ITV’s nakedly emotional series Long Lost Family is always a powerful watch – seeing relatives reunited often after years of searching and longing.
It’s not just in the moment where they finally meet each other again – it’s the stories of everything else they’d been through to get to that point.
The show has returned for a sixth series, and in the first instalment it features a near-miraculous story of a far-flung brother and sister – who didn’t even know each other existed.
Cliff Jardine applied to the show hoping to meet his birth mother, having discovered at an early age that he was adopted during an argument with his parents.
The discovery had a profound impact on him during his teenage years, in which time he kept a hold of a letter from his birth mother. He learned that she had probably moved to Singapore, but knew nothing more.
Enter Sue Ward, who also applied to Long Lost Family – she had been adopted as a child in Singapore by a British family, and her birth mother’s first name was the same as Cliff’s birth mother.
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Following DNA tests, Cliff and Sue discovered that they were related as half-siblings – and in searching for their lost mother, they found family they never knew they had.
Elsewhere there’s the story of Ecuador-born Anna, who was given up for adoption at the age of 2 because of her mother Laura’s poverty. Growing up over 6,000 miles apart, Anna sets out to reconnect with her.
If you’re feeling in any way emotionally vulnerable, have a huge stack of tissues nearby.
ITV, 9pm
