A woman was left in tears after her long-lost half-sister revealed how their late father would’ve ‘moved heaven and earth to get to her’ if he had known of her existence.
Kathleen Fraser Jackson, 63, from Wembley, north west London, was put up for adoption at just three-months-old and has spent years trying to find her birth family – despite having five children and 12 grandchildren of her own.
In a previous episode of Long Lost Family which aired in 2019, the grandmother met with her biological mother Kathleen Senior, 83, and her maternal half-sister Jean, 69, while another DNA match led to her paternal half-brother, Teddy.
But in tonight’s emotional episode of the ITV show, Kathleen returned to discover more about her late father and his side of the family by taking a trip to his hometown of Saint Ann Parish in Jamaica.
On arrival, she met her youngest sister Peta Gay for the first time, who revealed that her late father would’ve done all he could to meet Kathleen if he had known about her.
The touching moment Kathleen Fraser Jackson, 63, from Wembley, north west London, finally met her sister Peta Gay for the first time in tonight’s episode of ITV’s Long Lost Family
Kathleen Fraser Jackson (pictured right, with her half-sister, left) was put up for adoption at just three-months-old. They met in Jamaica, pictured
‘I was shocked,’ revealed Peta Gay, as she recalled being told she has another sibling. She already has a brother and two other sisters, who Kathleen had previously met in London.
‘If our dad knew he’d had another child out there he would’ve moved heaven and earth to get you with us. I’m so sorry you didn’t get to meet him,’ added Peta Gay.
Trying to fight back tears, an emotional Kathleen admitted: ‘That makes me sad.’
Offering some comfort, her half-sister continued: ‘He was a wonderful person, very kind, very joyful, very happy. I know he’s looking at us right now and smiling.’
Kathleen and her half-sister sat down for a drink and caught up on their lives during their very first meeting (pictured)
The pair then visited Blowfire Mountain, where Kathleen’s half siblings and father lived in a house without electricity and flooring decades earlier.
‘This is as far removed from my life in London as you could ever get,’ admitted Kathleen. ‘Did I think something like this could be in my blood? Never in a million years.’
The mountain is also home to Kathleen father’s grave, with the community worker saying: ‘I never knew you but I feel you,’ when paying her respects.
Kathleen (pictured right, with her half-sister, left) was left in tears after her long-lost half-sister revealed how their late father would’ve ‘moved heaven and earth to get to her’ if he had known of her existence
She continued: ‘I feel a tremendous sense of loss that I haven’t actually had the chance to see him.
‘[But] I can feel a part of my dad’s story even though I wasn’t here at the time, it’s very, very powerful.’
Kathleen finished her family reunion by meeting mother-of-three Peta Gay’s two sons and her granddaughter at a bonfire.
‘It’s been awesome meeting Kathleen, she’s already a member of the family. This is just the start,’ the youngest sibling told the cameras.
In a 2019 episode of Long Lost Family, the grandmother met with her biological mother Kathleen Senior (centre), 83, and her maternal half-sister Jean (pictured right), 69, while another DNA match led to her paternal half-brother, Teddy
Echoing the sentiment, Kathleen, who spent 12 says with Peta Gay and now regularly keeps in touch with her sister, said: ‘This evening has been one of the best evenings ever.
‘Peta Gay is the loveliest sister you could ever want and they’ve accepted me as part of the family. At last it feels like I’ve got roots. That I’m rooted. It’s the most beautiful feeling.’
Kathleen’s adopted mother died when she was just three, and her adopted father put her in a boarding school at five before remarrying and having his own family.
She previously admitted: ‘It wasn’t a happy childhood I didn’t feel part of the family and honestly thought no one cared’.
Recalling the moment she discovered she was adopted aged 14, she broke down, explaining: ‘I was sitting opposite the counsellor when a page dropped out which said ‘adopted child’ – and I just looked.
London-based Kathleen keeps in regular contact with her half-sister Jean (pictured together), who lives in Scotland
‘I felt like I lost a mum twice. It made me feel like a nobody, like nobody’s child. So I wanted to find my birth mother’.
When she was old enough, Kathleen accessed her adoption file to find out more. She understood that her birth mother was a ‘society lady’ who had become pregnant by a Jamaican man studying in the UK. It was clear that her birth mother had no support from her family.
‘Apparently when I was born my grandmother, my birth mother’s mother said: “I’ll accept anything but I won’t accept a black child in this family”,’ Kathleen revealed.
A DNA search resulted in Kathleen finding her mother, who was then based in Canada having moved from West Kensington years earlier.
Kathleen senior told presenter Nicky Campbell that as a young single mother she wanted better for Kathleen, especially in the face of social stigma of the time.
She then said that years before she had Kathleen Junior, she gave another baby up for adoption, a daughter, also born to a Jamaican father when she was just 18.
Jean is found living in Edinburgh, Scotland, after being adopted at six months old in Aberdeen – and during last year’s episode she met with her mother and half-sister Kathleen, with the three all keeping in touch.