[Davina] For thousands of people across Britain, someone is missing from their lives.

[woman] There's just this huge gap.

I can't imagine what it must be like to have a mum.

I just look and think, "That's my dad," but... he's just a stranger, isn't he?

I want him to know that I exist.

I want him to be proud of what I've done.

[children shouting] Finding someone when the trail's gone cold can feel like an impossible task, but that's where we step in... [woman] Oh, I can't believe it!

Oh, my goodness!

...offering a last chance to people desperate for help.

[woman] That was the last letter I received.

I have great fears of what could have happened to him.

With no idea where our searches will lead, we've travelled the world, uncovering family secrets and finding people that no one else has been able to trace.

A father and grandfather on the same day, it's crazy.

[Davina] And finally, answering questions that have haunted entire lives.

You okay?

This week, the most remarkable search we've ever undertaken.

A mother tormented by the moment she said goodbye to her baby more than 40 years ago.

[woman] She was asleep, fast asleep, and I walked out, and I've never seen her since.

And that baby's father, who we discover has never forgotten the only time he saw her.

[man] In her whole life, I've never actually been able to give her a hug.

[dramatic music playing] Our search this week is an extraordinary one.

It's on behalf of a woman who was sent halfway around the world in disgrace to give up her baby in secret.

[woman] I've spent 45 years without peace.

If I could find my daughter, just to know that she's had the life that I would have wished for her... then I would find that peace.

[Davina] Sixty-year-old Inge Dart lives in Dorset with her husband.

They have two grownup children.

But despite her settled life today, she's tortured by a decision that was forced on her more than 40 years ago.

The youngest of three children, Inge was born in Kenya in 1947.

[Inge] Living in Kenya was like living in that sort of Downton Abbey era.

We had servants.

If I did go cooking in the kitchen, there was somebody there washing up behind me.

But then that was the colonial life in the '50s and '60s.

When Inge was a young girl, her parents separated and she remained with her mother, who ran a chicken farm in the suburbs of Nairobi.

She was always elegantly dressed.

Even though she was going to deal with the "kukus," which is the Swahili word for chickens, she still had a full Elizabeth Arden face on.

Growing up, Inge's relationship with her mother was strained.

She made it very, very difficult for you to love her.

I wasn't allowed to be myself.

Everything had to be on her terms.

There was no compromise.

It was her terms or nothing.

As a child and as a teenager, I would not question any decision she made.

The more she bullied, the more subterfuge there had to be.

That was my life.

At the age of 18, everything was to change for Inge when she went against her mother's wishes and began dating a childhood friend, Jeremy Owen.

[Inge] His family were well considered in Nairobi, just weren't well considered as far as my mother was concerned.

His father was the chief probation officer of Kenya, and Jeremy's uncle Wilfred was Wilfred Owen the poet.

But my mother didn't think it was right.

Jeremy was a lovely chap.

Kind, gentle.

He loved the fact that I played the piano and he would sit there with his study books and I would practice and he would study.

We just enjoyed being together.

But it was as Inge and Jeremy both made plans to move to England to continue their studies that they discovered Inge was pregnant.

I decided not to tell my mother, but when I walked in in the morning, I knew from her face that a thundercloud was about to explode.

She screamed at me, "Are you pregnant?"

I just turned around and said yes.

She called me a whore, a prostitute, and all sorts of other names like that.

Her next edict was that I was to come to England, as she put it, "serve out my term," and then the baby was to be adopted.

Within days, Inge was sent 4,000 miles away to England, and in August 1967, she arrived in Surrey, where she was to be looked after by a couple who took in pregnant girls.

This is the first time Inge has returned in 46 years.

[Inge] I was in a vacuum.

I don't think I have ever felt quite so alone and so afraid.

It just... it was so hard.

I cried so much.

I cried in the garden 'cause nobody could see me.

I couldn't go.

I couldn't go anymore.

Where would I go if I didn't stay here?

It just wasn't right.

It was so lonely.

The few moments of happiness Inge had were when Jeremy, who was now studying in London, came to visit.

The fact that he came down every Sunday and shared time with me makes me believe that, if we'd had half a chance, we would have made it work.

On January 12th, 1968, Inge gave birth to a baby daughter, who she named Sandra.

