Woman, 68, who wrongly thought she was abandoned at two-weeks-old because she is deaf reunites with her brother, 73, who reveals their ‘very poor’ birth mother ‘couldn’t cope with two kids’ on Long Lost Family
- Joselyn Taylor, of West Yorkshire, was left at a children’s home at two-weeks-old
- The 68-year-old was eventually adopted by single mother who ran a sweet shop
- But Joselyn had often wondered why her birth mother abandoned her as a baby
A woman who wrongly believed she was abandoned at just two-weeks-old because she is deaf has finally discovered the real reason after being reunited with her brother on Long Lost Family.
Joselyn Taylor, 68, from Boston Spa, West Yorkshire, who appears on the ITV programme tonight, was left at a children’s home before being adopted by a single mother who ran a sweet shop.
But she had often wondered why her birth mother abandoned her – and even decided it had something to do with her being deaf, according to The Mirror.
However, after finally meeting her older brother James, 73, she is told that their ‘very, very poor’ mother had to give up her daughter because she couldn’t afford to feed an extra child.
‘She couldn’t cope with both of us. She was unmarried, she had two or three jobs sometimes to keep food on the table,’ says James in emotional scenes airing this evening at 9pm.
A woman who wrongly believed she was abandoned at just two-weeks-old because she is deaf has finally discovered the real reason after being reunited with her brother on Long Lost Family. Pictured, Joselyn reunited with her brother James
Joselyn Taylor (pictured left, as a baby with her adoptive mother), 68, from Boston Spa, West Yorkshire, who appears on the ITV programme tonight, was left at a children’s home before being adopted by a single mother who ran a sweet shop. Pictured right, Joselyn’s birth mother
He added that his mother wouldn’t have realised Joselyn was deaf before giving her up at two-weeks-old. ‘Not being that little. No way,’ insists James.
Joselyn had a happy childhood, which included being educated at a specialist school for deaf children.
She discovered she had a sibling when her adoptive mother Kathleen revealed that Joselyn’s birth mother had once arrived at the sweet shop, asking for money with a five-year-old boy alongside her.
Joselyn says: ‘She was obviously very, very poor. My adoptive mother told her to get out of the shop.’
Realising she had a brother, she started to look for him and went through her adoptive mother’s bedroom drawer until she found some paperwork.
On the documents was the name of her brother, James Sydney Pullman.
After finally meeting her older brother James, 73, Joselyn (pictured) is told that their ‘very, very poor’ mother had to give up her daughter because she couldn’t afford to feed an extra child
Joselyn (pictured with her adoptive mother) had a happy childhood, which included being educated at a specialist school for deaf children
But when Joselyn entered her DNA on a web database, it revealed a sibling called James Ford.
Her attempts to contact James went unanswered so she turned to Long Lost Family for help, and the team eventually discovered James in Carcassonne, France.
James and Joselyn’s mother, Lois Pullman, has passed away.
But the two siblings were reunited, with Joselyn saying: ‘I felt an instant connection – he cried, he really cried. It was lovely.’