‘I want her to know she’s loved’ Man, 49, fights back tears as he searches for the sister his late mother ‘punished’ herself for giving up on Long Lost Family

A man fought back tears as he began his search for the sister his late mother gave up for adoption on Long Lost Family.

Simon Miller, 49, from Putney, South-West London, lost his mother Beverley to cancer in 2008.

Before she passed away, the single mother-of-two asked that Simon and his older brother David – who didn’t want to be filmed – track down their sister Bronwen.

Before giving birth to Simon in 1974, Beverley had fallen pregnant with her daughter.

However, her relationship with Bronwen’s father had come to an end and Beverley subsequently suffered a breakdown.

After this, the mother made the difficult decision to give Bronwen up for adoption – in the hope that another family could give her a better life. 

However, Beverley was devastated by this – and her dying wish was for her sons to track Bronwen down and let her know how much she was loved.

Speaking to camera at the beginning of the episode, which airs tomorrow at 9pm, Simon fought back tears when discussing his mother’s final days.

He explained: ‘Two weeks before she died, she told me, “I want you to do me a massive favour. Find my daughter, explain my story to her and just apologise.” 

‘It’s my mum’s wish, and I feel like I need to know myself.  My sister is loved. I just would like to give her a big hug.’

Simon only found out that he had a sister when he found photos of his mother playing with his brother and visibly pregnant years before he was born. 

He added: ‘My mum had her for 14 days and she said it was the best 14 days of her life. 

‘And then they came to take her and she said it was devastating and she punished herself ever since.’ 

Pictured: Simon and his late mother Beverley when he was a child. He only discovered he had a big sister when he was 14

Pictured: Simon got his wish of hugging the older sister he never got to meet on tomorrow’s Long Lost Family

To begin with, the Long Lost Family team discovered that Bronwen’s adoptive surname was Foster. 

After finding out this key detail, the experts learned that Bronwen had married seven years ago and has two daughters.

To begin with, the show’s co-host Nicky Campbell travelled to her home in Shropshire to meet Brownen. 

Here, the team learned that Brownen’s adoptive parents had divorced when she was five and she spent the remainder of her childhood being raised by her mother and grandmother.

When she was 12, Brownen’s adoptive mother told her that her older brother had stayed with her biological mother – which left her feeling rejected.

Pictured: Simon’s mother Beverley before she passed away in 2008. Her dying wish was for her sons to find their sister and explain why she’d given her away 

Beverley pictured as a young woman before having her children. Brownen said she felt ‘rejected’ by her biological mother and never thought to find her

She recalled: ‘Knowing I had a brother was hard, because I couldn’t meet him, I couldn’t play with him. So I couldn’t be a sister.’ 

However, Brownen never knew she also had a younger brother too and was touched by the letter Simon had written to her.

 It read: ‘Our mum loved you so very much. It broke her heart having to give you up for adoption because she wanted you to have a better life. 

‘She talked about you often. We made her a promise we would find you. Sorry it has taken so long. 

‘Love from your brothers, Simon and David.’

Later in the episode, Davina McCall travels to Simon’s home in Putney where she tells him that they’ve found his sibling. 

Pictured: Simon [left] and his older brother David [right] when they were children growing up in the 1970s

After seeing a photo of his sister for the first time, Simon said: ”Oh my god! She’s got the nose. She’s got the eyes. The eyebrows.’

Simon (pictured with Beverley as a child) wrote a letter to his sister: ‘Our mum loved you so very much. It broke her heart having to give you up for adoption because she wanted you to have a better life.’

During the meeting, Simon is delighted to be shown photos of Brownen – and is struck by how similar they look. 

He said: ‘Oh my god! She’s got the nose. She’s got the eyes. The eyebrows. 

‘She looks gorgeous! Looking at that is like looking at me. If I had the same T-shirt on, I’d be a double! 

After this, Bronwen then happily travelled to London to meet her brothers for the first time – and the siblings were relieved by how well they got on.

Simon added: ‘I can’t wait for the next chapter in my life with my sister… Now I’ve found her I’ll always have her in my life. Cos I’ve got 53 years to make up!’ 

Long Lost Family airs at 9pm tomorrow night on ITV1 and ITVX.