[Inge] Beautiful.

She had fair, fair hair.

And she was so good.

She didn't cry a lot, she seemed very contented.

I loved her, I loved her so much.

For nearly two weeks, Inge cared for Sandra.

During this time, Jeremy visited and met his new-born daughter.

He just took one look at her and cried... And he looked at me, and it was perfect.

And then my mother arrived.

She arrived walking down the corridor... in a sable coat and said, "Are you ready to go?"

And I just looked at her and I thought, "No."

She drove to the foster home and we walked into this house, and I carried my baby, and I put her in the Moses basket, and she was asleep, fast asleep.

And from behind me I heard, "Come along, we've got to go."

And I turned around and I walked out, and I've never seen her since.

Soon after giving Sandra up for adoption, Inge and Jeremy's relationship ended.

[Inge] You can't give up something as precious as that and have all the feelings stay the same.

They can't stay the same, and that was when we realized that mother's dominance had won.

I don't know what has happened to Sandra.

I did as I was told and not what I wanted to do.

[Nicky] When Inge signed the papers agreeing to Sandra's adoption, all contact ceased.

But working with an adoption specialist, her new name was discovered from her records.

Adopted by a Mr. and Mrs.

Airs, Sandra had been renamed Chantal.

Surprisingly, when a search was done for a Chantal Airs living in the UK, no record could be found.

What was discovered though is that her adoptive mother was an actress and when a check was done for any information about her, an old newspaper article was unearthed saying that she'd moved to France with her family.

Working on the possibility that she might still be there, the focus of the search shifted and a Chantal Airs was found.

She was contacted and she confirmed that she was indeed the right person.

Divorced with two children, she works as an air steward.

On that day back in 1968, when Inge placed her two-week-old daughter in a crib and walked away, she was completely powerless.

Four thousand miles away from home, cast adrift from everything she knew, she felt unable to fight for her baby or their future, and that's something she's had to live with ever since.

But what about Chantal?

I wonder if she has any idea how much she was loved, or how desperate Inge was to keep her.

Chantal agreed to meet me at her home in Hombleux in the Somme.

-Hello.

-Chantal?

-Yep.

-Nicky.

Nicky, hi.

The French way.

All right, okay.

Is that two or one?

-Two.

Of course, two.

-[laughs] -Do come in.

-Thanks very much.

How has this been, finding out all this?

It's a panic, and then it's a mixture of excitement, um, impatience, and questions, I think.

You know, my heart is pounding at this very moment because I can't wait, and yet I think, "Well, maybe we should do it next week."

You know, because it just...

It's some story.

Okay.

When your mother met your father, when they were very, very young, and absolutely fell in love with each other, and then... Then... ta-da!

[laughs] If that's how you want to put it.

Yeah.

Yes, it does happen.

Why did she have to give me up?

Well, your grandmother turned around and said, "Right, no, this is not happening.

You're going to go to England, and you're going to have the baby adopted."

It was horrendous for both of them, especially given that your father was not some fly-by-night.

Right.

And do you know anything about my father?

He was called Jeremy Owen, your father, and he is the nephew of one of the greatest poets ever in the English language, Wilfred Owen, a First World War poet.

-Right.

-Your... -My great uncle... -Great uncle.

Wow, amazing.

So it wasn't just a fling, it wasn't just a... oh, God.

You know, "put her for adoption and forget about her."

Did you think that had been the case?

Well, I thought of it as a possibility.

Does it mean more to you knowing that it wasn't just a fling?

Oh, yes.

I mean, it means that, that I was wanted, in a way.

Maybe I wasn't wanted at that moment, but they might have done it later.

Oh, no, you were wanted.

You are so much a part of your mother's life.

I mean, she's thought about you, not just once a year on your birthday, she's thought about you every single day of her life.

Do you want to see?

-Why, have you got a photo?

-Yeah.

Oh, God.

Hi.

You can tell she's a kind person.

[Nicky] She's written you a letter, which might go some way to explaining what she went through and what happened.

Here it is.

That's for you.

[Chantal] Okay.

"This is one of the hardest letters I have written.

You have always been in my heart since the day you were born.

I had no option but to give you up for adoption.

My mother would not consider anything else.

