she ever explain to you why Roy wasn't a part of her life?

Roy's dad was a Black man, and, at the time, it was something that was taboo.

But, specifically, it was from pressure from her parents.

-[Jo] Oh, yes.

-Their prejudice came into play.

Mum said she'd try to find him, and I am now the eldest one in our family, and I know there won't be a shared history... but it would just be nice to have that connection.

[Dan chuckles] [Dan] Crazy.

My brother.

[laughs] He's got a very kind face.

[Jo] He looks like you.

Yeah, we both carry Mum's eyes.

[Davina]As Jo and Dan prepared to meet Roy, I was able to give him some of the answers he so desperately needed.

We told him the news that Janet had died without cameras present.

-Hey, Roy.

-Hello, Davina.

You okay?

-Yeah, great.

-Please, come in.

[Davina] Aw, thank you very much.

I am so sorry about your mom.

The year that she's passed is the year I decided to start looking for her.

[Davina gasps] So, it's hurt us a little bit more.

It was very sudden, and we know this because we have found your brother and sister.

Brother and sister?

-They're called Jo and Dan.

-Right.

And do they know anything about me?

They've known about you all their life.

[voice cracking] Right.

Wow.

Every year, on your birthday, you were spoken about.

And I... didn't expect that.

So, she did think about me.

This is your birth mother.

Oh, wow.

I can understand why my dad liked her.

Yeah.

Got a gorgeous smile as well.

It's just unfortunate this is the, uh-- the only way I'll see her.

[Davina] Mm-hmm.

Have you got a picture of, uh, Jo and Dan?

Oh, wow.

They've got nice smiles as well.

It's a strange feeling, because for 53 years, I've been an only child.

So, now, to see a picture of siblings, I feel quite blessed, really.

[Davina] Just one week later, Roy traveled to the town where he was born, to meet his brother and sister for the first time.

[Jo crying] [all crying] Roy: Oh, God.

[sighs] [Roy sniffs] -Oh, my god.

-[Jo laughs] [Roy] Oh, wow.

So... you're almost like twins.

[all laugh] I'm so pleased that we've actually got to meet you and have a relationship.

But a whole new chapter's about to begin.

I do have photos of you as a baby.

[Roy] Oh, my God.

[Jo] So, I don't know how old you were, but you were obviously... -[Roy] Is that Mum holding me?

-...a very little baby.

I think so, yes.

Wow.

[sighing] I think my mom would have been really pleased... [emotional] to see all her children together.

[Davina]Roy's father, Eccleston, was able to join them.

-Hello, my love.

-Hi.

[Eccleston chuckles] [Eccleston] Pleased to meet you.

Oh, and you.

So nice to meet you.

-Oh!

-[Eccleston chuckles] [Jo laughs] [Eccleston] Oh, dear, hello there.

We won't be any more stranger now, will we?

[Jo] No.

[Dan] No, that's exactly it.

[Roy]I've got a brother and sister.

It's a beautiful feeling.

[general chatter, typing] [Davina] It's been almost a year since we united Roy with his siblings, and they've wasted no time in making new memories together.

But Roy's happiness at finding Jo and Dan has been mixed with the grief that he's felt around never getting to meet his birth mother.

[Roy] You put them on.

I'll hold it.

[Gill] Oh, thank you.

Since I've met Jo and Dan, our relationship seems to be growing day by day.

There's a lot of contact.

It's good.

It is really good.

[Gill] Oh, that's a good one of you and Jo.

-[Roy] It's a really good one.

-Yeah.

[Davina] Today, Roy and his wife, Gill, are hosting a party for Jo to meet their friends and family.

Sadly, Dan's not able to make it.

[Gill] Oh, that was when we met Dan's children.

[Roy] In his back garden, yeah.

[general chatter] [Roy]Everyone who's coming today, they've all got a special place in my heart.

It does mean a lot to me.

[Davina]Jo and her family have traveled up to Wigan.

[Jo] It's been amazing having Roy in my life.

I wouldn't have believed anyone had they said that this connection would be like it is.

-[Roy] And here they are.

-Aw!

Hello.

-And hello, sir.

-That's Matthew.

-And how are you?

-Very good, thank you.

-Hello, Jo.

-My sister.

-Nice to meet you.

-And you.

Lovely family.

[laughs] And I'm a part of it now.

[Davina] It's those closest to Roy who have noticed the biggest change in him since finding his family.

He's been made up since he actually found out, you know, about Jo and Dan.

Tonight, he looked more himself than I've seen him in a long time.

[Gill]He's a different type of a guy now.

I think he's a little bit more at peace with his self.

[Davina]But as joyful as it's been to have his siblings in his life, there's one person that Roy will never get to introduce to everyone.

I think he fully expected his mom to be alive, and he struggled with that.

[Davina]Roy is trying to come to terms with the fact that he just missed the chance to meet his birth mother, Janet.

[Roy]I have been through a grieving process, and I think I'm still going through it, really.

It comes over me in waves.

I searched too late, and that's something that I'll have to live with for the rest of my life.

[Davina]Roy has traveled to the South Coast, where his birth mother lived, and with the help of Jo, he wants to understand more about Janet's life.

Having Jo and Dan's support will certainly help with the process that I'm going through.

They can help me build memories and highlight things about our mother that I never knew.

