Long Lost Family viewers were shocked last night at a mum’s lack of tears when she got to see her daughter’s face for the first time in decades.
The daughter, 62-year-old Kathleen, was a child when she found out she was adopted after the woman she thought was her birth mother passed away.
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The documentary series revealed that her real mum gave her up for adoption because of the deep stigma, in those days, of an unmarried woman having a baby of mixed heritage.
When viewers eventually got to meet her birth mum, whose name is also Kathleen, they were surprised at the 87 year old’s composure – with some even going as far as branding her “cold” and “unemotional”.
Co-presenter Nicky Campbell showed Kathleen senior a photo of her daughter and she said, “Wow, good heavens”, adding with a laugh: “She hasn’t got my nose.”
After staring at the picture in silence for some time, she said, “She looks happy…” and Nicky asked her, “Are you okay?”
One viewer said on Twitter: “Didn’t like the cold mother! Glad her lovely kids didn’t take after her! #longlostfamily.”
Another wrote: “This woman (the mum) is unemotional and cold #longlostfamily.”
A third tweeted: “#LongLostFamily happy for sisters… but looks like mother is cold like those stones…”
Someone else put: “She seems as cold as the weather outside! #longlostfamily.”
Didn't like the cold mother! Glad her lovely kids didn't take after her!#longlostfamily
— Pam (@pamibells) July 9, 2019
This woman (the mum) is unemotional and cold #longlostfamily
— Amused (@Amusedthough) July 8, 2019
#LongLostFamily happy for sisters…but looks like mother is cold like those stones..
— Rasa (@Rasa43638310) July 8, 2019
She seems has cold as the wether outside! #longlostfamily
— john hanratty (@ironopolis) July 8, 2019
Others rushed to defend the 87-year-old, arguing that she was merely stoic and from a different generation to most viewers, while some pointed out that people can’t judge as they don’t know her life story and what she’s been through.
“It’s unfair to label the mum as cold, heartless etc,” said one, adding: “We don’t know her, her background, her situation then, or her life. So she doesn’t cry. Not everyone does.”
Someone else tweeted: “I don’t think the mum’s cold, stoic yes but at that age she could have a stroke at all this! #longlostfamily.”
Another said: “Wow. So many judgmental, chippy people watching #LongLostFamily tonight. Just because the mother isn’t bawling her eyes out doesn’t make her cold. And the sisters being half-Jamaican doesn’t mean their mum loved them any less than another mum in a similar position. Stop judging.”
It's unfair to label the mum as cold, heartless etc. We don't know her, her background, her situation then, or her life.
So she doesn't cry. Not everyone does. #longlostfamily
— Raggy-Mess (@RaggyMess) July 8, 2019
I don’t think the mums cold, stoic yes but at that age she could have a stroke at all this! #longlostfamily
— Rach xxx (@RachelleMDNA) July 8, 2019
Wow. So many judgemental, chippy ppl watching #LongLostFamily tonight. Just because the mother isn't bawling her eyes out doesn't make her cold. And the sisters being half-Jamaican doesn't mean their mum loved them any less than another mum in a similiar position. Stop judging.
— Knitty42 (@Knitty42) July 8, 2019
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Kathleen junior said on the programme: “When I had my own children, that’s when I really knew what I’d missed.
“It’s really true that, if you’re not cared for, if you haven’t got a mother, you don’t get loved. I realised that’s how I felt my whole life.”
Later in the episode, the Long Lost Family team also found a connection to Kathleen’s Jamaican birth father.
It follows an episode earlier in the series in which three sisters were stunned to find out they had six other siblings.
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