I have no photo of you, only the pain of leaving you.

I pray to God that I am given the chance to tell you how sorry I am..." Why be sorry?

"...and how much I have loved you all these years.

In hope, Inge."

She's got no reason to be sorry.

No reason to be sorry.

She had no other choice, so, no reason to be sorry.

You know.

-Hi, kids.

-[kids] Hi.

There's my mum.

I'd like you to meet Inge.

[boy] She's lovely.

[Chantal] It's really weird.

[Davina] More than 40 years ago, Inge Dart was sent halfway around the world and forced to give up her baby for adoption.

Ever since, she has been living with the pain of that loss.

What Inge needs now is to forgive herself and to find some peace, and I'm hoping that the discovery of her daughter will give her just that.

[doorbell rings] -Hi, Inge.

-Hi, nice to meet you.

-And you.

-Come on in.

Thank you.

What is it that drives your search for your daughter?

I just want to know that my pain and the hurt that I went through actually allowed Sandra to hopefully have the life that I would have loved to have given her because I couldn't do what I wanted to do, and I really did, really did want to keep her.

How would it change you if you found her?

Maybe I can rest easy.

If, if she's found, and she doesn't want to see me, that, that I can quite understand.

Well, it's good news.

[gasps] You haven't!

Sandra's been found.

-Really?

-Yeah.

Oh, my God.

-Is she happy?

-She's very happy.

You've never seen a picture, have you?

-No.

-I've got one here for you.

Oh, wow.

Oh, she looks kind.

-She's got my smile.

-She has.

But she's got... she's got her father's face.

I have a picture of him in a locket.

And when you look at that and look at this, there's just no two ways about who her daddy was.

-Oh, that's my daughter!

-It is.

She's called Chantal.

Chantal.

Oh, she's beautiful.

I hardly daren't ask the next question.

Would she see me?

She'd love to see you.

Really?

She really wants to meet you.

[Inge] She looks so happy.

[Davina] She has a lovely face.

She looks as happy as I feel inside.

You look like a completely different person.

Good.

Just 24 hours after learning we found her daughter, Inge and Chantal will be reunited.

Chantal has travelled from her home in France to Dorset for the reunion.

[Chantal] Today is one of the biggest days of my life and I don't know how it's going to go.

What if, what if it doesn't go well?

-Hello.

-Hello.

Hello, Nicky.

-Shall we go?

-Yeah.

[Nicky] It's been a while since you've been told.

I've been counting the days.

It's great but I'm really scared because it's actually happening now.

Why?

What are you scared of?

Scared of not being up to the meeting, of not being up to her, I don't know, not up to her expectations.

Is that a genuine concern, that you won't measure up?

Yeah.

But that's my genuine concern in my life generally.

[Davina] Are you nervous?

I'm terrified.

[Davina] Of what?

That I'll be a disappointment to her.

That she... she won't like what she sees.

That, that in some ways, despite everything, she might feel a little bitter at what I did.

I don't want her to feel bitter, because we wanted her so, so much.

Inge and Chantal are meeting at a hotel near to Inge's home in Poole.

-You all right?

-Um, yeah.

-Yeah.

-See you soon.

That's where you're going to meet her in there.

So I'm going to say goodbye now.

-Thank you.

-Good luck.

[Inge] Oh, God.

You are so like your dad, so like your dad.

Oh, I've been looking for you for... ever since you were 18.

Sit down.

So, for a long time.

Until then, there was nothing, absolutely nothing I could do.

I can't...

I can't believe it.

I really can't believe it.

I'm here.

Have you been happy?

Yes, very happy.

-Did I do right?

-You did.

Mum and dad are amazing people.

My brothers and sisters are wonderful too.

Your eyes are your father's eyes.

-Are they?

-Oh!

I have something for you.

[Chantal] Oh.

What is this?

-[Inge] Open the locket.

-Okay.

That's your dad at the time.

Now you look after it.

It's yours.

That is the only photograph I've got of him, but you need a picture of your dad.

When he saw you in the hospital, he cried.

-Aww!

-He cried.

And we both wept so many tears.

You were loved by both of us, so much.

I'm so lucky.

[Inge] We collided emotionally.

It was as though we really didn't want to let each other go, ever.

