After a 57-year search, sisters Trish Caller, 61, and June Thompson, 63, reunited with their long-lost eldest sister, Geraldine Ratcliffe, 77, in an emotional and heartwarming discovery sparked by a DNA test. Both Trish and June had spent their lives longing to find Geraldine, who was put up for adoption by their late mother, Mary Wills, 84, when she was just four years old.
Mary, who had Geraldine at 21 in 1948, was compelled to give her up in 1952 before marrying Peter Wills in 1956. Together, they raised three children—Geraldine’s younger half-siblings—in Taunton, Somerset. Despite always knowing an older sister existed, Trish and June were unable to locate Geraldine before Mary passed away from terminal liver cancer in 2011.
The breakthrough came unexpectedly when Trish’s daughter, Laura Polley, 34, took a DNA test through Ancestry.co.uk in 2023. Although no immediate family matches appeared, a new profile entered the database in January 2025 that changed everything: Geraldine’s. On April 1, 2025, Laura reached out to Geraldine via email, only to have to reassure her that the outreach was genuine and not an April Fool’s joke.
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The sisters connected over a video call and, just weeks later, met in person on April 23, 2025. Trish described the moment as an “emotional rollercoaster” and spoke of the instant bond and shared laughter between the siblings. “Meeting for the first time felt like love at once,” she said. “We look so much alike — it’s like Mum is with us now, and this is what she would have wanted.”
Gifted the DNA kit for Christmas 2023, Laura’s test had first seemed unfruitful. Yet fate intervened when Geraldine registered on the same site several months later, making the life-changing connection possible.
The reunion also shed light on family history. Mary had been a survivor of the Bessborough Mother and Baby Home in Blackrock, County Cork, Ireland, a Catholic-run institution notorious for cruel treatment and forced adoptions. This painful legacy explained why Mary had to relinquish Geraldine.
Reflecting on the reunion, Trish said, “We never imagined finding her after all this time. Taking Geraldine to Mum’s grave was deeply emotional—now we can begin making new memories.” The sisters are planning a trip to Ireland to explore their mother’s early life and celebrate their newfound family.