Tears watching a tv programme ........

I have never watched an episode without crying!

I don’t watch it as I find I cry at everything these days. The news I find particularly upsetting!

Glad it's not just me. Feel a bit stupid, but it always gets me.

DanniRae I watch it at work as a PA and we love this programme so much. In the last lockdown we rewatched every episode from the start and we cried so much.
Some of the stories - just when you think it's the saddest another shocker comes along.
I think my favourite - but I have loved them all so it's only by a tiny bit - is the Irish couple who came to London and had three baby then the vile landlady told them to get their bastard out of her house. They gave their beautiful boy up and tried to get him back but the court said no.
They are still together and brought their family up. The dad said "he is our son and we want him back."
So cruel when they were managing but people's prejudices prevented them from being parents.
I know a lot of the time people couldn't manage and it was the right decision at the time but there was a lot of cruel decisions made for people.

We did laugh at the earlier episodes because Nicky was a bit like - so why did you give your child up? As time went on he mellowed a bit after hearing so many heart breaking stories.

By far my most favourite tv programme ever. I am illegitimate and traced my father from age 12 finally meeting him at 28. I hope so many of the families have kept there happy endings going. Tragic some of the stories.

It tugs at my heart strings every time I watch it

There was one in the last series where a woman had given her baby up but her whole family knew about him, she always talked about "her son in Scotland", but she died before they could be reunited. The children did meet each other though. DH had to wring me out and get a bucket and mop to clear up after me .

Then the lady who found out she was half Native American?

I love this series.

Nicky himself was an adopted child who traced his birth parent(s). I think this helps him to interview with sensitivity.

Yes wow Alegrias when they showed the picture of her Grandad the big chief I shouted "that's who you are!",

My husband says I'm not watching it's too sad but it's tears of joy really.

Davina had a bad upbringing which makes her sensitive too it as well. I hope they keep the same presenters and never stop making it !

Anyone who isn't touched by this programmehas to have a heart of ice!

That is my husband doesn't want to watch because it's too sad he doesn't stop me! ^

I can’t watch an episode without crying either, I just wish Davinia wasn’t in it. She was estranged and wouldn’t make up with her own mother. When she very slowly drags out would …you….like…to…see…a…photo…I fume. No the answer could be, I suppose, I’ve searched for 60; years why would I want to see it?

There`s no shame in tears as my grandpa used to say.
I stopped watching it for that reason as i cry for ages and keep thinking about them.

I cry a little too but I so love the program. I also love 24 hrs in A & E. I find the stories of the people very interesting.

As a family we lived the experience when my husbands birth mother found him.

They were the first couple to be reunited after the law change that allowed birth parents to find their children.

It was an incredible story as his parents did eventually marry.
It was a roller coaster ride!

The full story would be worthy of a book!

I can't watch this lovely programme without being reduced to tears, so I no longer watch it. It's too close to home.

I love this series even though it makes me cry. It was DH who saw it first.

I do enjoy this programme but have yet to shed a tear. Maybe I'm just a mean old Grandma

I was saddened with the chap who hadn't got in touch with the Adoptions Department at the GRO though.Adopted children and biological parents are allowed to leave notes in their files saying they'd love to make contact when/if the child/parent comes looking for them. Usually from the age of 18. This man's mother had left a letter but he'd failed to look for it.

Maybe he just didn't know.

Similar thing happened in my OH's family. Sister popped up that nobody had known about. Caused huge upset with the mother. The whole family was rather traumatised by the whole thing. They're not all happy endings

But the ones that are make me feel happy. Without any tears!

I watch the programme with a professional eye as I once worked for an Adoption Agency and it was my job to do the counselling, tracing and then supervise the reunions.

They’re not all happy endings. One that sticks in my mind was a young lass who got in touch with me from another county, so I referred her for local counselling whilst I did the tracing. I discovered that the child had been conceived when the couple, who were engaged, were at university. They married as soon as they graduated and 18 years later they were still married and had two young children, neither of whom had been told about their big sister.

When I contacted them (by letter) I initially received no response, which was very hard on their daughter as she was waiting for a call from me every day. Eventually I sent a second letter merely asking them to confirm that they had received the first and I got a phone call from the birth mother. She was very frosty and said they had received the letter but they wanted no contact with the daughter as they didn’t want their lives to be upset. I explained that, by law, their daughter was entitled to the record of her birth and that she could easily find their address and make an unsupervised visit. I asked if they would meet me to discuss the implications of that, but again was met with a refusal.

Ten minutes later I got a phone call from the birth father who had gone out to a phone box to call me. He told me that, for the first time in their marriage he had rowed with his wife; he was desperate to meet his daughter, but his wife was adamant that she would not.

To cut a long story short I eventually met with them twice and the wife refused to budge. The husband then arranged to meet his daughter anyway and they got on like a house on fire. She was actually a really lovely girl and tried so hard to understand the reasons why her birth mum took the stance she did.

At the time I left the agency they had met again and the birth father was insisting that his other children had to be told about their sister. He had also told both sets of parents about the meetings and they all supported his wife’s view that he should not have agreed to be contacted by his daughter. I occasionally wonder if the marriage survived.

The authorities and families were so cruel to girls and women. That is what always strikes me.

I love the chap who'd been in care who found his bossy sister, it was a few weeks ago now. She said 'well I'll look after him if he wants me too' and I bet she will aswell!

Wow grannyactivist what a story how sad all round.

My grandma had a brother, little Ronnie, who had died of meningitis when he was 10 and she always said it was for the best because he was illegitimate.

Yes JaneJudge that was a lovely episode. Just so so sad. What lives people are dealt.

I have watched it for a long time now and cry every episode. I am not a huge fan of Davina in other programmes but think her and Nicky are wonderful in this. Having 3 out of 4 grandparents who were illegitimate, I am fascinated by the stories and find them all very emotional. It is always so sad when it is discovered that a mother or father has died before being found.

i watched when it first started and all i could think about was my dad, i stayed with my gran and growing up she was visited by someone i called uncle, i never new my dad was not my dad until i was 11 and asked my gran if she was not my dads mum or my mums mum then how was she my gran, something we doing in school about family trees, she told me my uncle was my dad, met him at my grans funeral then called him when i had my son, he wanted to just leave things the way they were, 6 years ago i started to think about him, i wanted to find him and hoped it would not be too late, i put a notice on facebook missing people and my half sister who is ages with my son saw and said to her half brother, he emailed and gave me a phone number, i called and it turned out he had been looking for me but did not know my married name, we met and the first meeting did not go well, he refused to talk about the past, i said i was fine with that but...i said i felt sorry for him, he has been on his own for 20 years and he has been the one who missed out on a brilliant daughter and has an amazing grandson and a beautiful great grandson that he will never get to know. we are good friends now and we talk every week, but he will never really be dad, i think it will be the same for a lot of the people on long lost family, most of them grew up with a mum and dad and finding biological parents is great but they will never be mum or dad, i think when you are an adult you find that too much time has past and they can't just slot in to the role as a parent, they will become good friends and more like an aunt and uncle.

I love the programme. Never miss it & watch repeats but I’m sure there are birth families who are a “can of worms” or adopted-out children who are found & wreak havoc on their birth family. It’s worrying territory.

?nexus68 I have got tears in my eyes reading your own LLF post.
I think the not knowing doesn't leave your mind like a dull ache. I am glad you know your dad now but I agree with everything you say. You can come to a peace with it though. And it is good to see who you and your children look like.