[Chantal] All these worries that I thought I wouldn't be up to the standard of what she imagined I would be, they all just sort of dissolved as soon as she walked through.

And I wasn't scared at all anymore.

I was me, and that's what she wanted.

-[gasps] -The most important thing is we take it from here.

-No grudge, no sadness.

-No, no.

No what-ifs.

[laughing] As long as what I did has given her the life that she's had, then I can forgive myself for having given her up.

She is so lovely.

It's beyond words.

There is absolutely no word that you can describe what I'm feeling at this very moment.

But "happiness" I think is not bad.

[laughs] [Davina] It's now been two months since Inge and Chantal met, and they're in regular contact.

But for Chantal, this reunion has brought with it an unexpected desire to know more about her past.

[Chantal] When I met Inge, what was funny was that one of the first things she said to me was, [gasps] "God, do you look like your dad!"

And I went, you know, "Strange."

He wanted me, he actually, you know, he loved me as much as Inge did, I think.

But he didn't have much choice.

Of course you want to say, "Well, okay, can I meet him?"

It was taken, I think, in Merseyton.

[Davina] Mother of two Chantal Airs grew up in France with her adoptive parents John and Annette.

-I love that one.

-Now, that is a school photo.

[Chantal] We did talk about adoption.

It was never a taboo subject, it was never a problem.

Yes, because we told you before you could understand.

[Annette] I always wondered why, but I never pushed, why she didn't go out and find her family.

But she didn't want to.

[Chantal] I never thought for a second that mum and dad were not mum and dad.

Yes, oh, I love that one.

-You're clinging onto dad.

-Of course.

[Annette] While giving him a big cuddle.

[Chantal] In my little child's head, there was no other mum and dad possible.

Oh, that's lovely...

Since meeting Inge, and with the support of her mum and dad, Chantal now wants to find her birth father Jeremy.

I would never have thought of looking for a birth father.

Never.

'Cause for most adopted children, they don't exist.

To know where somebody is... [Annette] To know the birth father would be great.

You know, know both of them.

Why not?

Then you know everything.

[Davina] The only link Chantal has to her birth father is a locket given to her by Inge, which holds his photograph.

Actually seeing somebody for the first time in your life who actually really physically looks like you, it's a really strange feeling.

It's exciting, it's very, very scary.

I can just imagine talking to him, you know, now and hearing his version of all this and everything that's happened.

I do hope that one day maybe I might meet him.

Chantal has discovered that Jeremy is the nephew of the World War I poet Wilfred Owen who fought on the western front and was killed in action.

Like thousands of other British soldiers, he is buried close to where he died in northern France.

[Chantal] I'm quite proud actually that, you know, I've got Wilfred Owen's blood going through my veins in some way, and what's more, he's buried about an hour's drive from where I've been living for ten years.

The coincidence, it must be a sign of something.

This is the first time Chantal has visited the war graves in Ors where her great uncle is buried.

Clark... -[son] And there he is.

-You found him?

[son] Yeah.

"Lieutenant W.E.S.

Owen, Manchester Regiment, 4th of November."

-"1918."

-"Age 25."

Whoa.

[Chantal] Seven days before the armistice.

[bell tolling] -Wow.

-Yeah.

[daughter] To know that we have a family member who's buried and we didn't even know him at all.

It does feel a little weird.

[Chantal] If my grandmother had not ended the story between my birth mum and my birth dad, I would know more where I came from and I would know my history.

There are questions I get answers to that I didn't think I'd ever asked or wondered about, but maybe they were just there, you know, sort of dormant, and now it's all sort of opening up.

Yes, it's like the flowers are just suddenly blossoming and I'm just realizing that there may be all these questions I was asking and that I didn't realize I wanted to know.

[Nicky] The last time Inge had any contact with Chantal's father was nearly 20 years ago when Jeremy was working as a dentist in Australia, so we focused our search there.

Although a check of public records brought up over a hundred possibilities across the country, we could only find one J. Owen who worked as a dentist.

Further checks revealed this man had studied dentistry in London in the early 1970s.

We'd found Chantal's father.

When I visited Chantal, I was moved by how much it meant to her to know she wasn't the result of a brief fling and put up for adoption and forgotten.

