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Family photo
Their reunion was described as natural and joyful
It was a 10,000-mile, 23-hour journey for a meeting that was more than 60 years in the making, but Russell Gower has finally met his older sibling for the first time in-person.
Earlier this month, Russell, 64, travelled from his home in south Wales to Brisbane, Australia, to meet with his 69-year-old brother Peter.
But, far from being awkward, he described the moment as feeling totally "natural", adding that "there was nothing else other than joy".
The long lost pair's reunion will now be officially marked by a big family party in Brisbane on Christmas Day.
Both men were born in London to parents Ray and Jill.
Peter was born when Jill was just 15 and the couple had yet to be married - a situation with a stigma attached in the 1950s which meant he was put up for adoption and taken to Australia where he was raised.
Ray and Jill, who have both died, went on to get married after their first son had been adopted, they had Russell a few years later and then a sister Jackie, who has also died.
Peter lived most of his life in Australia without realising the truth about his birth family, until his adoptive sister told him in recent years.
His granddaughter in Australia then tracked down Russell, who has lived in Llanharan, Rhondda Cynon Taf, for more than 30 years, and DNA tests have been carried out to confirm the link.
Russell was told by his sister when he was a teenager that he had an adopted brother, but his mother never directly opened up about Peter.
With just a few days to live with terminal cancer in 2007, she said to him: "There is something I need to tell you."
Russell is convinced it was to tell him about his brother but she died before she had the chance.
Supplied
Ray and Jill Gower were not yet married when Peter was born - but later tied the knot and had two more children
He said: "My mother was obviously deeply traumatised by it, although I would never have known that.
"She told my sister in the end. I do not know how she got through her life having lost a baby in those circumstances.
"She must have wondered every single day about what he was doing. What was his first day in school like? Did he have children? It must have been very very tough for her."
Russell, a retired retail operations manager with a bakery, is married with a daughter, but travelled to Australia alone for the first meeting.
He had tried to track down his brother in Australia a number of years ago but his efforts fizzled out.
The moment in which both men, with strikingly similar builds, met with a handshake on the drive of Peter's house in Brisbane was captured on camera by relatives who had helped organise the encounter.
The entire wider family of 17 people will now gather for a full celebration on Christmas Day.
Family photo
Peter, surrounded by his family in Australia, was oblivious to the truth about his birth family until recent years
Russell said he was wary ahead of the meeting but his brother had said he bore no malice or bitterness about the adoption.
He said of his feelings before the encounter: "We really had nothing in common other than blood.
"He has had a completely different life on the other side of the world and a completely different upbringing.
"I was a bit worried about how that was going to be but my concerns were soon set aside. It felt natural from the get-go.
"When I shook his hand and he put his arm on my shoulder, I just knew. There was something about it. It was like we were wired the same."
Russell says he was worried about the meeting, but now thinks the three-week visit in Australia won't feel long enough
He said they both "got a bit emotional" when he told Peter it would have been their mother's 85th birthday.
"It was just purely coincidental he and I spent some quality time together on what would have been her 85th birthday. The stars had aligned," said Russell.
"I am sure she would have been chuffed to see her two boys out having a beer and a chat. It was gold dust.
"It is destiny really. I could have gone through my whole life and never found him and out of the blue here we are."
With "so much ground to cover", the pair are starting to wonder if the three-week visit is long enough.
"It has changed my world.," said Russell.
"It could not have come at a better time. Any day of the week would be fantastic but to be invited out there for Christmas is really special.
"I never thought I'd be saying this but I will be having a barbecue on Christmas Day with my brother. Unbelievable."
