Long Lost Family (UK), Season 2, Episode 6. Episode image via PBS.
Anne Clegg knew from her adoption file that her birth mother had asked for pictures of her as a baby. For almost 20 years, she held on to that detail while she tried to find her. In the sixth episode of Long Lost Family’s second UK series, the team went back through the file and spotted a clue about where her mother might have started over. PBS episode and transcript
The town buried in Anne’s paperwork
Anne was six weeks old when she was adopted by a couple in Essex. She remembered a happy childhood and had three children of her own by the time she went on the programme. She had her birth mother’s name, Janet Lee, but a visit to Janet’s old address in North London took her no further. The research team found more than a hundred possible matches for the name. PBS episode transcript
One note in the adoption file said Janet’s family had arranged for her to have a flat in Southport. Researchers found a marriage record there and a second marriage record that gave them the surname Cullen. That was enough to reach Janet, who was still living in Southport and had three other daughters. PBS episode transcript
Nearly 50 years, then a meeting by the sea
Anne chose a seafront hotel on the Essex coast, where she remembered spending childhood holidays. When she and Janet finally met, they talked about the photographs Anne’s adoptive parents had sent. Anne learned how few of those pictures had reached Janet. The request in the file had been the part Anne knew. Now she could ask her mother what had happened to the rest. PBS episode transcript · Genes Reunited’s 2012 recap
Fiona had seen her sister once
In the second search, Fiona Dunn wanted to find her younger sister Maureen. Fiona had been raised by her father’s sister. As an adult, she learned that she and Maureen shared both birth parents and that Maureen had grown up with their mother. Fiona declined an early chance to meet her and later saw her at their grandmother’s funeral. The two women went home without speaking. PBS episode transcript
Decades later, a marriage record gave the team Maureen’s married name. They found her near Preston, only about ten miles from Fiona. Maureen also told them something Fiona had spent years wondering about. Their birth mother was still alive. PBS episode transcript · Genes Reunited’s 2012 recap
The conversation they had put off for decades
At a country hotel near their homes, Maureen told Fiona what she understood about the pressure their mother had faced. Fiona heard that Maureen had wanted to approach her at the funeral, too. A week after the sisters met, Fiona met her birth mother. After years of hearing the family story from other people, she finally had a chance to hear it from them. PBS episode and transcript
