Long Lost FamilyEpisodes Guide

A former professional rugby player has spent more than a decade searching for his birth mother, and a 71-year-old is trying to find the daughter she last saw 50 years ago.

A retiree searches for the baby daughter she gave up for adoption nearly 50 years earlier. And, a woman searches for her brother, who was disowned by their parents 40 years ago.

A man has been searching for his birth mother in the 20 years since his adoptive parents died. And, a woman in her 60s is looking for the woman who abandoned her as a toddler.

An adopted woman searches for the older sister she has never met. Another woman has spent years searching for her father, who disappeared from her life 20 years ago.

A man from south-east London hopes to track down his estranged father before his wedding day. Plus, a woman from Saffron Walden looks for her birth mother.

After discovering at the age of 30 that she has a younger sister, a woman searches for her. Plus, a lady needs assistance as she looks for her birth mother.

After 40 years of heartache, 68-year-old Sue hopes to be reunited with her daughter. Plus, firefighter Alan is desperate to meet his birth mother.

Wendy searches for her father who disappeared at the height of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. 52-year-old Helen hopes to be reunited with her son.

Brothers, David and Paul, are searching for their father who disappeared from their lives when they were young boys. Mother of two, Julia, is desperate to find her own mother who she has never known.

53-year-old Robert hopes to find his birth mother who vanished when he was two years old. Plus, twins Gail and Juliet search for their brothers.

As a child, Sharon was the centre of an emotional tug of war between two families. Will she finally be reunited with her birth mother?

Ann from Hampshire searches for the son she gave up for adoption when she was 21. Plus, 28-year-old nurse Louise hopes to track down her French father.

After searching for her birth mother for 25 years, Sara needs help before she gives up entirely. Plus, Pauline hopes to track down her younger brother.

Richard had a very happy childhood and wants to meet his birth mother to thank her for the sacrifice she made. Plus, Tania hopes to reconnect with her father.

After getting pregnant at the age of 19, Inge was sent halfway around the world to give birth in secret. Decades later, she hopes to be reunited with her daughter.

Stephen grew up feeling ashamed that his birth mother was unable to keep him. He searches for answers to questions that have plagued his adult life.

When Colin joined the army, his mother revealed that she had given birth in 1945 and put the baby up for adoption. Colin hopes to finally reunite his family.

Anger always prevented army reservist John Farrell from seeking the truth about his birth father. Now a parent himself, John searches for the truth.

66-year-old Gillian is searching for the baby she gave up for adoption when she was 18. Plus, Sandra has been looking for her birth mother since she was 15.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell present more remarkable and moving stories of people anxious to find long-lost relatives. Taxi driver Cliff Jardine grew up at odds with his adoptive parents and has been desperately trying to find his mother, but he discovered she had moved to Singapore. Sue Ward, born in Singapore and adopted by a British couple, has longed to know more about her birth mother. Could they both be searching for the same woman? The programme also looks at the case of paediatric nurse Anna London-Truckle, who was born in Ecuador and adopted by a British couple at the age of two. Although grateful to her adoptive parents, Anna feels a huge disconnect with her roots. Faced with a seemingly impossible search in a developing country, Anna fears she will never have the opportunity to find her mother, who made the ultimate sacrifice to give her a better chance in life.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell present more remarkable and moving stories of people anxious to find long-lost relatives. Mother-of-three Samantha Whyte is searching for the Swiss father she has never met. Raised on the story of her parents' whirlwind romance in Zurich, she became desperate to know the man behind the myth and turned to Long Lost Family for help. The programme also looks at the story of Vanda James, who is hoping to put an end to a secret that has haunted her family for over 50 years. As a child, Vanda remembers a new-born baby who was taken away at a few days old. Vanda discovered that the baby was her brother, but her mother died before she could pluck up the courage to talk about it. She is determined to find her brother, but what she finds turns out to be bigger than she could possibly have imagined.

