Episode two of Long Lost Family features two heart-breaking stories of missed opportunities — a mother who, having given up her daughter for fostering, had the chance to have her back again, but chose for her daughter’s sake to give her up for a second time; and a man searching for the father who has missed out on over 40 years of his son’s life.
First we meet Christine, who was just sixteen-years-old when she gave birth to Marguerite in Glasgow. Sharing a single room with her elderly grandmother and a new-born baby was less than ideal and it became clear that Christine could not cope. Christine approached social services and Marguerite was placed with a long-term foster family.
Christine went on to marry and have other children, but she never stopped thinking of her little girl. When Marguerite’s foster mother died, Christine was told she was eligible to have her daughter back in her life. With her marriage now in difficulty and struggling financially, Christine had mixed feelings about what was best for her daughter. She decided that it would be better for her to stay with the her foster father and family.
Next we meet Robert Lindsay who is searching for the father he has never met. Robert was brought up by his mother and grandparents and had a happy childhood. As a father himself, Robert desperately wants to find his father. Robert’s parents met in London in the early 1970s when his mother was an au pair and his father, a young Yugoslavian man called Mladen, was working in a hotel.
Robert’s mother Mary was eighteen when she became pregnant. She decided to move home to Kilmarnock to be with her parents for support. Robert doesn’t know why the relationship didn’t continue, but he did come across a letter from his father in which he tells Mary that he hasn’t heard from her and that he is returning to Yugoslavia.
The Long Lost Family team travels to Croatia in search of Mladen, but will Robert get to meet his father? Will Marguerite understand why her mother gave her away twice?
Find out tonight at 9pm on ITV and join us on Twitter to let us know your thoughts on tonight’s episode.