It became the norm and then life took over, she got married, had children of her own and they, in turn, had their own offspring.
Then, a few weeks ago, out of the blue, she received a phone call from her aunt who said her father was looking for her.

Pauline, 58, said: "I got a call from my Aunty Dot, my mother's sister, saying there's a man looking for you.

"She told me about a piece in the Yorkshire Evening Post. I couldn't believe what I saw.
"My husband Vic emailed the person in the letter and then a woman rang
up and told me she knew my dad.
"She asked if my mum was still alive and I said no. She said, do you know who your father is, so I said no. Then she said, 'well I do.'

"I was a bit stunned because I've never had a dad."
Her father, Kenneth Forster, had been searching for his daughter for decades and had tried numerous national magazines and even television appeals.

However, it was down to a letter in the paper's Yorkshire Diary column, sent by his niece Brenda Mumby, that he was able to fulfil his lifelong dream of being re-united with his daughter again. After tentative conversations on the phone, Kenneth and Pauline, who lives in Cross Gates, met for the first time on Thursday April 17 – Kenneth's 84th birthday.

It was a tearful, emotional re-union and Pauline was able to introduce her father not only to herself but also to her daughter Jayne, her husband David and their daughter Holly.

She said: "It was lovely, we arrived and saw Brenda, his niece, who lives with him and has helped him look for me all those years.
"Then my Dad came out and he was hugging and kissing me.

"It's strange to think he always knew about me and that he was trying to contact me but I never knew about him.

"He told me about how my mother and him had had an argument, but my mother, Jean, never mentioned him and his name was not even on my birth certificate. I simply did not know about him.

"He said he had never forgotten about me and that he had thought about me every day."

She added: "I noticed how much he looked like me. It's strange, I still cannot sleep on a night, thinking about what might have been. I'm just glad we have been re-united. We are already planning to meet again."
Leeds-born Kenneth used to work at RW Crabtree's on Water Lane and later served in the Army as an anti-tank gunner across Europe and the Middle East.

He now lives in Bardney, near Lincoln.

He met Pauline's mother, Jean, when she lived with her parents at Victoria Terrace but they never married and split up after an argument.
Kenneth agreed to pay maintenance and was spurned by Pauline's mother and tried to get in touch with her soon thereafter but the family had moved.

His decades-long search was in vain, until last week.
He said: "Me and Pauline's mother had a falling out and at the time I thought I might get called back up for military service again, so the best place for her was with her mother.

"I sent money every week, then I had to move away and I lost touch.

"I tried to find her so many times. We had just about given up but then we decided to call the Yorkshire Evening Post and that was that.
"I was nervous about meeting her. We did not know what to say to each other. I just got hold of her and kissed her and put my arms around her. A few tears were shed.

"Everybody said we look very similar. I said to her, welcome to the family, sorry it took so long."

Pauline's daughter Jayne said: "He's a lovely man. He looks just like mum. She never knew who her father was and I never had a granddad."
Brenda Mumby, who lives with/cares for Kenneth, is Ken's sister's daughter. Pauline's mum, Jean Joyce (who never mentioned her dad to her), died about 12 years ago and was in her 70s

Brenda said: "We had tried everything we could to find Pauline but no luck at all.

"The last resort was to contact the YEP and my uncle has now been reunited with his daughter, who he had not seen since she was four weeks old.

"When we found her she said she had asked about her mother but she would not tell her anything and she did not put his name on her birth certificate.

"Thank for the article you printed and believe me you have made him happy."