Deborah Ozturk - who was born in Australia and adopted by a British family - has spent years longing to find her birth mother and thank her for the incredible sacrifice she made in giving her up as a baby. Deborah learned as a teenager that her adoptive parents actually knew her mother, who had chosen them to bring her up. The programme also details the story of Ray Jones, who at the age of two was separated from his mother and younger brother and put in a children's home. It was only last year, after accessing his case file, that Ray uncovered the biggest missed opportunity of his life. The file contained a letter written by his mother when he was 15, saying that she wanted him back. Ray never received the letter. Although he fears that it is too late to know his mum, Ray hopes that he can find his brother and get some answers about his past.

This episode features two stories of women haunted by events from their history: A mother whose brief time with her baby has been wiped from her memory and a daughter trying to come to terms with the legacy of her mother's troubled past.

This week we have two stories of children desperate to find missing parents: A son who wants his father to be proud of him, and a woman searching for the youngest birth mother we've ever come across, who was only 13 years old when she had her.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell present more remarkable and moving stories of people anxious to find long-lost relatives. Mother and daughter Val and Marisa Moorhouse from Yorkshire are searching for their missing son and brother. When she gave birth to her second child, Stephen, Val could not afford to give him the life he deserved and made the heart-breaking decision to have him adopted. Today, Val and Marisa are desperate to find Stephen and have him back in their lives. The second story features Sam Cashmore who was adopted as a baby and has a life many people would envy, but her path to happiness has been overshadowed by the absence of two important women in her life - her birth mother and her sister. Ever since she learned that her birth mother was forced to give up a younger daughter for adoption as well, Sam has been desperate to contact her and hope that her search will also uncover the sister she has never met.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell present more remarkable stories of people anxious to find long-lost relatives. Miriam Aragon Hay grew up in Wales with her single mother Veronica and was never allowed to ask about her Salvadorean father. Veronica had been a missionary nun in El Salvador and fell in love with a local mariachi band guitar player called Victor, but she had to leave the country when she became pregnant. Miriam has a photograph of her father and has even seen him in a TV documentary, but longs to know the real man. Also, the story of Annie Sims, who has struggled to come to terms with the decision her birth mother made to give her up for adoption as a baby. Annie's compassion for her mother grew when she realised how difficult it must have been for her to make that impossible decision to keep her elder sister and give her away. Today, Annie is more determined than ever to find her birth mother and hear her side of the story.

Episode 1 features another first for Long Lost Family, a divorced couple searching together for the son they were forced to give up as teenagers.Marion and James met when they were seven years old growing up in Catford, South London. Marion was raised by her grandparents and James lived two streets away with his parents. They started going out with each other when they were teenagers. Also this week, we meet Cathie Cutler-Evans, a woman desperate to find her birth mother after more than 50 years apart. Cathie lives in Chester where she runs a barbers shop and raises her three sons. She grew up on the Wirral where she had a happy childhood and knew from an early age she was adopted. When she was a teenager, Cathie's adoptive parents showed her a letter from her birth mother Adrienne, thanking Cathie's adoptive parents for giving her a loving home and asking them to explain to Cathie how much she loved her. It was a life changing moment for Cathie, who wanted to know more about her birth mother.

Episode Two features two stories of people's lives torn apart by circumstances beyond their control: Our first ever search on behalf of a birth father searching alone for an adopted child; and a woman raised in children's homes longing to find her mother.

Episode Three features two stories of mothers and sons pulled apart: a man whose mother put him up for adoption through an advert in the local paper; and a woman who adopted two kids after giving up her own son.

Episode Four features two people searching for answers to family secrets: A woman who only discovered she had an older sister two years ago and a man desperate to find the father he's never met.

Episode Five features two stories of lives turned upside down by unexpected revelations: A man longing to find the brother his mum never told him about, and a woman searching for the father she fears may not want to be found.

Episode Six features two stories of childhood loss: a daughter whose only link to her father is a letter and a woman searching for her twin sisters after more than 60 years apart.

Episode Seven features two lives overshadowed by questions from the past: a man searching for the brother given up for a wartime affair, and a woman longing to understand the reasons behind her adoption.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell reunite more family members with their missing relatives. In this episode, two of our youngest ever searchers look for birth family on the other side of the world.

