A woman who was left as a newborn in a railway carriage has shared an emotional first meeting with the half-brother she never knew she had.
In Monday night’s episode of ITV’s Long Lost Family: Born Without a Trace, 76-year-old Christine was introduced to Barry, 77, who broke down in tears when he saw his younger sibling for the first time.
For both of them, the meeting marked an extraordinary milestone after decades of searching for the truth about their origins: it was the first time either had met a blood relative other than their own children.
Although Christine and Barry had spent their lives unaware of each other’s existence, they were born just a year apart in the same Portsmouth hospital — and to the same mother.
During the episode, which aired at 9pm, Christine began a search to learn more about the woman who gave birth to her and later left her at London’s Waterloo Station, on the last train from Teddington, on December 12, 1949.
She was only around five weeks old when she was found by a porter, who heard the tiny baby whimpering inside the carriage.
Reflecting on the circumstances, Christine told the programme: “Whoever did leave me obviously cared, I was left in a warm carriage, and it was inevitable that I was going to be found.” She also considered that her mother may have been facing desperate difficulties in the years after the Second World War, which had ended only four years earlier.
Police inquiries at the time failed to uncover who had left the baby behind, and Christine was eventually adopted.
On Monday night’s episode of ITV’s Long Lost Family: Born Without a Trace, Christine, 76, was introduced to Barry, 77, who burst into tears at the sight of his younger sibling
‘I thought I was never going to find anything,’ said Christine, as she hugged an emotional Barry
When she was 20, Christine met her husband Graham and they settled in New Zealand; where they raised their two sons.
‘When you have your own children, it does make you think about yourself, about why was I left?’ she shared. ‘Why wasn’t I given up for adoption rather than being abandoned?’
In her early forties, she found her way back to the UK and managed to track down her birth certificate – however, both the fields for mother and father read ‘Unknown’.
Christine recalled: ‘I had to keep looking at it, the realisation that yes it was real… then that’s when I really thought, right, I’ve got to do something now.’
During the episode, she also reflected on having had to give her own child up for adoption when she was 19 and fell pregnant during a fleeting relationship.
The decision took a toll on Christine over the years, and three years ago she was reunited with her first-born, Jonathan.
‘It was amazing. The guilt just lifted,’ she shared.
Through looking at Christine’s DNA, social worker Ariel Bruce the search team also found that she has a maternal half-brother, Barry, who lives in Fleetwood, Lancashire.
After years of searching for answers about their parents, it was the first time both had met birth family who aren’t their children
The pair were then able to look over pictures of Joyce together
Speaking to Nicky Campbell, Barry – who also didn’t know his mother as he was fostered – opened up about enduring a difficult childhood.
‘I felt that I didn’t belong there,’ he said. ‘But I didn’t know they weren’t my biological parents… There was no love at all… If I was naughty, they used to put me in the cupboard under the stairs in the dark for a couple of hours. Just let me sit there.
‘I proved them wrong,’ Barry said. ‘I trained as an engineer.’
After finishing his studies, Barry was told by a social worker that his birth mother had left him at a Portsmouth hospital – and that he wasn’t related to the family that had brought him up.
‘It was just like a bombshell,’ he admitted.
It was through Barry’s birth certificate that the team were able to reveal to Christine the name of her birth mother, Joyce Norma Brockwell – and that she had a brother.
Barry also couldn’t help but become emotional at seeing a photo of his half-sister.
‘Oh my goodness, she’s gorgeous,’ he said. ‘Big smile she’s got. I can’t wait to see her.’
The pair were grateful to be able to meet one another in Lancashire. ‘I thought I was never going to find anything,’ said Christine, as she hugged an emotional Barry.
‘I have a brother and you have a sister… and we know who our mother is.’ She added: ‘Having given up a child myself, to a certain degree I have an affinity with what she did.
‘She obviously couldn’t cope. I don’t feel any animosity at all.’ ‘Nor do I,’ Barry agreed.
The pair were then able to look over pictures of Joyce together.
‘To see a photograph of my mother was unbelievable, great,’ he said. ‘Now I can sit and look and try and get inside her head.
‘Christine certainly isn’t what I expected her to be. She was totally different – she was better!’
