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

[woman] Just to be in my father's arms... to have him hold me... it'd be like a dream come true.

[woman 2] It was a secret.

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

I just wanted my dad to be proud of me.

To turn around and say, "That's my son."

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

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

Have you?

[crying] ...offering a last chance to people desperate for help.

-[Davina] Here's your mother.

-Oh, my gosh.

I've imagined this moment my whole life.

My whole life.

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

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

-Kate.

-Hello, Nicky.

-That's your daughter.

-Oh, wow!

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

[woman] I've thought about you since I was 18.

And I think I've loved you since.

This week, two stories from overseas.

We start with a man and a woman born on opposite sides of the world whose searches for their birth mothers have remarkable coincidences.

[man] I wanted somebody to connect to.

To feel loved by and to express love to.

[Davina] And a woman separated from her mother in South America when she was 2 years old.

[woman] There was a bond that I had with her, and she knew me.

Um, and, yeah, I left.

[dramatic music ends] [seagulls crying] [Davina] First, a case that turned out to be one of the most surprising we've ever taken on.

It begins with a man who made a discovery when he was a young boy that affected him for the rest of his life.

54-year-old taxi driver Cliff Jardine lives in North Devon, not far from his daughter and grandson.

Hello, little man.

You get your eyes from your mum, but your looks from your granddad.

My grandson just reminds me of my daughter.

That feeling, you know, where you hold your newborn child.

It's a lovely feeling.

He's-- he's got a good start in life.

Um... mine, well, could have been a good start, I guess, but it didn't end up that way.

Cliff was brought up by a couple called Jean and Ron, but his childhood wasn't a happy one.

My parents were... cold, is the only way I can describe them.

They weren't emotional.

They never expressed emotion.

Um, you never heard the word "love" much in the house.

And when Cliff was just 8, his relationship with his parents fell apart.

[Cliff] Had a-- a row, I don't know what about, and I got sent up to my room by my mother.

She came through the door and threw an envelope at me and told me, "You're not our bastard son anyway," and then shut the door.

My thoughts were, "What's this?

I don't understand.

What is this?"

It was a letter revealing that Cliff was adopted.

It had been written to him as a baby in 1960 by his birth mother.

"This is probably the most difficult letter I have ever written.

I can only hope that what I cannot say you will understand.

I didn't want you to be brought up in an unhappy home, so I gave you to Jean and Ron, because I knew they would love you.

And I love you too.

God bless you and send you a happy life, your mother."

I was upset.

I suppose I felt alone in the world.

And so, you know, it-- it changed-- somehow, it changed my personality and turned me into a very angry young man.

As he grew up, Cliff struggled to come to terms with the revelation of his adoption.

I just rebelled against any-- anything to do with being told what to do.

I got expelled from three secondary schools.

Later on, in my teens, I was always in trouble with police-- fighting and petty crimes.

And so, I went to go home, and I was told, "No, you're not coming back here.

You're too much trouble."

Without anyone to turn to for help, at the age of 17, Cliff was left unemployed and homeless.

I was in a really desolate place.

Um, you know, living in squats and moving about.

But that letter from my real mother came with me everywhere.

You reach out for something that-- uh, to-- to give you comfort, to give you hope.

I wanted to know that I'm part of a family.

And so, I started looking for her.

But Cliff's search wasn't easy.

His adoption was private, so there was no official file.

-Alright?

-Thank you.

It was only years later, after his adoptive parents passed away, that Cliff found the first clue to his birth mother's whereabouts, in a collection of his parents' letters.

It says here they "next (and last) heard of her in a letter from overseas.

I think she had taken an overseas post in Singapore."

And there was no record of her returning to this country.

That's, you know-- that's where the trail went cold.

I always wonder why she went abroad.

I fear that because of what she had to do, had to give me up, she'd never be able to settle, never find that peace.

She's my mother, the person who I've been reaching out to find all my life.

When Cliff came to us, he'd been searching for his birth mother for nearly 40 years.