This episode features two stories of new beginnings: a woman separated from her mother because of a tragic twist of fate; and our first transgender searcher, desperate to know if their birth mother will accept them.

This episode features two stories shaped by moments from British history: a family torn apart by the birth of a wartime baby and a daughter given up against a backdrop of racism.

This episode features two stories with unexpected outcomes: a woman searching for her older brother who was a family secret for decades and a former England rugby player desperate to find his mother and his sister.

This episode features two women looking for answers to questions that have haunted them for decades: a woman who made a discovery as a teenager that changed her life and a mother longing to find the son she felt she let down as a baby.

This episode features two stories about a man and a woman, each looking for their birth mother.

This episode features an extraordinary double search within one family: a sister looking for her brother Keith to tell him the truth about their father, and a further search with Keith to find out more about the birth mother he never knew.

The series kicks off by dedicating a full episode to an incredible story that previously hit the headlines, following one woman's search into her past which reveals layers of family that she never knew existed.

Adopted as a baby, Nicholas Rhoades asked the programme for help in trying to track down his birth mother. The only information he had was her name and the address she was living at when she gave him up, but he never found the courage to knock on the door himself. The second story follows 83-year-old Margaret Sweeney as she tries to track down the daughter she has not seen for 60 years.

Episode three of the series features another unprecedented case as the programme follows Long Lost Family's first ever celebrity searcher, KT Tunstall, as she tries to find her birth father. The episode also features two siblings searching for the birth mother they were separated from in the 60s, against a backdrop of social prejudice towards single mothers.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell follow Kathleen Fraser Jackson's search for her mother, with the 62-year-old having been trying to track down the woman who gave her up for adoption for more than 40 years. In a last-ditch attempt to help Kathleen find her mum, the Long Lost Family team samples Kathleen's DNA and adds it to an online database, which triggers an epic journey spanning continents and cultures, and unlocking more secrets - and family members - than she could ever have dreamed of.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell help more people to reunite with long-lost relatives. Alice Jones was brought up by her father, but on a visit to her mother more than 50 years ago she met her younger brother called Sam and has always hoped that one day she would see him again. Mark Ratcliffe grew up in Lancashire and at the age of 12 his parents told him he was adopted and the revelation devastated him. Ever since, he cannot shake the question of how a mother could give up her child and is now looking for answers.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell help more people to reunite with long-lost relatives. Martin Smith grew up in Rochdale and had a happy childhood, but struggled with intense feelings of rejection when he discovered he was adopted and only now feels ready to face his fears and find his birth mother. Ann Jordan always knew she was adopted and has been searching for her birth mother for over 30 years, but she will not set a date for her wedding to fiance Chris until she has found her.

In a first for the programme, Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell present an appeal for information on behalf of two families whose loved ones have been reported missing to the police. They look at the cases of Matthew Bone, who disappeared in March 2018, and Simon Greaves, who went missing five years ago. They also follow the story of Beryl Everall, who last saw her mother more than 60 years ago when she mysteriously disappeared from her life. All contact with her mother's side of the family was lost, and she was never spoken of again.

The series starts with two heart breaking stories of separation: a mother and father who, having fought in vain to get their son back through the courts, have lived with a lifetime of loss; and a son's search for his birth mother, who disappeared from his life when he was a baby. Phyllis and Kevin Haran contacted Long Lost Family after more than forty years searching for their first-born son. The couple fell in love as teenagers in Ireland in the 1970s and a couple of months into their relationship, Phyllis became pregnant. Aware of the scandal this would cause within their Catholic community, they hatched a plan to run away to England to bring up their baby. But, in London, their landlady discovered they were keeping a baby in their flat and gave them less than 24 hours to get out. Homeless, jobless and desperate to put their baby's interests first, they agreed through an agency to place their son in the care of a family, with the possibility of adoption if they couldn't find their feet.

