A mother who was told not to look at her baby girl when she was born because she was being adopted has been reunited with her more than 50 years later.
Professional dancer Amanda Village, 51, decided to begin looking for her mother Susan Williams last year with the help of ITV’s Long Lost Family.
Amanda spoke of her struggles after learning she was adopted.
She said: “My mum said I was special because I had two mums. When I was younger I didn’t really want to know that I had another mum because I felt as if I wasn’t wanted. I didn’t want to feel sad or hurt.”
But after turning 50 she made the decision to search for her birth mum.
TV bosses tracked down her mother, who is now Sue Haslam, in Burton Latimer in the East Midlands.
Ahead of them being reunited Sue, 70, tells the programme she and her family lived at an Army base in Wales where her dad was a staff sergeant.
She became pregnant after a relationship with an army recruit in 1968.
Sue was deemed too young to look after the baby and was no longer with the father of the child, so she reluctantly gave Amanda up for adoption.
Even after doing this it was a year until her father spoke to her again.
Sue said: “The doctor said ‘don’t look at her’ and they took her straight away, but when I turned around I could see she had a mass of black hair. I remember that as if it was yesterday. And that was the last time I saw her.
“I used to go to bed and cry. You know, you just keep seeing it, you know, you close your eyes and you just see her. I’ve never forgotten her.”
Do you enjoy reading about celebrities? Sign up for all the best celeb news from the Mirror here .
Sue said over the years she had tried to find her daughter, as well as telling her two sons they had a half-sister.
Amanda travelled to the East Midlands where she met her birth mother. The meeting was extra emotional as it came during the pandemic so they were unable to hug or touch each other but tears flowed as they had their first conversation.
After asking for forgiveness, Sue said: “I’ve always loved her… it means a lot to me to give her a birthday present. It felt as though I’d known her for years. It feels like I have got her back and I am so proud of her.”
Amanda feels the same and added: “I knew I belonged to her, we’ve got the same nose and mouth, I knew instantly. There is an instant connection. It’s nice to feel wanted, it’s a great feeling.”
Amanda and her birth mother have since been able to give each other a proper hug – at long last.
Amanda has also been able to meet her brothers Trevor, 49, and Richard, 47.
- Long Lost Family is on Monday night at 9pm on ITV.
Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at [email protected] or call us direct 0207 29 33033.