And I think at that moment for the very first time she felt a sense of connection to her history that she'd never considered before, and since then the feeling has grown that she wants to know more, not just about Inge and her past but also her birth father and what she means to him.

We contacted Jeremy and he agreed to meet me.

Now semi-retired, he lives with his partner just outside Perth and has four grownup children.

-Hello!

-Hello.

-Nicky.

-I'm Jeremy.

-Jeremy, very nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

Come in.

-Thank you very much.

-That's all right.

-Great, nice to see you.

[chuckles] -Yeah.

[Nicky] How did you feel when you heard that Sandra was searching for you?

I felt excited, and, um, and very glad to know that she was still, that she was obviously alive and well and... yeah, so I was really happy.

Has any of this come to the surface over the years?

I mean, how much have you thought about her?

I don't think I've ever forgotten the 12th of January.

I know whose birthday, whose day it is, whose birthday it is.

And, um...

I just hope, and I just sort of think, "Well, I hope you're well or I hope you're okay."

When Sandra was born, tell me about that.

Inge said, "Look, my mother's arranged it, the baby's going to be adopted, and that's the end, that's it."

And I sort of, well, "Okay, well, what can we do?"

And she sort of, we just sort of seemed to quietly resign ourselves to the fact that that's what was going to happen.

I didn't like what was happening, but neither did I know... you know, what to do about it.

I felt helpless, really, in knowing...

I realize that there was nothing I could do.

Well, I...

I went to the hospital.

The thing that upset me, uh... was that the staff there said to me, you know, that I wasn't to even consider holding the child or giving it a hug or anything.

The story I was told was that it might... it might affect the bonding of the child to its new adoptive parents.

Did you want to hold Sandra?

Oh, yeah, I mean, absolutely.

That's one of the first things that came to my mind when I realized that she wanted to see me.

They said I can give...

I mean, I can give her that hug, even if it's 46 years too late.

-But am I able to ask about Sandra?

-Yeah.

She's called Chantal.

Oh, okay.

I love that name.

Her parents are English but they grew up around Europe and in France specifically.

Okay.

Oh, gosh.

[laughs] There she is.

Man.

She's a happy sort, isn't she?

You, um... you know, when you haven't met somebody, you sort of get this picture of, I mean, you know, and, uh...

I'm not far off.

So like Inge and so like my mother.

It's a bit frightening, actually.

[chuckles] God.

I can't wait, can't wait to give her a big hug, hey?

She's beautiful... That's fantastic, lovely, thank you.

So much has happened to Chantal over the past few months.

She's met her birth mother and through meeting Inge, she's discovered a father she'd never even contemplated.

And here I am about to tell her that he's been found and he has never forgotten her.

-Hey.

-Hey!

-How are you?

-I'm fine.

-How are you?

-All right?

Yes, I'm fine.

-Do come in.

-Thank you very much.

[Davina] This story is really unique.

It's just quite amazing.

Talk me through this 'cause Inge, it meant so much to her.

-She got this out.

-Can I have a look?

How can she keep this for 46 years, and it's so pretty?

[Davina] I can see, I mean, even from that.

Yeah.

The face, the cheekbones, apparently, and Julie, my daughter, who really looks like me, so could she look like him and me too?

Well, I can tell you that he does, 'cause your father has been found.

[gasps] You have found him.

He lives in Perth, in Australia.

Wow, that's a long way away.

Yeah, it's a long way away.

And is he happy that...

Does he know I'm okay?

-He is so happy.

-Is he?

-He's thought about you so much.

-Right.

Every year on your birthday.

Oh.

Okay.

I'm ready for this.

[laughs] Okay.

Oh, my God.

Wow.

Yeah, I do look more like him, don't I?

-You really do.

-Yep.

Absolutely.

Amazing.

There's something there, isn't there?

[Davina] I've got an even bigger photo.

Oh, gosh, that's big.

-That's you.

-[gasps] Wow.

Oh, yes.

That sort of smile that goes like that, it's there.

[laughs] It's really strange.

I've never seen that smile in anybody else.

[Davina] Have a look on the other side.

"Dear Chantal..." Not much to say except "I love you, Jeremy."

He's just as I, really, you know, he's as I imagined him.