This week features two stories of missing relatives found much closer than the searchers could ever have imagined.Our first story is of a mother who's never got over the decision made for her 50 years ago – to have her first-born child adopted. Pauline Pedder became pregnant when she was just a schoolgirl in Huddersfield. Now 65, she's longing to find her daughter, who she's never forgotten. When Long Lost Family takes up the search, an unprecedented twist reveals that Pauline's daughter lives in Huddersfield, has been doing her own investigations into her past and knows much more about her birth mother than expected.Meanwhile in Blackpool, trainee nurse Donna Cowell's life has been overshadowed by fears of what happened to her younger brother. Having grown up in the care system and had a difficult childhood, Donna turns to Long Lost Family to find out whether her brother avoided the same fate. But what she never could have guessed is that her brother turns out to be living just round the corner from her.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell help more people to reunite with long-lost relatives. Yasika Fernando was separated from her Sri Lankan birth mother when she was adopted by a British couple at a few months old, and has longed to find her since finding out the truth at 18. The other story follows Richard Standen, who is looking for the son he put up for adoption more than 50 years ago.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell help more people to reunite with long-lost relatives. Claire Martin was abandoned in Hong Kong as a baby more than 50 years ago and heads back there to appeal for information about her origins, but with the help of DNA she finds family much closer to home. The team helps Nicki Goscomb and her sisters search for their brother, who was given up for adoption in 1966.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell help more people to reunite with long-lost relatives, following a woman on a quest to solve a family mystery and find her sisters, and a woman living with the heart-breaking decision to give up her son for adoption when she was just a teenager.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell return to tell incredible stories of people desperate to find missing family and answer questions that have haunted entire lives. This week features two stories of children searching for their birth mothers after life-changing events - former Scotland footballer Dominic Matteo, who started to search after suffering a life-threatening brain tumour, and a woman, pained with emotion on her wedding day because her birth mother was missing.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell present the stories of two people trying to unravel family mysteries, with both looking for a birth parent they have never met. Fifty-seven-year-old quarry worker John Hacking was told that his birth mother left him as a baby in a pram outside a block of flats in Buxton and has been searching for her since he was 17 with no luck, while Debra Spark has never met her Italian father Ernesto, who got together with Debra's mother Olive in Milan in the 1960s.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell present the stories of two women trying to find birth parents after half a century apart. Ann Melbourne found her birth mother over a decade ago and now wants to locate her birth father Leslie, who she has limited information about in her adoption paperwork, while Amanda Village is searching for her mother Susan, who gave her up for adoption.

This week, Paula Stillie is on a quest to discover her identity, and Lisa Harding longs for the sister she's always wanted.Paula Stillie has always looked completely different from her white adoptive family in Scotland. Heartbreakingly, as a little girl she covered herself in talcum powder to try and look more like her parents. Although she had a happy upbringing, she's always wanted to know who her birth family are and where in the world she comes from. Our search for answers leads across the globe with some unexpected surprises.Meanwhile, Lisa Harding grew up in the north east of England with her single mother Moyra who worked long hours as a hairdresser by day and taxi driver by night. It was a lonely childhood and Lisa always wished for a sister. Then when Lisa was 15, Moyra confided that Lisa actually has an older sister who was given up for adoption before Lisa was born. But the decades went by, and because the subject was painful, they didn't speak about it again, until Moyra was dying of cancer and she told Lisa of her desire to find her eldest daughter. Now Lisa is on a mission to fulfil her mother's dying wish.

An extraordinary search on behalf of Kate Brown from Portsmouth takes on twists and turns and unveils one missing relative after another. Kate Brown with a foster family and the closest thing she had to a blood relative was her foster brother John, who she was very close to, but while Kate was eventually adopted by the foster family, John was sent back to the care system. Ever since, Kate has been on a mission to find him, and during her research, she made an unexpected discovery.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell present two heartbreaking stories of separation, including a man whose only memento of his birth mother and siblings is an old local newspaper article that shows them evicted from their home and squatting in an airfield. Plus, a woman searching for her only child, who she hasn't seen since he was 10 days old.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell present the stories of people searching for siblings. Steve Austin and Moira Tonge only found each other as adults, but then at their mother's funeral discovered they also had an older sister. Lisa Irvine also only found out about her brother Nicholas as an adult, when she read her adoption paperwork and wants to know what happened to him and her birth mother.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell present two more stories, with Louise Stoppani looking for the father she never knew, having discovered aged seven that the man bringing her up was not her biological dad. Jonathan Gaskarth was adopted at six weeks old, but it was only following the breakdown of his marriage that he decided to try to locate his birth parents.