He tried everything he could with the information he had-- her name, which we can't disclose for legal reasons, and her age at the time he was born.

But he'd gotten nowhere.

For months, we too searched every available record in the country.

But, like Cliff, we could find no trace of her living anywhere in the UK.

So, we turned our attention to the last place where she'd been heard of-- Singapore.

But, after an extensive search in Singapore, we had no leads there either and were ready to let Cliff know that we'd have to give up on his case.

But, then, a woman from Portsmouth came to us with a story that stopped us in our tracks.

[child] Hello, Nanny!

-[woman] Hello.

-[man laughs] [woman] Come in... [Davina] 51-year-old grandmother Sue Ward has devoted her life to raising her family.

-[man] Have you got Mr. Chalk?

-No, no, I haven't.

But the identity of her own mother has remained a mystery.

[Sue] It's that history.

We all need to be able to identify with someone as, you know, "This is where I've come from.

This is what I've become."

[Sue] ...already?

[both laugh] [playful music playing] [Davina] Sue was raised by mum Valerie and dad Vernon, who were based in the Far East for work.

[Sue] That's in 1964.

I was four months old.

They were, um, inseparable.

They were just together forever.

So, it was lovely, really.

I mean, I was really very lucky.

I had a lovely childhood.

But, growing up, Sue didn't realize that her parents were not her flesh and blood.

It was only when she was 17 and had returned to England that she made a chance discovery.

I needed to get a passport.

I knew where my mum kept all our documents-- in this black handbag.

And I came across my adoption papers.

It basically said that my mum and dad weren't my real mum and dad, and I was adopted in Singapore.

I can remember standing there shaking, and sort of holding this up and saying, "What-- what's this?"

And my dad just sort of said, "Look, you know, we've obviously got to explain this to you."

I just remember feeling that... the bottom of my world had just sort of dropped out.

[voice cracking] Sorry.

[sniffs] I went through this whole raft of emotions.

I felt betrayed.

And I think...

I think it just made me really angry for a while.

And, you know, that's when all your questions come out.

Who am I?

You know, what is my background?

Out of loyalty to her adoptive parents, Sue held back from asking questions.

But ever since they passed away, she's been searching for her birth mother.

I'd started to sort of fantasize about this person.

Does she still live in Singapore?

Has she got any other kids?

Has she had a good life?

[getting emotional] Does she regret anything?

I need to know.

It would give me that sense of history and belonging, and, you know, I could finally sit down and say, "That's where I come from."

I want to know who I am.

[seagulls crying, waves crashing] [Nicky] Sue's adoption papers from Singapore contain very few clues about her mother, but...

The link to Singapore was striking.

It was the same place where Cliff Jardine's search had led us.

But the country wasn't the only thing the two searches had in common.

Extraordinarily, the woman Sue was looking for had the same name as Cliff's birth mother.

[intriguing music playing] Are these similarities just a coincidence, or are they looking for the same woman?

Are they, in fact, brother and sister?

Usually, we'd find a record of other siblings in someone's adoption papers, but there was nothing in Sue's, and as Cliff was adopted privately, there was no paper trail.

So, are they related?

There's only one way to be absolutely sure.

When we launched their searches, Sue and Cliff gave us samples of their DNA.

So, we sent these to the DNA Analysis Department at King's College, London, to test for a match.

-Hello, Nicky, my name's Denise.

-Denise, really nice to meet...

I'm here to meet Dr. Denise Syndercombe-Court.

[Nicky] So, if you're testing a brother and a sister, potentially, what level of certainty are you looking at?

[Dr. Syndercombe-Court] What we're aiming for here is at least 99% proof.

Well, I've got to say, I'm actually getting quite nervous about this.

[Dr. Syndercombe-Court] Well, here we have the results.

-That's Cliff.

That's Sue.

-Okay.

So, you can see you've got two components here, one there.

And exactly the same are seen in this profile-- two here and that one there.

Right.

So, are they brother and sister?

They are half-siblings.

