Woman, 57, whose late mother was pressured by her family into giving her ....

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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-10973049/Welsh-woman-given-adoption-late-mother-learns-sister-brother.html

Woman, 57, whose late mother was pressured by her family into giving her up for adoption as a teenager is told that she was 'always loved and wanted' as she meets her brother and sister for the first time

    Sian Jones, from North-West Wales, was adopted as child after mum gave her up
    Sian, 57, started looking for birth mother, Sylvia Humphreys, 20 years ago
    Through Long Lost Family, found out she had sister Sharon and brother Stuart
    Told FEMAIL getting to know her family has been 'amazing' and 'strange'

By Claire Toureille For Mailonline

Published: 08:27, 4 July 2022 | Updated: 09:17, 4 July 2022

A woman who was given up for adoption was reduced to tears as she learned she had a brother and a sister on ITV's Long Lost Family. Sian Jones, 57, was raised by her adoptive parents on the island of Guernsey, and had been trying to find her mother for 20 years when she appeared on the show.  Her mother, Sylvia Humphreys, gave Sian up for adoption in Clynnog-Fawr, when she was 16. Because she was so young, her family did not think Sylvia could cope with raising a child, and pressured her to give her baby away.  Three years later, aged 18, Sylvia had Sian's sister, Sharon, and 'fought tooth and nail to keep her', which she did. She had a third child a few years later, a boy named Stewart, and again her parents pressured her to give the baby up, because they didn't think she could cope with being a single mother-of-two.  Sylvia died of an undisclosed illness in 2007, but on tonight's Long Lost Family at 9pm, the team were able to find Sian's brother Stewart and her sister Sharon.  Sian told FEMAIL it has been 'amazing' to get to know her brother and sister and revealed she has also met her mother's siblings.  She said meeting her siblings with whom she is regularly in contact helped her with 'everything in [her] life'. She admitted that up until that point, she 'didn't have anybody' for support, adding she has two step-brothers through her late adoptive parents who she doesn't speak to. 'It's funny because Sharon and Stuart are the complete opposite,' she said, 'but I'm like both of them. 

She said that Sharon is the 'sensible' and 'refined' one, while Stuart is quite 'rogue' and can be a 'naughty boy.'  'I can be naughty, but I can be sensible when I need to,' Sian said.

The 57-year-old admitted she had been 'very sad' to hear her birth mother had died before she could meet her.   'She was the age that I am now when she passed. She wasn't even that old.'

'She did want to find me,' Sian added.

The identity of Sian's father is still a mystery to this day. Her mother never revealed who he was to her family, even after giving up her daughter for adoption.   Sian said her mother's sister, who she's met since being on the show, said that while Sylvia spoke about giving up Sian, she never revealed who her father was.  Sian revealed it took two months for Long Lost Family to find her siblings after she contacted the show in 2021.  'This is the best thing I have ever done,' she said. 

She said on the show she always felt a part of her life was missing, especially because her adoptive mother 'found it hard to show affection'.

'I would have liked more cuddles, but my mum was quite reserved that way,' she added.

'I found out that my mum had lost a child, a stillborn baby before she adopted me. So maybe that's what was missing,' she went on.

Sian revealed losing her daughter Louise during pregnancy had made her understand what her adoptive mother had gone through.  'One day, she just wasn't moving anymore. It took me a long time to get over that. A long time to even get out of the house, to be honest,' she said.

Sian never tried to have more children or to adopt, and explained she would have felt 'guilty loving another child'.  'So I could see why my adoptive mum was the way she was,' she said.

But the ordeal made her think about her birth mother and whether there was someone out there who could give her the love she needed. She found out Sylvia's name thanks to her adoption paperwork, and tracked her down to the place her mother gave birth.  It was a 'bleak' and 'cold' workhouse on the edge of Clynnog-Fawr in Wales, which in the 60s offered accommodation to unmarried pregnant mothers, and where many children where given up for adoption.   'I suppose for a young mum it would have been frightening,' she said.

'It's quite strange to think that this is the only place that she ever knew me or saw me or held me or was close to me and come out as if nothing's happened,' she reflected.

Sian visited the address that was listed on her adoption paperwork as Sylvia's home, but found she had moved houses since then.  At this time she also learned that her mother had another daughter.  'I just couldn't believe that I've got family, that I've got a sister,' she said, 'that I've got a sibling that I never had. It's bizarre.'

She was unable to pursue her research by her own means, and reached out to Long Lost Family for help.  'A part of my life has been missing, I need to know where I come from and what could have been,' she explained.

