Three half-siblings in their 70s, including one from the Isle of Wight, have met for the first time after discovering each other through a DNA match on a family history website.
Josie Morey, 75, from East Cowes, was gifted a MyHeritage DNA genealogy kit from by her granddaughter one Christmas, discovering her family originally came from St Kitts in the Caribbean.
The test led her to matches with Jim McLoughlin, 77, from Liverpool and Lorraine Williams, 74, from Canada.
The siblings, all born in Liverpool and sharing the same father, met face-to-face for the first time at the Chilworth Manor Hotel in Southampton on Friday (June 14).
The reunion was filled with hugs and laughter as they shared 70 years' worth of stories.
Lorraine was quickly given the nickname ‘skippy’ after she ran and jumped at the sight of her brother and sister.
She explained: “I couldn’t help but jump up and down,” adding that the moment was “wonderful.”
Jim said “I warmed to both of them straight away,” and after, during an interview, he spontaneously started singing “We are Family,” capturing the essence of their newfound bond.
Josie’s early life was marked by hardship. Taken away from her mother as a baby, she was placed in a Barnardo’s home in London before being fostered by Ida Hill on the Island at the age of four.
She faced discrimination at school, including an incident where a teacher took a dislike to her and made her stand outside in the rain, huddled against a wall.
Despite these challenges, she built a successful career, working at the Frank James Hospital in East Cowes, the Church View Day Centre in Ventnor and serving on the Island’s probation board.
Josie also spent 18-and-a-half years as a magistrate.
Lorraine emigrated to British Columbia, Canada, with her parents when she was two years old, where she now has a large family.
She revealed that their father, Sydney, was artistic and musical and that she was named after the song Sweet Lorraine, one of their father's favourites by Nat King Cole.
Lorraine described the moment the siblings finally met as “surreal, gleeful, joyful and astonishing.”
Jim, a former amateur boxer and nightclub manager, was raised in a convent after being ‘dumped’ on the doorstep as a baby.
He faced severe discrimination growing up in the 1950s and 60s in Liverpool and believed he had no other relatives.
The siblings had been in contact for a year over video chats before meeting face-to-face.
Josie said it was “very tentative” at first while they got to know each other, but by the end of the year, they were in fits of laughter as if they had known each other their whole lives.
The plan to meet face-to-face came after Lorraine surprised Josie with a phone call announcing her plans to travel to England.
Another sister, Valorie, 71, who also lives in Canada and shares the same father, was unable to attend the meet.
However, Lorraine and Valorie found old photographs of their father, revealing a resemblance between him and Jim.
Josie intends to travel to Liverpool at the end of next month to meet more of Jim’s family, while Lorraine is also planning a trip to Merseyside.
Lorraine and Jim are staying in East Cowes for the next four days, cramming 70 years of memories and stories into their time together.
Josie expressed joy at finding her newfound family, saying, "I feel now that my life has gone full circle."
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