Whoo!

They share a mother.

-They share a mother?

-They share a mother.

This is a significant moment.

-Yes.

-[Nicky chuckles] Well, that has never happened before-- to have two people come to us individually looking for the same birth mother, who don't even know of each other's existence.

And we were able to prove that they're half-brother and half-sister.

Well, of course, we'll continue the search for their birth mother, but, first, we've got to tell Cliff and Sue the amazing news.

[seagulls crying] I can't believe what I'm about to tell Cliff.

I mean, he would never have found out about Sue on his own.

And if they hadn't come to us at exactly the same time, he would never have known about his half-sister.

-Hey, Cliff.

-Hi.

-You alright?

-Good, you?

-Yeah.

Good, thanks.

-Come on in.

-Thank you.

-Come through.

So, I'm afraid, at the moment, we haven't as yet been able to trace your mother, but we are still looking.

Yeah.

But I did want to come, because I've got something to tell you.

Um, we had another person contact us recently, who was looking for somebody, and the similarities were quite weird.

-Okay.

-Um... so, this person was looking for their mother, with the same name, in Singapore... -Oh.

-...at the same time as you, looking for, potentially, the same person.

So, we were asking, is this a sibling?

Right.

Yeah, yeah.

So, we took the DNA sample that you gave us.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

And it is your half-sister.

-No!

Half-sister?

-Yeah.

Really?

And where-- where is she?

She's in Portsmouth.

[laughs] Really?

-She's called Sue.

-Right.

And she's three and a half years younger than you.

-Oh, my god!

-Yeah.

Oh... my god.

That's-- does she know about me?

-Not yet.

-Okay.

I mean, this has never happened before.

-Yeah, I know, that's... -For two people to come to us looking for the same person.

God, it's-- pfft-- that's just amazing.

-Do you want to see a picture?

-Yeah!

[laughs] [Davina] Here's your sister.

[Cliff] Oh, wow!

[laughs] Well, I've gotta say, that's, uh, you've really blown me away with this one.

I wasn't expecting this.

[exhales sharply] Hi...

Sister Sue.

[laughs] [exhales sharply] She was also given up for adoption.

Oh, my god!

Having lived your whole life by yourself and never sort of feeling part of a family, to actually find out I have a family tucked away that I never knew about is, um, yeah, amazing.

And, of course, I was just tunnel vision for my mother.

I hadn't even conceived siblings.

But I'm blown away.

I'm struggling to find words.

Have you got any more information about my mother from-- from her?

Sue has got even less information than you.

Right.

I'll be happy, more than happy, to let her know everything I know.

[chuckles] Wow!

I want to see her.

I want to talk to her now.

[chuckles] [Davina] But before we tell Sue she has a brother who wants to meet her... Our second story starts over 5,000 miles away, in Ecuador, South America.

[indigenous music playing] [guanaco bleating] In 1986, in Riobamba, in the heart of the Andes, a little girl called Viviana was born.

She spent her early years living in poverty with her birth mother, Laura.

But when she was 2 years old, she was separated from her mother, adopted from her home country, and her life changed forever.

[woman] I have no memories of being in South America, and unless I find my mum, that whole part of my life is missing.

[vendor yelling in Spanish] [bell tolling] Now 29 and called Anna, she was adopted by a British couple and grew up in the city of Cambridge, a world away fr om her beginnings in Ecuador.

[ducks quacking] The only record she has of her other life is a diary that her parents kept of the adoption.

It contains details of the moment Anna was separated from her mum.

[Anna] They've written here-- "Suddenly, there was a tapping at the door.

They entered holding a small, plump girl with big, black eyes, big, red cheeks, and hair pulled straight back into a ponytail.

She had on a pale dress and white shoes, and she was covered in dirt."

[dramatic piano music playing] [Anna] It was hard, I think, to read the first time, because, obviously, it's me, and I'm Ecuadorian.

But I do feel like this is another world.

The diary revealed that Anna's mother's ci rcumstances were more extreme than Anna could have imagined.

