Woman, 64, cries over fear that sister she’s never met will ‘reject’ her

A woman who discovered she had a sister when in her 20s is now searching for her more than four decades on.

Jackie, 64, grew up with her parents and two brothers, but was in her late teens when her parents split and started the process of divorcing.

But it was during this time when Jackie, then 20, was told a bombshell secret by her mother – she had a sister.

At the time she was told that her mother had given birth when Jackie was in primary school, but her younger sister had been placed up for adoption.

The family never spoke of it again.

Faced with the revelation she had another sibling; Jackie was desperate to find out more – but her mother refused to share details and forbade her from chasing any more information.

It was only after her mother died that Jackie decided she could finally look for her baby sister.

Now living in Sussex, Jackie turned to the team at the ITV series Long Lost Family for assistance to find out what happened – and whether there was a chance they could meet.

In an exclusive clip ahead of tonight’s episode, Jackie explains: ‘I can’t just leave it. Knowing there’s someone out there, she’s my flesh and blood. I’m petrified of looking for her, being, you know, rejected. But I’ve just got to try.”

 In the episode, Jackie reflects on the time when her sister was born. Just six years old at the time, Jackie had no idea her mother was pregnant, but can recall a usual day when she thinks her sister must have been born.

‘I went to school in the morning, and when I come home, I went to a different home. It was a different flat. I think they moved in a hurry, so the neighbours wouldn’t gossip about the pregnancy,’ she said.

As a young adult, Jackie spoke to her father about what might have happened.

‘When I questioned my dad about the baby he said to me: “Well, I don’t know if the baby was mine”,’ she remembers.

‘He said when mum was in hospital, he was never allowed up to see the baby, so he never saw the baby at all. The father’s not allowed to see a baby? All of it’s just weird.’

Over the past four decades Jackie has wanted to find and meet her sister and is haunted by the prospect of where she might have ended up.

‘That’s the most bizarre thing. I’ve never met her. But I just, I don’t know. It’s just love there for her. Every day. I wake up thinking, “Oh, is she awake? What’s she doing?”. Every day she’s on my mind,’ Jackie shared.

When approaching Long Lost Family for help, Jackie could only provide her sister’s date of birth – but the team of specialists managed to find out her name was Christine and that she was now married. They were eventually able to trace her and track her down to where she now lives – the Wirral.

The episode sees co-host Nicky Campbell go meet Christine, who reveals she had no idea she had a sister.

‘When I had heard the news that I actually had a sister it was just like an out of body experience, it was like I was up there and my body was like down there still and you’re sort of thinking “No, seriously?”,’ she said.

Speaking to Nicky, Christine said her children didn’t know she was adopted until the show got in contact.

Discussing the circumstances of her birth, Nicky explains to Christine that she might have been the result of an affair. When told that her older sister is desperate for them to connect, she replies: ‘I’m really looking forward to meeting her, here we go!.’

When the news of Christine being tracked down is relayed to Jackie by co-host Davina McCall, she exclaims: ‘Oh my God, I’m so happy. That’s just the best news. The best news.’

Ahead of their first meeting, Christine admits she is ‘nervous about everything’. ‘Nervous about everything, really. There have been times when I’m thinking, what the hell am I doing,’ she said.

Meanwhile Jackie is also on edge, worried whether her sister will like her.

But their nerves are quickly allayed when meeting, with the sisters crying and hugging.

‘Oh my god, I can’t stop looking at you. Honest, it’s like looking at my double,’ Jackie tells Christine.

After meeting Christine’s husband and two children, Jackie shares: ‘They’re lovely, they’re down-to-earth people. You couldn’t ask for any better.’

Long Lost Family airs Thursdays at 9pm on ITV1.

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