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Dawn HarkinsWelsh woman, 61, reunited with son after 45 years apart
Country:
 Great Britain |
Content:
- A Welsh Mother's Long-Lost Reunion
- The Reunion
- The Separation and Adoption
- The Search
- The Call and the Game Show
- The Reunion
A Welsh Mother's Long-Lost Reunion
Sixty-one-year-old Dawn Harkins from Wales reunited with her son after 45 years of separation, thanks to her winnings on the game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"
The Reunion
Harkins, grateful to show host Chris Tarrant for helping her win the £75,000 prize, used it to travel to Brisbane, Australia, where her son, Glyn, resided. "I never thought I'd see my son again, so to actually be here is just amazing," Harkins said from Brisbane. "No mother ever forgets their child, and I'm so glad I got this chance to meet Glyn and give him a big hug... I might not be going home a millionaire, but this trip is worth more than all the money in the world. I feel like the richest woman alive."
The Separation and Adoption
At the young age of fifteen, Harkins gave birth to her first child, a boy she named Keith. However, the adoptive parents later renamed him Glyn. Harkins spent only six weeks with her newborn son in a Mother and Baby Home before he was adopted. Reluctantly, Harkins gave him up, as she had no other options. "I was only fifteen, and back in 1967, I had no choice... I ran after the car that was taking my baby away. I asked if I could have one more kiss, and that was the last time I saw him," she recalled.
The Search
Later in life, Harkins, a former factory machinist, married and had two more children. Yet, she never forgot her firstborn son. Her daughter, 41-year-old Samantha, began searching for Glyn, determined to heal her mother's old wound and rectify the past. Within three months, Samantha, with the help of private detectives and an adoption agency, located her half-brother in Brisbane, Australia. He had been adopted by a family from Manchester and had immigrated to Australia as a teenager. "When Sam told me she'd found him, I just couldn't believe it. It was just before my birthday, and she said, 'Happy Birthday, Mom, I found him,'" Harkins said. After 45 years, Harkins had her doubts: "I was worried that we'd get knocked back."
The Call and the Game Show
Fortunately, Glyn wanted to make contact. "I'd spoken to him on the phone quite a lot, but I'd never have been able to afford to fly out there and back," Harkins confessed. Her desire to see her son prompted the 61-year-old to enter the game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" When she reached the £75,000 question, Harkins used her 50/50 lifeline. Asked "Which airport is named after Louis Armstrong?" Harkins chose New Orleans over Atlanta and won.
The Reunion
The winner flew to Brisbane with her daughter Samantha and 40-year-old son Brian, and burst into tears when she met Glyn, his wife Alison, and their two daughters, 15-year-old Jessica and 14-year-old Natalie. Harkins was now a grandmother of six. "Meeting them is just incredible. It's like I've got a whole new family that I never knew about," she said.
Glyn, a Brisbane flooring company manager, shared his thoughts: "It's just fantastic to meet my birth mother after all these years. I was so pleased that she got the questions right."
