29 July 2023 , 07:00
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A woman from North Yorkshire who feared she missed her once-in-a-lifetime chance to connect finally meets her brother - who is now living in San Diego five decades after he was adopted.
Jeanette Woodyatt spent her childhood in North Yorkshire and, along with her brother, was raised by her father following her parents’ divorce. One day her dad Reginald sat his children down and told them that they had another brother, from a previous relationship before they were both born, who had been given up for adoption.
Their father told them he’d wanted to keep his son, but he and his girlfriend at the time were young, and her parents would not allow it. He wanted the door to be open to his son if he ever made contact.
Jeanette explains: "He told us about this brother that existed, it was a shock. My dad did want him, but the girlfriend's family rejected that. It was very much laid on the table: if he comes looking, he’s welcome."
Jeanette Woodyatt contacted the ITV show Long Lost Family to help her reconnect with her siblings
Her late father Reginald MabbottHowever Jeanette’s father died of cancer at the age of 54 and six years later, someone called for him. Jeanette, 53, who lives in Skipton in North Yorkshire explains: "One day my grandma got a telephone call out of the blue from a man saying he was looking for his dad. I think she panicked and hung up on him. It cut me to the core. I felt the door was slammed when it needn't have been.
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"Had she just given him my number, things would have been completely different. I need to put a wrong that was done…I need to put it right. I want to give him a photograph and say 'this is your dad and he didn't forget you'."
Graham says 'it's a good feeling to know I was wanted' when reconnecting with JeannetteJeanette tried to find her brother on her own. She knew his birth name, Christopher, had been changed to Graham Briggs, but she still couldn’t locate him, so she came to ITV's Long Lost Family. The specialist researchers realised that Jeanette’s grandmother had inadvertently passed on a piece of crucial information by saying the mystery man (Graham) had called her from North America. He was finally found living in San Diego in Southern California with his wife Sandi and their two children.
Graham, 59, made the 5,550 mile trip from San Diego to meet Jeanette in a pub near Keighley where she grew up with their father. Graham confirms he reached out in 2003 but was rejected in the phone call and so gave up. He did not even know he had a sister. Meeting Jeannette for the first time Graham says: "It was never hidden from me I was adopted. I had a great life. It's been 58 years for me(not knowing his father). It's a good feeling to know I was wanted.
Jeanette on the beach with her late father and sibling"It is interesting to learn a little bit more about him(his father). I wish we could have met together. That would have been something but, what a fantastic opportunity we've gotten going forward after 20 years. I see a lot of you in me, it is incredible."
Jeannette says: "Wow what a journey. Today was important to put the past right and it’s a massive relief to be able to let him know that he wasn’t ever forgotten. To me that meant a lot. As soon as he put his arms around me, the connection was there. I just instantly felt at ease with him. Yeah, I could definitely see my dad in him. Now there is a sense of peace and we can go forward and make memories." She has vowed to go to San Diego to visit her brother in his home too in the future.
* Long Lost Family featuring Jeanette and Graham is on ITV on Monday night at 9pm.