And they're still going through a grieving process themselves.

-Morning.

-[Roy] Hello.

-Alright?

-I am, are you?

Yeah, thank you.

Oh!

[Roy chuckles] Right, come on.

Let's go.

[Davina]Today, Jo is taking Roy on a tour along the coast to visit some significant places in their mother's life.

I'm really grateful and thankful that you're here with me today.

I just hope I don't let you down with my sketchy memories.

You can't let me down, Jo.

You can't let me down.

[Davina]The first stop for the siblings is the flat where Janet lived.

[Jo] So, Mum's flat was in the middle floor.

See where the drainpipe is, the window to the left of that?

How long was our mom here for?

Twenty-- twenty-seven, twenty-eight years.

-So, quite a... -Really?

[Jo] Quite a long time.

Mum had a number of unhappy relationships, so when she was single, this is where she moved and found her happiness at last.

She used to love having the grandchildren stay.

It was the highlight of the week for her.

I really wish I could have spent some time with her.

I know I can't replace Mum or give Mum back to you, but at least we can fill in those blanks for you.

'Cause she was amazing.

But then part of me thinks, "Should I tell you how amazing she was?"

Because... if you don't know she was amazing, you can't miss her so much.

I do miss her, and I don't know her.

Because without her, I wouldn't be here.

It's okay.

[seagulls crying] [Davina] Jo has brought Roy to the seafront at Littlehampton.

[Roy] It's nice around here, isn't it?

One of her favorite places to come on a Saturday afternoon.

-Shall we sit here?

-[Roy] Yeah.

[Roy] Perfect.

Mm.

-Cheers.

-Cheers.

Cheers, Mum.

Mum used to come and people-watch on a lovely sunny day.

I get the people-watching.

I enjoy people-watching.

Just watching the world go by.

Contemplating.

So, that's obviously where I get it from, our mom.

[Jo] Mum used to love a fish finger sandwich as well.

[Roy] Oh, yeah.

[Davina]The siblings have commissioned a plaque to be placed on a memorial bench here, in honor of their mom.

Oh, it's lovely, isn't it?

[Roy] "Wish you were here with us, but we know you are watching over us.

Together against all odds.

Love always, Roy, Jo, and Dan."

[Jo]I think Mum would be over the moon today with me spending that time with Roy.

It was her greatest wish that she'd be reunited with him and that we'd all be together.

[Roy]To be walking in my mom's footsteps today, I felt a nice, warm glow through me.

And going forward, it's down now to Jo and Dan and obviously myself to keep building on this relationship that we've made so far.

It is exceptionally special.

I'm enjoying and loving every single minute of it.

[Jo laughs] [Davina] After we reunited Joselyn Taylor with her brother James, she asked us to help find her birth father, who she knew nothing about.

We've discovered that he's passed away and have toldJoselyn this news off-camera.

But we also found out she has a half-sister, Trish.

Before finding her brother, Joselyn had no links to her birth family.

Meeting James gave her that connection to her birth mother, but this search is one that just keeps on growing.

And, today, I'm able to tell Joselyn the incredible news that we've found family on her father's side too, and show her a photo of him, which we've had restored.

[Davina] Hi.

A sign language interpreter is joining us again.

[Davina] Thank you for seeing me today.

I'm really sorry that we couldn't give you better news about your birth father.

Have you been okay?

Tell me about the DNA discovery you made.

So, we did test further members of Lee's family, and we have found your sister, Trish.

So, you have the same father.

Her mother was married to your father, Peter.

And they had a boy and then twins... called Trish and Anne.

But when the twins were born... Peter left, and...

He left.

So, Trish never knew her father.

No.

Trish has lost all her siblings.

They've died.

She didn't.

She never knew about you.

It's a very happy surprise.

[gasps] She did give us a photograph of Peter.

Yeah.

This is your birth father on his wedding day.

I've got a picture of Trish.

Oh!

So, now, you have a brother and a sister.

Yes!

[Davina]Today, Joselyn has come to Otley, the town where both she and Trish were born, to meet her sister for the very first time.

Trish has traveled over from Spainto meet Joselyn.

[Trish]Obviously, I can't tell her an awful lot of who her father was, because I don't know myself.

I just want her to feel happy, and we can see where the futuretakes us.

I'm excited now to go see her.

[Davina]The sisters are meeting at a restaurant by the river.

The interpreter is joining them.

-Pleased to meet you.

-[Trish] And you.

Oh, she's here.

Oh, my God.

-Hi.

-[Joselyn] Hello.

[Trish] Oh, God.

[laughs] [crying] [Trish] Oh, my word!

Hi.

It's so, so good to see you and meet you.

[Trish laughs] Oh my God, I knew I would do this.

Cry.

Do you feel excited?

And me to find out about you.

Well, I didn't know him either.

Both of us, we were in the same boat.

Yes.

But that's not our fault.

[Trish] No.

We have missed out on 68 years together as a family.

Together.

You also would have had one more brother and one more sister.

Unfortunately, they are no longer with us.

But I...

I lose them, and I find you.

[Trish] I'm feeling relief and so, so much happiness in my heart to have met her and to know that we get on.

Thank you.

Thank you.

[Trish]Joselyn is a sister to me now.

Well, what more could I want?

What more could I want?

[end music playing]