Dunfermline woman finds sister after 56-year search

Kay Smart was adopted at the age of just two days.

The 72-year-old says she had “wonderful adoptive parents” growing up, but did not learn that she was adopted until she was 15.

“I had a feeling growing up I was adopted, don’t ask me why, I just did," she told the Press.

"Most of my friends looked like their parents. I had never seen a full birth certificate, so I kind of wondered why that was.”

It was only when Kay was getting ready to begin her first job, and she had to fill in information about where she had been born, that her mother told her about her adoption.

Originally, Kay thought she had been born in Arbroath, but she was actually born in Edinburgh.

Kay was put up for adoption at just two days old. (Image: Kay Smart)

“That was the very moment they told me I was adopted," she said.

"My mum and dad, when they did tell me, they were open.”

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At the age of 16, she began looking for her biological relatives.

She managed to get a copy of her full birth certificate and from there she learned a lot about her biological mother.

She lived in Canada and had been married, but was now a widow with a young daughter who was four-and-a-half-years-old.

After giving birth to Kay in Edinburgh, her mother put her up for adoption and went back to Canada.

Kay was put into an adoption home in the capital before going on the adoption list and being adopted by her parents.

Over the years Kay has worked tirelessly to find her relatives.

She told the Press: “I think as an adoptee, no matter how happy you are, there’s a missing link there.

“There’s a constant need to know from the moment you know you are adopted. You have to try and find that missing link.”

Kay got in touch with Long Lost Family, a TV show hosted by Davina McCall which tries to reunite lost relatives.

However, they were unable to trace anybody related to Kay.

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She also got in touch with a radio station in Canada to see if they could put out a broadcast to say she was looking for her family, but she did not hear back from them.

Kay even wrote a letter to her biological mother’s address in Canada, but the address no longer existed.

Her last resort was in 2023 when she made a post on the Long Lost Edinburgh Facebook page.

“I just put in the information I had: my mother’s name, her maiden name, and her parents’ names and a couple of days later a reply came back.”

The reply came from someone who said she knew who Kay was talking about, so she privately messaged her to see what she could tell her.

It turns out the woman who messaged Kay was married to her biological mother’s brother, and from there she was able to be put in touch with her half-sister, Heather.

Heather is coming over to meet Kay for the first time this September. (Image: Kay Smart)

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“It was a total surprise to her, it was completely out of the blue. The uncle that had responded to my Facebook message, he was a bit uncertain as to how she would take it.

“They had contacted my sister and said there was somebody wanting to email her, and I did this as gently as I could.”

Speaking of Heather and her family, Kay commented: “She has been absolutely amazing.

“They have been so wonderful, they accepted me from the word go. It could have gone completely the opposite way.”

Heather now lives in California, USA, but she is preparing to come to Scotland to visit Kay in ten weeks' time.

Kay said: “I’m still not over the fact that she’s coming over - I can’t wait!"

“I couldn’t have done this without the help of my husband. He’s been 100 per cent behind me all the way and that’s made a difference, because you need a bit of support in that situation.”