DNA Test Reunites English Sisters with Long-Lost Sibling After 73 Years
- Victor Nwoko
- May 13
- 3 min read
Two English sisters have been reunited with their long-lost half-sister, more than seven decades after she was placed for adoption — all thanks to a DNA test submitted online.
Trish Caller, 61, and June Thompson, 63, were finally united with their half-sister, Geraldine Ratcliffe, 77, in April after Caller's daughter, Laura Polley, submitted a DNA sample to an online ancestry database. The resulting match led to a heartfelt email sent to Geraldine on April 1 — a message so surreal that both sides initially thought it was an April Fool’s prank.
Geraldine, who lives in Horwich, Bolton, was adopted at the age of four in 1952 after her mother, Mary Wills, was forced to give her up while residing at Bessborough Mother and Baby Home in County Cork, Ireland. Geraldine had spent most of her life believing her birth mother had died in 1958, when in reality, Mary passed away in 2011 at the age of 84.
For Geraldine, the revelation was staggering. She had been told by her adoptive parents that she was “unwanted baggage” and that her mother had died young. The lies concealed the truth: Mary had gone on to have three more children and had spent her life searching for the daughter she had been forced to surrender.
The emotional reunion began with a video call and culminated in an in-person meeting at Taunton Station on April 23. Geraldine and her daughter-in-law, Karen Ratcliffe, traveled from Bolton to Somerset for a four-day visit filled with bonding, reflection, and a shared sense of healing.
Trish and June learned that their mother had been a survivor of Bessborough, a Catholic-run institution exposed in a 2021 Irish government report for forcing adoptions and treating unmarried mothers with cruelty. The home operated from 1922 to 1998, during which time around 900 infants died — many buried in unmarked graves.
Mary, who gave birth to Geraldine at 21, had been allowed limited visits with her daughter after adoption — until they were abruptly stopped. Geraldine recalled receiving birthday and Christmas gifts from her mother until the visits ceased and was later told that Mary had abandoned her.
“When I first came over, she was allowed to see me on a Wednesday, she could take me out for a few hours, and that was it,” Geraldine said. “Then it all stopped. I was told she dumped me.”
The reunion has brought clarity to the Wills family. Trish said their mother suffered from severe anxiety, depression, and underwent electric shock therapy throughout her life — pain they now understand stemmed from the trauma of Bessborough and the loss of her daughter.
“Mum never told us lies, she just never told us the truth because she was made to feel that she'd committed the worst sin against God,” Trish said.
Geraldine, meanwhile, expressed a mix of joy and heartbreak. “It’s something I’ve wanted all my life. All my Christmases have come at once,” she said. “I’ve created my own loving family, but now I have two sisters and a brother too. It feels like we’ve always known each other.”
Geraldine, a mother of three and grandmother of ten, said she found healing in learning that her birth mother had never stopped loving or looking for her. Her adoptive mother, before passing away in 1972, had told her while in a coma that her unborn son would be named Michael Thomas — the same names as Mary’s brother and father, a sign Geraldine now sees as an acknowledgment of her origins.
Since the reunion, the sisters have visited key locations in Taunton connected to their mother, including her grave, her longtime home at Gatchell Oaks, and the former Winchester Arms where she worked. They are now planning several trips together, including one to Limerick, Ireland, where Mary was born.
“This is the start of making memories together now,” Trish said. “We’ve each held pieces of the puzzle, but now we finally see the full picture.”
Geraldine added, “There have been a few tears, but it’s as if we’ve always known each other. Instantly.”
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