She was supporting not only Anna but her ill mother and large family as well.

"Her mother, therefore, had to work very hard, putting in long hours.

She had, in fact, two jobs-- from four in the morning to midday in the kitchens.

Then, from 2 o'clock in the afternoon to midnight."

My mum didn't have any money.

She was destitute, and I think she had no other choice but to give me up for adoption.

Um... for any mum, you've gotta be in a pretty hard place to give up your child.

But I think she knew how hard my life was going to be if I stayed there.

[train running over tracks] Hi, Noah, you okay?

-I'm fine, thank you.

-Yeah?

Good.

Anna now lives in London with her husband and works as a pediatric nurse.

We'll put it under here.

I am really grateful to my parents for adopting me.

-And how are you feeling?

-Okay.

-[Anna] Yeah?

Good.

-Thank you.

[Anna] Without them, I definitely wouldn't have the life that I have.

-[Anna] Hi!

-Hello.

[Anna] But I think there's always been a part of me that doesn't really know who I am as a person, because I had two years of my life that I don't know anything about.

And unless I find my mum, I think there will always be a part of me missing.

When Anna came to us, she'd tried everything to trace her mother online, but not speaking Spanish, she got nowhere.

We needed to get back to where she last saw her mother, 5,000 miles away, in Ecuador.

[sheep bleating] [Nicky] We started our search in the city Anna was adopted from, Riobamba.

We knew that Anna's mother's maiden name was Laura Gadvay Gaucho, a combination of her father and mother's surnames.

But we couldn't find her under this name.

If she was married, the custom in Ecuador would be for her to take her husband's name and drop the maternal part.

So, she would be Laura Gadvay something.

But we didn't know what the "something" was.

So, we decided to look for any brothers of Laura who wouldn't have changed their name.

And that's when we had our breakthrough.

We found just one Gadvay Gaucho-- William-- living in Riobamba.

We contacted him, and he told us he did have a sister called Laura who'd married and changed her name.

William put us in touch with his sister, who confirmed she'd had a daughter when she was 19 who she'd named Viviana and given up for adoption.

All her life, Anna has wanted to know her mum and connect with her past.

The question is, will Laura want to know her daughter?

Or is Anna part of her life she simply wants to forget?

-Laura.

-¿Cómo está?

Buenos días.

Me llamo Nicky.

-Mucho gusto.

-Mucho gusto.

-[Laura] Pase.

-Thank you.

Gracias.

Laura's life has moved on.

She met her husband 20 years ago and had two more daughters, who are now grown up.

[Nicky] Hiya.

A local English speaker is going to help us with translation.

So, Laura, what was it like when you heard that Viviana, Anna, was looking for you?

[speaking Spanish] [speaking Spanish] So, what was Anna like as a baby?

That must have been so hard for you.

So, how did the adoption come about?

So, you felt that you had to give her up, because you couldn't give her a life?

Did you know that she had been adopted by people from England?

[Laura] No.

Would you like to see a photograph of, uh, Viviana?

-¿Foto?

-Sí.

[exhales sharply, gulps] [sniffs] [exhales sharply] [crying] [exhaling, sniffing] She works as a children's nurse.

[Davina] Cliff Jardine and Sue Ward have spent years searching for the same birth mother, without any knowledge of each other's existence.

We haven't found their birth mother yet, but we have proved that they are half-brother and sister and told Cliff about Sue.

Here I am.

[Nicky] Now I'm on my way to tell Sue the amazing news that she has a half-brother, Cliff.

[Nicky] Thanks very much.

-Hello, Sue.

How are you?

-Alright.

-Come on through.

-I'm Nicky.

-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you too.

[Nicky] Thank you very much.

Well, it's an unusual situation, but, so far, we haven't been able to trace your birth mother.

I'm sorry.

It doesn't really surprise me.

But I've got some news for you.

Another person came to us searching for a birth mother with the same name.

Oh, how spooky.

Yeah.

