Long Lost Family viewers were left heartbroken this evening over a dad who described his trauma over his baby being taken away from him when he was just 17.
Richard appeared on the ITV programme in an attempt to find his son, who he was forced to give up by his parents when he was a teenager.
He and his girlfriend Christine had been young when their son Darren was born but, before he knew it, both of their parents stepped in and said that they couldn't bring up the baby.
They called up to have the baby picked up by a social worker - and never saw their son ever again.
"When I walked in, I couldn't believe it when I saw Christine there with the baby," he explained. "As soon as I saw him, I felt like a father. I just held him and I felt proud.
"It was only two minutes and really I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Christine and our baby."
Opening up about the moment the social worker came in the room, he said: "I don't know what I thought was going to happen, but I still didn't think he was going to be taken away.
"It was just so quick - I couldn't think what was going on. That was the last time I saw him. It was our baby she stole."
And viewers were in floods of tears, with one tweeting: "You can tell the poor man has been traumatised. Heartbreaking."
While another commented: "You can tell it is still raw with him. #LongLostFamily."
A third wrote: "here you have Richard, standing there, ready to stand up to be a father, and Darren was taken away. can you imagine the heartbreak he's gone through? poor man, really hope Darren is understanding #LongLostFamily."
Thankfully, Richard was able to reunite with his son, whose name hadn't been changed after they had named him Darren.
He had emigrated to Australia in 2001, and was able to meet up with Richard and Kim as they enjoyed a tearful reunion.
Since meeting on the ITV show, they have been in regular contact with one another and Richard and Kim are hoping to fly over to Australia in the future.
*Long Lost Family airs Mondays at 9pm on ITV
