A woman who spent almost 40 years hoping to find her biological sister has revealed her joy at finally meeting her, adding it still feels “surreal”.
Liz Allward, a 60-year-old hairdresser and part-time counsellor from North Somerset, was adopted as a baby and always had a strong “gut feeling” that she had a biological sibling, even though she was never told.
Although Liz had a happy childhood, she always felt a sense of “loneliness”, aggravated by her adoptive family’s constant change of address, which made it difficult for her to maintain friendships.
It was on her wedding day in 1996, at the age of 23, that her adoptive mother informed her that she had an older biological sister, but with few other details, Liz was unable to locate her.
After years of failed attempts to locate her biological sister, Liz contacted ITV’s Long Lost Family on a whim, which unexpectedly led her to the information she had wanted to know for years and, most importantly, her biological sister, Deborah.
In Monday’s episode of Long Lost Family, hairdresser and part-time counsellor Liz Allward (pictured), 60, from North Somerset, finally meets her biological sister after almost 40 years of searching.
Speaking to FEMAIL, Liz recalled: ‘When I was younger… I didn’t know if I was a brother or a sister; I just knew something was missing.
‘I was adopted in Leeds when I was very young and then we quickly moved to Surrey and then Bristol.
‘I had a lovely family and a lovely mother and father, I can’t fault them, (they were) very traditional and very honest.’
She added: “I had a nice life, I was a bit lonely during my childhood, moving was difficult for me.”
It wasn’t until Liz’s wedding day, at the age of 23, that her adoptive mother confirmed the intuition she’d always had.
Liz recalled: ‘When I got married, I asked my mother and said, ‘Am I a twin sister? ‘ She hesitated and told me that my biological mother had had a daughter a couple of years before (me).’
Her instinct was confirmed, but Liz knew nothing more about her biological sister other than her existence.
‘I got married and life went on… I tried for several years (to find Deborah), always with the support of friends,’ he said.
Despite having a happy childhood, Liz always felt a sense of loneliness during her teenage years (pictured here at age 16).
Growing up, the mother of two always had a strong intuition that she had a biological brother out there.
Liz’s biological sister, Debbie (pictured), from Yorkshire, knew she had a sister since she was eight.
The mother-of-two searched online for information and applied for her adoption papers from North Somerset Council.
It was in the document that Liz discovered her biological sister’s name. She said: “There was a line that said ‘Deborah’, it was just… overwhelming, it was scary too.”
When Liz turned 60, she decided she had spent enough time without meeting her biological sister and, with her daughter’s support, applied to ITV’s Long Lost Family.
‘I think after I turned 60 I thought, ‘I have to do something,’ my daughter told me to be in Long Lost Family, I thought I would never get in, but I did.’
“Within two weeks someone responded to me with the process… it was great,” the mother of two recalled.
With her daughter’s support, Liz decided to apply for ITV’s Long Lost Family in an attempt to locate Debbie.
Liz is pictured as a baby in the arms of her adoptive mother, Janice Harrisons, whom Liz praised as a “lovely” mother.
Liz moved around the UK growing up, living in Leeds, Surrey and Bristol (Liz is pictured during her childhood years).
The Long Lost Family team tracked down Deborah, now known as Debbie, and discovered that unlike Liz, Debbie was adopted into the family by her maternal aunt and that although she had known her biological mother as a child, she had long since lost contact.
Debbie said: “I was adopted into the family so I knew a lot of the relatives. When we were kids, we didn’t have much but we never wanted for anything.
‘We had holidays… to the beach every year and at Christmas, we might have collected second-hand things, but we didn’t care, we appreciated everything we received.’
Unlike Liz, Debbie discovered she had a biological sister at the age of eight, explaining: ‘I thought about her a lot over the years… I never forgot her.
She explained that while she would have loved to find her biological sister, she “wouldn’t know where to start.”
In October last year, she was shocked to come home and find a letter from a long-lost family. “Everything was going through my head,” she recalled.
‘It took me all day to dial the number and then I found out it was real and I got really excited.’
The mother-of-two said it still feels “surreal” to have met Debbie, with the pair instantly hitting it off and finding similarities.
Liz (pictured with Long Lost Family presenter Davina McCall) plans to visit Debbie in Yorkshire in October.
In a whirlwind few months, Liz and Debbie finally met for the first time and instantly felt a connection.
Liz explained: ‘As soon as we sat down, apart from feeling a bit nervous… we started joking and talking… it was lovely.’
“There were some similarities in life along the way, but I think we’re both quite sensitive at heart, but also feisty in other ways,” she added. “I think we’re very similar in a lot of ways.”
The mother-of-two continued: “It filled that void and made me feel really complete. I had the urge to do it at 60 and I did, it was brilliant, but since then it’s been a bit of a whirlwind… it still feels a bit surreal.”
Debbie added: “It was brilliant, I felt like I had known her all my life.”
The couple now enjoy getting to know each other and making up for lost time, chatting weekly on the phone.
Liz and Debbie plan to meet face to face in October, when Liz plans a visit to Debbie’s home in Yorkshire.
The new episode of Long Lost Family airs on Monday at 9pm on ITV.
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