Emotional moment woman is reunited with her half-sister on Long Lost Family: What Happened Next

This is the emotional moment a woman who was given up for adoption as a baby was reunited with her paternal half-sister for the first time in-person on Long Lost Family: What Happened Next.

Jean Smith, from Poole, Dorset, had spent 30 years searching for her American Air Force birth father – only to sadly discover he had passed away around 20 years ago, aged 63.

However, the grandmother-of-six, who grew up as an only child in a happy home, did find six siblings on her father’s side after one of her half-sisters, named Sandra, discovered her via a DNA database in 2020, when Jean was aged 67.

But because of Covid, the sisters were only able to contact each other online for two years. Their emotional reunion – in which the siblings shared a sweet hug – was aired on last night’s ITV programme.

Sandra made the 5,000-mile journey to stay with Jean for two months – going from new acquaintances to housemates overnight. 

Davina McCall explained: ‘Because of Covid and Sandra living on the West Coast of America, it’s been impossible for them to meet in person… until now.’

‘Today I am meeting my older sister for the first time in my life,’ said Sandra ahead of the reunion. ‘The closer it gets, I’m starting to get a little shaky.’

Jean felt equally overwhelmed, saying: ‘I’m a bit all over the place, it’s 30 years of build up, so I’m a bit emotional today, but still excited.’

The grandmother rushed to her front door upon Sandra’s arrival at her home and the two are filmed embracing one another. 

‘Good to see you,’ said Sandra, while Jean added: Two years, my goodness. It’s a long time. I don’t want to let you go.’

‘Our father would be extremely happy that we’ve finally found each other,’ Sandra, who said she felt ‘so loved’ during her visit, later added. 

The sisters hope the trip will be one of many, with Jean saying: ‘The family have just taken to [Sandra] straight away… she just fitted in… she’s just part of us now.’

When first appearing on Long Lost Family in 2021, Jean was left in tears after hearing her father’s voice for the first time.  

She had spent decades searching for her biological parent after learning he was stationed in the UK during the Second World War as part of the American Air Force.

Although she was adopted into a happy home as a child, Jean spent her childhood dreaming of her father appearing in her life in his uniform and longed to find him. 

Jean had discovered her mother some years prior to contacting the show, but struggled to find her father and asked the ITV programme for help – with the research team eventually matching up her DNA to six siblings in the US.

Sadly, Jean’s half-sister informed her that their father had passed away in 1995, but co-host Davina McCall presented an emotional Jean with an audio recording of Johnny singing.

Jean, who has been married for forty years and has three children and six grandchildren, was adopted into a loving home as a newborn – but still felt ‘homesick’.

She explained: ‘I used to feel homesick, it’s the only way I can describe it, I felt homesick but I was at home. You are desperate to know who your parents are.

‘But when I was younger I never wanted to search in case I hurt my adopted parents’ feelings.’

When in her 30s, Jean started searching for her biological parents and found her mother after three years. 

‘The first thing she said when she saw me was “You’re more like your dad”. It made me want to find my birth father, to get the whole picture,’ recalled Jean, whose mother had been with Johnny for six to eight months before becoming pregnant. 

After finding out they were expecting they decided to give the baby up for adoption, with Jean adding: ‘They had discussed marriage but decided it wasn’t a good idea because they were so young.’ 

The Long Lost Family team added Jean’s DNA into a database to discover blood relatives, and eventually found her half-sister Sandra, who lives in America.

Within 24 hours of the match appearing, Sandra, who is ‘very interested in genealogy’ had emailed Jean herself. 

Sandra said: ‘I’ve kind of known in the back of my mind that my dad had a daughter somewhere. I knew it was from when my dad was in the military before he met my mother.’

Discussing her father’s death from a suspected heart problem, Sandra added: ‘He was pretty young, he was only 63, it was a shock, I thought we had more time.

‘It’s kind of sad that Jean doesn’t get to meet our father. He was a very kind person, everybody liked him. I think he would’ve included her in the family. 

‘We’ve got a big family. Four brothers and one younger sister and they’re all open to meeting her. Every body wants to. I’m just so glad that she just finally put her DNA out there.’

Jean spoke to Davina about her father’s passing, revealing that Sandra had eventually informed her over email.

Davina then played an audio recording of Jean’s father singing Welcome to My World by Jim Reeves, which left the grandmother in tears.

‘Isn’t that lovely to hear.’ says the presenter, to which Jean replies: ‘Yeah, to hear his voice… Very special.’