He's amazing.

He looks so happy too.

He looks...

I love him, he's just great.

I've got the impression that I've always known him.

You know what I mean?

He is not a stranger to me.

It's really good.

I love it.

I love him.

He has written you a few words.

"Dear Sandra."

Yep.

"After all these years, I just cannot wait to see you again and give you a huge hug, the one that I was denied soon after you were born.

I was so pleased to hear that you are well and to know that you wanted to meet me.

Also that your adopted parents gave you a happy, healthy life.

And I owe them a massive amount of thanks.

Our meeting is going to be amazing, am really looking forward to it.

Credit is due to Inge for never giving up finding you and I thank her for that.

I am sure our lives and future will be enriched by our meeting."

That's exactly it.

It's not replacement, it's not... it's just enriching and adding good things.

"Love from Jeremy."

That is just so nice and straightforward, as if he had always been writing to me.

It's amazing, isn't it?

It's beautiful.

Oh, it's amazing.

It's lovely.

It's lovely.

Thank you.

I'm so lucky.

[Davina] Five days after discovering that we had found her father, Chantal is going to meet him for the first time.

I think it's just a feeling of excitement, happiness.

When I look at the photo, when I read the letters, I just have this good feeling that he is going to be somebody that I'm gonna like and somebody I'm gonna get on well with.

Jeremy has flown over from Australia to meet his daughter who he last saw 46 years ago as a newborn baby.

[Jeremy] I always hoped this day might come.

But I had sort of thought it never would.

So it's fantastic.

[Davina] They're meeting at a hotel in Maissemy, near to Chantal's home.

[Jeremy] In her whole life, I have never actually been able to give her a hug.

That's not good when it's your own flesh and blood.

You know, it's going to be amazing.

It's like some sort of fairytale that's a real one.

[laughs] Mm-hmm.

[contemplative music playing] -Hey, Dad.

-I don't know what to say.

Hey, Dad.

-We've done it.

-It's wonderful to see you.

You okay?

Oh, I thought I'd be okay.

I am okay, really, but it's great.

-Thanks for coming.

-Thank you.

For coming half way across the world.

Such a long time ago.

Forty-six years ago.

I'm a big girl now.

You were only little then.

Let's go sit down.

Oh, let's go sit down.

-You all right, there?

-Yeah.

-Okay.

-Have a seat.

Oh, you're... you're so like...

It's just amazing how you're like your mum and my mum.

Wow.

That's amazing.

-You're so like her.

-You can see Inge in me?

-Can you?

-It's ridiculous.

It's amazing, isn't it, and when I saw the photo of you, I thought, "Wow, there I looked like somebody."

And I really look like you, and, you know, there's a lot in common.

When the pregnancy was disclosed, when it couldn't be hidden any longer, Inge's mother, Mrs. Brown, who, bless her soul, just took over and that was it.

So then it was all just sort of pre-determined, and then you were born.

-Um... -Then things just happened.

-And then I just came to the hospital and then... -You did see me?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

And... [sighs] Oh, you were so tiny.

I wasn't allowed to touch you or give you a hug or see you again.

[sobbing] You just disappeared.

My God.

It'll be all right.

I'll be all right.

I'm back again.

I know.

-Eh?

-Oh, thank God.

-You can forget that day now.

-I know.

You can wipe it out of your memory and, you know... -Yeah, better now anyway.

-Yeah, you see?

That day has long gone now.

[exhales sharply] [Jeremy] She walks through the door and you just think, wow, you know, like, heck.

You know, this is just amazing.

It's just like... it's, I don't know...

I'm sort of up about...

I think I'm up about up there somewhere, you know?

I hope I can come down.

[Chantal] Get a bit of fresh air.

[Chantal off-screen] It's just amazing to, you know, meet Inge and now meet Jeremy.

I'm really pleased I've met him.

He's exactly the lovely person that I've imagined.

[Jeremy] I left that hospital with a very empty feeling.

Just those words of, "It's over now, I'm here now," she healed, she's healed it.

Yeah.

She's wonderful.

[Chantal] He is going to be able to turn the page of 12 January 1968 and around that date and build other memories with me.

I am just so happy.

It's amazing.

[laughs] [peaceful music playing]