With his 87th birthday approaching, retired merchant seamen Roy David searches for his daughter Cheryl, who he has not seen for nearly 60 years. After meeting his first wife Sylvia in New York while working there, the couple had a daughter, but tensions within the family lead to him separating from his wife, and eventually losing touch. Now, Roy seeks forgiveness from Cheryl and hopes to make amends.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell return to tell more stories of people desperate to find missing family and answer questions that have haunted entire lives. Jacinta Hickey's dying wish was to reunite her younger brother Paul with his birth family, and the programme follows her daughter Claire's attempt to fulfil the promise.

Episode two explores the idea that it's never too late to find answers and discover your roots.Joselyn Taylor was born profoundly deaf and put in a children's home at only two weeks old – the big question at the back of her mind has always been ‘Why?'She knows that her birth mother went on to have a son and is now searching for her older brother James as she knows that he may be the key to answer her lifelong questions.In turn, James has also been searching… for the father he never knew and had only been able to dream about. After 73 years, James finds more family than he bargained for.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell help two people searching for their missing birth mothers - a woman taken to Morocco as toddler against her mother's will, and a man given up as a baby because of the colour of his skin. Nicky and Davina discover what happened - and that however difficult it may be, the truth has transformative power.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell present tells the stories of two women who uncovered life-changing news as adults, leading them both on a hunt for long-lost siblings. While searching for her birth mother, Sian Jones discovered that she has a sister out there somewhere, while Teleena Faux found evidence of a younger brother when searching through her late mother's belongings.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell present the stories of men brought up in the care system who are trying to reconnect with the families that were taken from them. Murray Phillips was adopted from a children's home as a young boy with his older brother Ricky, who was sent back to the children's home when he was 12, leaving nine-year-old Murray completely devastated and confused. Eighty-seven-year-old Mark Chesterfield spent a large part of his childhood at a foundling hospital and has been trying to reclaim his identity ever since he found out at the age of 74 that he wasn't an orphan, as he'd always believed, but had a mother who'd wanted to be part of his life. Having traced her side of the family, he came to Long Lost Family to find out about his father's side.

The stories of two sons who were given up for adoption and the families who have stopped at nothing to find them. Andrew Barlow was adopted as a baby, but his birth mother Patricia Clark refused to sign the adoption papers and never gave up looking for him, while as a child, Julie Redman discovered that her mother Joan had given up her older brother for adoption.

This episode tells the story of two sons who were given up for adoption and the families who have stopped at nothing to find them

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell tell more stories of people desperate to find missing family and answer questions that have haunted entire lives, beginning with two men searching for the truth about their beginnings. Paul Connolly had a brutal childhood and was put out with the rubbish as a baby in east London and raised in care, while Shaun Lawrence had a happy adoption with wonderful parents but was always curious about his birth parents.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell meet Sara Hathaway who, after losing her adoptive mother and older brother in the space of just a year, is desperate to find her birth family. Plus, Diane Kerridge shares her story of being forced to give up the child she gave birth to as a teenager in the 1960s. Over 50 years later, she is hoping to find her long lost son.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell report on two more cases. More than 40 years ago, Caroline Kinsey was pregnant, alone and unable to provide the kind of family and upbringing she believed all children deserved. Burdened by her heart-breaking decision to give her son up for adoption, Caroline longs to find him, to hear that he did have a happy childhood, and to know whether he can forgive her after all these years. Raised as an only child, Paul McFarlane's beloved mother died when he was nine, but years later, a single piece of paper threw all his assumptions about his small family into question.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell follow the stories of two more people. Rachel Burch grew up in a white family and stood out in the small, West Sussex village where they lived, and is searching for her Jamaica-born birth father. Sue Davis is on the hunt for the half-brother her mother gave up for adoption after his American serviceman father went home and off the radar following Second World War.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell follows the stories of two women looking for siblings given up for adoption, but for very different reasons. Jeanette Woodyatt wants to find the brother she has never met and who was turned away from the family by her grandmother, while Karen Turnbull yearns to let her twin siblings know that their mother gave them up for adoption so they would have a better life.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell present the stories of two men hoping to find birth family. Joe McGregor was adopted as a baby in Bermuda in the 1970s and grew up in Norfolk in a loving family, yet he still yearns to find his birth family. Simon Miller's mum's dying wish was that he should find the daughter who she gave up for adoption just a few years before he was born.

