DNA search brings siblings together after 70 years

Three half-siblings in their 70s have met for the first time after finding each other through a DNA match on a family history website.

Josie Morey, 76, from the Isle of Wight, was given a genealogy kit for Christmas by her granddaughter to find out more about her mixed-race heritage.

It led to matches with 77-year-old Jim McLoughlin in Liverpool and Lorraine Williams, 74, in Canada.

The trio, who were all born in Liverpool and share the same father, hugged and laughed as they met at a Southampton hotel.

Lorraine, who emigrated to Canada with her parents when she was two years old, said she had no idea her half-siblings existed.

She joined the MyHeritage site and discovered Josie, who had been put in a Barnado’s home as a child and was eventually fostered by an Isle of Wight woman.

Josie said: “I was unplaceable because I was sort of in-between. I wasn’t one or the other, black or white and nobody wanted me.”

She said her heritage was jokingly discussed by her family in later life, prompting her granddaughter to buy the DNA kit.

The retired magistrate and health worker said: “It’s been such an experience to find out we came from St Kitts originally.”

Jim, a former amateur boxer and nightclub manager who was raised in convents, said he thought he had no other relatives.

He said: “I didn’t have any heritage [and] I’ve gone full circle, from nothing to finding out what my background is.

“It’s like having a library and having books missing that you’ve been looking for for years.

“And suddenly you find them, you put them in and everything slots into the right place.”

The siblings were in contact for a year before Lorraine decided to come to the UK for the meeting.

Her sister Valerie, who also shares the same father, was unable to travel.

The trio hid in separate rooms in the hotel before being united in front of invited journalists.

Lorraine said: “The actual moment was wonderful. I couldn’t help but jump up and down.

“It’s surreal and gleeful and joyful and astonishing – it’s everything all at once.”

Josie said: “There’s a lot of love and I’m amazed at that. I’m amazed at how I feel about them.”