The team found out that Sylvia had moved to Shropshire, but also discovered she had died in 2007.  They also found her Will, which revealed she did have a daughter named Sharon, however, the address on the Will was outdated.  The Long Lost Family team then contacted the people who bought Sylvia's house, who had a link to Sharon.  Sian's sister agreed to talk to the show and to meet the 57-year-old, however, she asked that her face wouldn't be shown.  She met Nicky Campbell on the show with Stuart, who had also been given up by their mother as a child and found his sister Sharon four years ago.  She explained the reason behind their mother's heart-breaking decision.  'My mum would have been 16 when she had Sian, and the authorities and the family didn't think that Mum would be able to cope with a child at that age, so Sian was taken away,' she said.

'At 18 she got pregnant with me, and because she didn't want the same thing to happen, she fought tooth and nail to keep me.  And then when I was three, she fell pregnant again. Mum was a single parent and was looking after me. [It was] more my grandparents felt she wouldn't be able to cope with two children.  Stuart, who has a sister through his adoptive parents, said he was motivated to meet his birth mother to let her know he had a good life.  I think I had two good parents that brought me up right. I obviously knew I was adopted but basically I just wanted to meet Sylvia, put my arms around her and basically say, "You have nothing to worry about, because I've had a good life",' he said.

'Unfortunately, I didn't get the opportunity.'

Sylvia tried to find the two children she gave up for adoption before she died, but her search led nowhere.  We didn't talk about it very much because she was heartbroken and it was hard for me to see that,' Sharon said.

She showed photos of her mother aged 14 to 15, before she got pregnant with Sian.  'She looks so happy,' Nicky said of Sylvia.

'The flip side of the coin is that it's unbelievably sad, because that little baby could be Sian, it could be Stuart,' he told the pair.

'She would have been so pleased and so proud to see them together,' Sharon agreed.

'It would have absolutely made her life.'

Sharon and Stuart were lost for words when they were given a photo of Sian.  'That's amazing to think that she's our sister,' Stuart said.

'I just can't wait to meet her,' Sharon exulted.

Davina McCall travelled to tell Sian the news, and revealed to her that Sylvia had died off camera.  'I'm really sorry that I couldn't bring better news about your mum,' the presenter said.

'It's a bit of a shock really, a lot of questions that I feel won't be answered, or asked,' Sian said.

But the 57-year-old was reduced to tears when Davina revealed she had two siblings.  'Does she want to see me,' she said, adding: 'I have a sister, something I always wanted.'

'She told us lots of about your birth mother,' Davina said, before explaining Sylvia was pressured by her parents to give Sian up.

'When your mum was 16, she had you and her parents just said, "You have to put this child up for adoption", but she really, really found it very hard.  Three years later she got pregnant again, this time it was with Sharon, and she said "I'm not giving this baby up",' the presenter recounted.

'I'm glad they got to stay together,' Sian, before crying further as Davina revealed Sylvia and Sharon tried to find her before she passed away.

She was floored when Davina also revealed she had a brother, and chuckled as she cried.  'No way,' she exclaimed, covering her mouth.

'When Stuart was born, she found the same situation she did when she had you,' Davina explained.

'He didn't get a chance to meet your birth mother either,' the presenter said.

The siblings agreed to meet in a cafĂ© near Sian's farm.  'My mum is hugely in my thoughts, I couldn't sleep last night as I was thinking about it,' Sharon said.

'She would have absolutely loved today if only she could have been here,' she added.

When they laid eyes on each other, Sian, Sharon and Stuart were overcome by emotion.  'It's lovely to meet you. It was just amazing to find out about both of you,' Sian said.

'I knew a little bit that I might have a sister, but you were a total surprise,' she told Stuart.

Stuart replied: 'It was a total surprise for me as well. A double surprise.'

Sharon and Stuart gifted Sian with a beautiful silver necklace.  'I am devastated you don't get to meet Mum and spend time with her. But she would have been absolutely ecstatic about today,' Sharon told her.

'When I heard that you had tried to find us, it really meant the world to me,' Sian said.

'Because the fear of rejection, I suppose, or not being a part of anything was just lifted,' she admitted.

'You were always loved and wanted,' Sharon reassured her.

'It means the world to me that I have a family and they want to know me and they want me to be part of their lives as well. And my birth mother did want me and she was thinking of us,' Sian said.

Sharon revealed more details about Sylvia.  'In a very loving way we used to call her a Welsh dragon. She was very passionate, very loving, very protective, very outspoken. I think her having to do what she had to do formed her as a person, after that nobody ever messed with her,' she said.

'Today's very important because we've come together as a family,' Stuart said.

'Having met Stewart and Sian, first it was one, then it was two, and now there are three, it's absolutely fantastic. It's not sure me anymore,' Sharon said.

'It is massive for me it's just like I've always known them. I couldn't stop staring at them really, 'Sian admitted.

'It's been one of the best days of my life, in fact, possibly the best,' she said.