So we used the DNA sample that you gave us to test against the DNA of this person-- and we found there is a match.

That you have a half-brother on your mother's side.

Cliff.

[softly] Wow!

[chuckles] Wow.

[exhales] This is just unbelievable.

[laughs] That's got to be one in a million.

Does he know about me?

Yes, we told him.

He is absolutely over the moon.

Oh!

I think I might have a little idea about how he feels.

[whimpers] Does he have family and kids and things, and...

He's got a daughter and a grandson.

Oh, wow!

[Nicky] That's your brother.

[Sue, emotional] Oh.

Oh.

That's so cool.

It's so cool.

You don't know how important this is for me.

Does he want to meet me?

[laughs] Of course he does.

-Um... -[quietly] Yes!

[Nicky laughs] You can search for your birth mum together.

-Do you know what?

-What?

It's almost like... if that doesn't happen, it doesn't happen.

But this is fantastic.

I can't thank you enough.

[Davina] Today, Cliff has travelled from Devon to London to meet his half-sister, Sue, who, until a few days ago, he didn't even know existed.

-[Cliff] Hi!

-How are you doing?

I'm good, how are you?

So, how are you feeling?

-Have you slept?

-No.

But, hey.

What do you want from today?

Well, I just hope that we, uh, sort of-- there's some sort of instant chemistry.

[Davina] Uh-huh.

Having grown up without family life, the concept of having family is, like, really foreign.

Yes!

And then I think just our commonality of trying to find our mum, and... [Davina] Together.

Wanting to know more about who our mother was is gonna bond us, I think.

Cliff and Sue are going to meet at a restaurant on the South Bank of the Thames.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

[dramatic music playing] How are you?

-Very good, thank you.

-Yeah?

Thank you very much.

[laughs] So, what's that like, finding out that you've got a half-brother?

It's amazing.

Already, my kids have said that Cliff and I look similar and have got the same eyes, which is lovely, because it's-- it's that identity thing.

And one of the big things for me is, what information has he got about our mum?

That's buzzing around my head quite a lot at the moment, obviously.

[laughs] I'm scared.

I am scared.

[restaurant chatter] Right, that's the place.

That is where you're gonna meet your brother.

[sentimental music playing] -Good luck.

-Thank you very much.

I'll be in touch.

Yes.

[quietly] Thank you.

[chuckles softly] -Oh.

-[Cliff chuckling softly] Hello.

-Hi.

You're my sister.

-[Sue laughs] Yeah.

Yes.

-[Cliff] Sit yourself down.

-Thank you.

-[sighs loudly] -I'm your big brother.

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

I just never thought I'd ever feel like this.

Me too.

Me too.

I've, uh, lived a life without family, and 50-odd years I've been waiting for this, which is pretty cool.

It is.

Like, we've got years to get to know each other properly, and it's just amazing.

And, hey, there's two of us now can try and find the one instead of feeling like you're doing it all by yourself.

Yeah, absolutely.

Do you know, I feel... Oh...

I feel like a little girl inside.

-Do you?

-[laughs] [Sue sniffs] [Cliff] Welcome home.

[Sue] It just feels really comfortable with Cliff, because Cliff is a piece of me, and I'm a piece of him.

I immediately felt like a big brother.

Oh, it just made life seem so much sweeter.

I think it makes it easier, because there's two of us, so whatever I'm feeling, I'm sure he's gonna be feeling too.

And I just think it's gonna get better and better, and I can't wait.

[seagulls crying] [Davina] Anna London Truckle was separated from her birth mother at the age of two, when she was adopted from Ecuador.

Ever since, she's been desperate to see her mother and make a connection with her past.

It must have been difficult for Anna growing up in Britain and feeling so removed from her roots and her birth family, and not knowing anything about those first two years of her life.

But I'm on my way to tell Anna that her mum's been found.

And, at last, they'll be able to see each other again.

[sighs] [line ringing] [door buzzes, clicks] -Hi, Anna.

-Hello.

