A man has revealed his joy at finally meeting his older brother after wondering about his wellbeing and whereabouts his entire life.

Delivery driver Mark Thorpe, 44, from East Norfolk, spotted a photograph of a baby beside his mother’s bed as a child, and somehow knew it wasn’t him, leaving him to question throughout his early years who the mystery boy was.

It wasn’t until he was aged five that his mother, Diane, eventually revealed to him that the little boy in the photograph was his older brother, whom she was made to give up for adoption.

Mark said, ‘I was always intrigued by this photo; there were multiple copies of this all around the house. This one was beside her bed, and she had it tattooed on her arm as well.’

There was never a day that went by that Mark’s mother didn’t think about her first child, whom she had given up for adoption at the age of 19, due to the strict nature of her parents.

‘In the years that followed, I know she struggled mentally,’ Mark said, adding, ‘I know when I was growing up, she went through bouts of depressionand I think my mum’s anxieties maybe stemmed from the adoption.’

When his mother sadly died aged 73 in 2023, Mark made the decision to search for his long lost brother, who was originally called Kevin but later named Martin by his adoptive parents.

In an emotional episode of ITV’s Long Lost Family, which airs on Thursday, Mark finally fulfils his lifelong wish and meets his older brother after years of living in the unknown.

Thinking back to his childhood, Mark said, ‘Mum and I were close, and everything seemed happy to me.’

But despite his positive upbringing, Mark acknowledged some emotional tension from his mother throughout his formative years, adding, ‘There was this slight, not coldness, but reluctance to get too close or let too much out.’

It’s a reality that Mark rooted back to the adoption of his older brother, and though he loved his late grandfather, he admitted that it was a decision made to please him.

During the episode, the delivery driver travelled back to his grandparents’ home. He said, ‘She must’ve been quite nervous telling my grandparents at that age.

‘The birth father made it clear that he wasn’t going to stick around, and then my granddad said, ‘Well, you can’t keep that baby if you’re not married.’

‘My granddad was stubborn, you weren’t going to change his mind. I don’t think she had a choice, she had nowhere else to go.’

Mark, a father to his three children, said, ‘The thought of that, I’d be lost without my children, it would be like losing a part of your heart.’

After the adoption, Diane struggled with depression. Mark believes her illness was linked to the adoption.

It was one week after his mother’s passing that Mark made the decision to, for the first time ever, search for his brother.

Mark said, ‘About a week after mum passed away, I thought let’s see if we can try searching for Kevin. I need to find my brother because I’d love to know what happened to him, how he grew up, where he grew up, and the differences in his life.’

‘This little photo has created a large shadow over the family. Let’s turn the shadow, give it an actual person to come from rather than a picture. It would be terrific.’

ITV’s Long Lost Family team managed to locate Mark’s brother, a 55-year-old keen musician based in Gloucestershire, via adoption records.

The show’s co-host Nicky Campbell travelled to Gloucestershire to deliver the news that he has a birth sibling desperately searching for him.

Describing the information as ‘Bonkers, but in a good way,’ Martin explained how, despite knowing he was adopted from a young age, he had never pondered the thought of whether he might have birth siblings.

Recalling his childhood, Martin said, ‘I couldn’t have had a better situation to be adopted into than what I ended up in. There’s only my mum still around now, she’s the one who encouraged me to make use of my music.’

When Nicky informed him of his birth mother’s story and how she never stopped loving him, Martin was reduced to tears. ‘I’m really touched by that,’ he said.

He was delighted to hear that his birth brother longed to meet him.

In a heartwarming conclusion, the brothers finally meet for the first time.

Initially, Mark is apologetic, saying, ‘I just think it was such a bombshell for you. I was the one setting the bomb off.’ To which Martin replied, ‘Yeah, but it turned out to be full of glitter.’

Mark, emotional but elated by their meeting, said, ‘He’s full of life and funny. I can tell we have a slightly similar sense of humour,’ adding, ‘It’d be great to take him to Norfolk to see the rest of the family.’

His older brother was equally pleased with the meeting, saying, ‘I think he’s a really deep person, I know he’s full of interesting stories to tell me, not just about me, but about him as well, so I look forward to that.’

Long Lost Family will air on ITV1 and ITVX on Thursday at 9pm.