Woman, 67, who finally discovered her birth father after searching for THREE decades only to find out he had died 20 years earlier breaks down in tears as she hears his voice for the first time in a song on Long Lost Family
- Jean Smith, 67, from Poole, has spent decades searching for her birth father
- The grandmother appeared on Long Lost Family: What Happened Next tonight
- The research team eventually match up Jean’s DNA to six siblings in the US
- But Jean’s half-sister informed her that their father had passed away in 1995
A woman who finally discovered her birth father only to be told he’d died 20 years earlier was left in tears after hearing his voice for the first time on Long Lost Family.
Jean Smith, 67, from Poole, Dorset, has 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, who appeared on Long Lost Family: What Happened Next tonight, spent her childhood dreaming of her father Johnny Perkins 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.
Jean Smith (pictured holding a photo of her birth father), 67, from Poole, Dorset, has 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
Jean was adopted into a happy family as a child but spent her childhood dreaming of her father Johnny Perkins appearing in her life in his uniform, not looking for her birth parents until she was in her 30s as not to upset her adoptive parents
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.’
At the end of the show, Davina McCall presented an emotional Jean with an audio recording of Johnny singing, as she heard her biological father’s voice for the first time
Jean was adopted into a loving home as a new born but said she felt ‘homesick’ until she started searching for her biological parents in her 30s (pictured: the picture of her biological father which her half-sister Sandra sent her)
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 grandmother added: ‘He’s my dad, he’s always been part of me. I need to find him.’
The Long Lost Family team added Jean’s DNA into a data base to discover blood relatives, and eventually found her half-sister Sandra (pictured), who lives in America. Sandra informed Jean that her biological father died in 1995, aged 63
Although she was adopted into a happy home as a child, Jean (pictured with Davina), who appeared on Long Lost Family: What Happened Next tonight, spent her childhood dreaming of her father Johnny Perkins 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
The Long Lost Family team added Jean’s DNA into a data base 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.’
Jean spoke to Davina, and told her the news of her father’s death ‘really did affect’ her as she started thinking about things which could have happened if they had met earlier
Jean (pictured) said that she ‘needed’ to find her father as he had ‘always been part’ of her
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.
‘For the next two weeks I was in bits, it really did affect me,’ said Jean. ‘I started thinking about the things that could’ve been if we’d have met earlier on. It did hit me hard.’
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.’
Due to the pandemic, Jean was unable to meet her siblings in the US but was seen video calling her sister Sandra and one of her brothers.
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