-How are you?

-I'm good, thank you.

Come in.

Good.

Thank you very much.

Thanks.

[door closes] -[Davina] Thanks for the tea.

-That's okay.

What's incredible about your story is that you were with your birth mother -until you were 2, and that's... -2 years, yeah.

That's so rare.

I think that's also what makes it hard, is that there was a bond that I had with her.

And I had a personality, and she knew me.

Um, and, yeah, and I left.

Hmm!

And now, you want to find her.

Yeah.

My parents have always been, like, honest with me.

And I've always said, because of the way she was living, she may not be alive.

Um, so, I've-- I've never put all my hopes in that I will find her.

Mm.

Well, you can stop looking, 'cause your mother's been found.

[quietly sobs] [Anna sniffs] [crying] I can't believe you just told me that.

[gasps] [sniffs, exhales sharply] You don't know what this means to me.

Oh, I can see what it means.

She's still where she was when she had you.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

And she still remembers me?

She's never forgotten you.

She's lived with guilt.

[exhales sharply] I never wanted her to feel guilty, never.

Because I knew what she did was right.

I knew what she did was right.

That'll mean a lot to her.

Is she... okay with me trying to find her?

She's so happy.

I just can't believe it.

I just can't believe it.

So, has she got a bit of a better life?

She's, uh, married, and she and her husband went on and had two girls.

And she's had a-- a better life.

You know, she's in a good-- she's in a good place.

That's-- it's amazing.

So, do you-- have you seen, like, a photo of her or anything?

I have seen a picture of her, actually.

-And I've got it in my bag.

-Oh, my god.

[Davina] Would you like to see it?

Does she look like me at all?

Well, I think-- Do you want to see?

You can have a look for yourself.

-Oh, my god!

-[Davina clears throat] Oh!

I don't know if I want to see it.

[whispering] Go on, look.

It's your mum, look.

-Oh, my god!

-[laughs] -It's you.

-Yeah!

It is, it's me!

[crying] Oh, my god!

[exhales] [laughs] I've never had that feeling of belonging to someone.

Yeah, it's nice.

I genuinely never thought that this day would happen.

No, never.

[Anna] Hey!

[Chris] You okay?

What?

I just found my mum.

[crying] I've got a photo.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

[Anna crying] [laughing] She looks just like you.

[both laugh] [upbeat music playing] [vendor yelling in Spanish] [Davina] Today, two months after I met Anna in London, she's travelled to Riobamba, in Ecuador, to meet her mother for the first time in 27 years.

[Anna] Being back in Ecuador is amazing.

Actually seeing people that look like me, and I can recognize, this is where I came from.

That's really nice.

Because I know this is where my mum is, I feel, like, a sense of belonging here.

Yeah.

[vendor yelling in Spanish] [dog barking] [speaking Spanish] Mother and daughter are meeting in a hotel just outside the city.

The translator is also there to help.

[Laura] Hola.

[Anna] I can't quite believe that today is the day I meet my mum.

I'm not gonna believe it until I see her.

[sentimental music playing] [Anna crying] [Laura crying and talking] It's okay.

[Anna] It's okay.

[Laura sobs] It's fine.

[talking between sobs] [sobbing] Ay.

It's okay.

Please do not feel guilty for anything that you did.

I had a good life.

And I understand why you did it.

[sentimental music playing] I know that you loved me.

I felt the pain that she'd been carrying for such a long time.

And, um, I'm just glad I could tell her that, you know, not to feel like that anymore.

[both laughing] Every day, I thought about you.

And this is... amazing... that I get to meet my mum.

I feel so happy.

I feel freer.

I'm so excited for what's to come.

[Laura and Anna laughing] I've found my mum, and she's not gonna go out of my life again.

[Anna laughs] [Davina] Next time on "Long Lost Family," a woman looking for the father she's never met.

To meet my father now would be a miracle.

And a sister's search for a brother that has an unexpected outcome.

It's quite a story.

Oh!

[peaceful music playing]