The story of a birth mother looking for the daughter she was forced to give up as a teenager, and a big sister looking for her baby brother.

Paula Beer was 17 years old when she had her son. She was so terrified of her strict parents' reaction that she didn't tell them. It was only when she went to visit her aunt in Essex that the truth was revealed. Paula loved her son but had to make the heart-breaking decision to give him up for adoption. 57 years later, she still tearfully remembers the day she told him ‘to remember my voice, I will always love you'.Sharon Thomas only learned that she had a younger brother when she was in her twenties. It was a family secret, even from her, that her teenage mother Margaret had a second child out of wedlock. Her parents said they couldn't support another child and Margaret made the devastating decision to give him up for adoption. Margaret died just 10 months later from leukemia. Sharon is desperate to find her brother, for her and for her late mother.

Sue Stalley was a teenager when she became pregnant by her first boyfriend. Her mother was deeply ashamed and forced her to wear a coat to conceal the pregnancy, even in the height of summer. Sue's mother would not allow her to keep the child and Sue tearfully gave him up for adoption, but she has never forgotten her eldest son and still berates herself that she could have tried harder to keep him.Melanie Mackney had a good adoption but from her paperwork learnt that her mother had twins before her. Melanie discovers that her mother fled war-torn Yugoslavia before ending up in Australia and finally coming to England where she lived on the streets. What happened to the twins that her mother also gave up for adoption? The mystery has haunted Melanie her entire life.

This episode features two women searching for siblings - the first has been hoping to find her brother ever since learning of the enormous burden of grief her mother carried after giving him up. Tracey Boyle had children of her own before she learned of her brother's existence - after a stay in hospital following a breakdown, her mother finally confided in Tracey the enormous weight of grief she carried ever since her first-born son was prised from her hands at the age of 16 and placed for adoption. Tracey is determined to find him and let him know he was wanted.In our second story, a woman who had a strange sense she had a sister out there during her own adoption finally gets confirmation of her intuition. Liz Allward was adopted as a baby, but she always had an uncanny feeling that she had a biological sister somewhere out there and has longed to meet her from the moment she found out she was right.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell present two more stories, beginning with 66-year-old Charlotte's search for the baby she gave up as a teenager, a quest given greater urgency by her recent cancer diagnosis. Jenna was donor-conceived and has got absolutely no idea what or who she might find, and is seeking answers to many questions including if she has any siblings out there.

Cameras focus on Mary Arbuthnot, a woman raised by beloved adoptive parents, who searches for her two separately adopted siblings. In the second story, Maggie McCauley's mother had been pregnant in 1976, and now Maggie wants to find her older sister who was given up for adoption.

Both stories in this episode celebrate the bond between brothers. In the first case, Lee Sharp's adoptive parents had told him that he was a foundling, but the team discovers this isn't true and a sibling he never knew he had. In the second case, Peter MacDonald's father snatched him from his mother's arms as a baby as a train carrying her and his older brother Trevor pulled out of Preston station. After 58 years of longing, Peter wants to see his brother again.

Paula's baby's father disappeared when she discovered she was pregnant in 1979. Unable to support herself, Paula felt that adoption was the only option, but always questioned her choice. The second case features Justus Augustin, who came to London from St Lucia in the 1960s. He fell in love with a white Irish girl who became pregnant. Her father disapproved of the relationship, and insisted the baby must be put up for adoption. Unsuccessful in his efforts to be allowed to raise his daughter, Justus has yearned to find her ever since.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell present a series that aims to help people reunite with long-lost relatives, with investigators picking up the search when the trail has gone cold.