A woman who questioned why her Sri Lankan birth mother gave her up when she was just three months old was finally reunited with her on tonight’s Long Lost Family.
Yasika Fernando, 31, who lives in London with her husband Tillek and their two young daughters, only discovered she was adopted at the age of 18 when her adoptive parents revealed she had been taken from a convent in Colombo.
At the time, finding her biological mother in a different country seemed like an almost impossible task for Yasika, and she has always been close to her adoptive parents, Donald and Yasantha, who moved to the UK from Sri Lanka in the 1980s.
But after giving birth to her own daughter, Ivani, two, Yasika became determined to find out what made her own mother give her away, explaining: ‘When Ivani was the same age… I couldn’t imagine the pain of letting go a child.’
With the help of the Long Lost Family team Yasika visits where she was born but is unable to find her mother and returns to the UK, yet just five days later the team find the relative.
Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, Yasika is only able to reunite on a video call, although her mother does not want to appear on the ITV show.
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Yasika Fernando (pictured), 31, who lives in London with her husband Tillek and their two young daughters, only discovered she was adopted at the age of 18 when her adoptive parents revealed she had been taken from a convent in Colombo
Recalling the moment she discovered she was adopted, Yasika says: ‘It was a shock. I was sad to know that I’m not theirs,’ and since that day the family have rarely spoken about it.
At the start of the show, in a frank conversation, Yasika confesses to her adoptive parents that she has many questions about her birth mother, but her adoptive parents are as much in the dark as her.
The only memory they can recall is that they heard a woman crying in one of the back rooms when they collected Yasika and believe this to be her mother.
Yasantha acknowledges her mixed feelings, explaining: ‘It would have been really hard for her,’ whilst admitting that for her ‘it was a very very nice feeling getting a baby in my arms’.
Ever since finding out about her adoption, Yasika has been haunted by thoughts of her birth mother, explaining: ‘All I know is her name… and that she was thirty-one when she had me.’
She explains that she would ‘do anything’ for her own daughter Ivani and has ‘never felt a love so strong in her entire life.’
At the time, finding her biological mother in a different country seemed like an almost impossible task for Yasika, and she has always been close to her adoptive parents, Donald and Yasantha, who moved to the UK from Sri Lanka in the 1980s. Pictured, Yasika with her husband, left, and a Sri Lankan guide, centre
She says: ‘I need to find out what happened to my birth mother. I want to know why did [she] give me up?’
Co-presenter Nicky Campbell contacts an expert in Sri Lanka, Siri Silva, who has helped reunite Sri-Lankan birth mothers and their children for over twenty-five years.
He agrees to take on the search but advises that it can only legally happen in Sri Lanka if Yasika is present to receive any information. Though there is no guarantee that Yasika will find her mother, she decides to make the journey to Sri Lanka with her husband for a week.
Co-host Davina McCall visits Yasika ahead of the trip to see how she is feeling. She tells Davina that it is particularly heartbreaking to think that her mother was the same age as she is now, when she gave Yasika up.
However, shockingly, Davina warns Yasika that there is a possibility that her paperwork is not authentic, leading Yasika to explain that she is anxious about what she is going to find. She tells Davina she is ‘praying that she gets to find her [birth mother].’
Yasika begins her search with Siri in the capital city of Colombo, where her adoption took place and visits the hospital where she was allegedly born to see if there are any records of her birth.
But after giving birth to her own daughter, Ivani, two, Yasika became determined to find out what made her own mother give her away, explaining: ‘When Ivani was the same age… I couldn’t imagine the pain of letting go a child.’ Pictured, presenters Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell
Yasika nervously waits as the staff look through their paperwork and eventually – to her relief – confirm that their records match the information she has and also offer her mother’s date of birth and city of residence at the time.
An emotional Yasika says: ‘From not knowing anything, to having it here, is amazing… It’s not made-up, it’s actually on paper.’
But there is no current address for the long lost mother, so Siri takes Yasika to the Good Shepherd Convent, where her adoption was arranged.
Thankfully, the nun there confirms that the convent has some information, but that she needs to search for her birth mother first and see if she is willing to meet Yasika.
As such, Yasika has to return to England without meeting her birth mother. She says: ‘I don’t want to even think about this being the end. I’m leaving a little piece of me in Sri Lanka until I find her.’
Not long after Yasika’s return, Davina visits her to let her know that Siri has an update and that they found Yasika’s grandmother who knew of her existence and gave the nun a phone number for her mother.
The nun spoke to her mother, who wants to meet Yasika. Hearing this, Yasika says: ‘This is the best news I’ve ever had. I feel so light.’
However, although Yasika intended to fly to Sri Lanka to meet her birth mother in person, the reunion had to be put on hold due to the outbreak of Covid-19.
Eventually, although her mother does not want to appear on camera, Yasika does meet her via a video call. By this time, Yasika and Tillek have had another baby and Yasika is able to introduce her mother to two granddaughters.
Long Lost Family continues tonight at 9pm on ITV.