# Long Lost Family (American TV series)

Long Lost Family is an American documentary television series based on the Dutch series Spoorloos created by broadcaster KRO-NCRV that premiered on March 6, 2016, on TLC. Presented by Chris Jacobs and Lisa Joyner, the show helps provide aid to individuals looking to be reunited with long-lost biological family members. The show is produced by Shed Media for TLC, and is co-sponsored by Ancestry.com, which provides family history research and DNA testing to help make discoveries possible.

## Format

The show follows the original British series very closely, offering a chance for people who are desperate to find long lost relatives. The series helps a handful of people, some of whom have been searching in vain for many years, find the family members they are desperately seeking. It explores the background and context of each family's estrangement and tracks the detective work and often complex and emotional process of finding each lost relative before they are reunited. With the help and support of Chris and Lisa, each relative is guided and supported through the process of tracing the member of their family they have been desperately seeking.

## Episodes
### Series overview

| Season | Episodes | Episodes | Originally released | Originally released |
| Season | Episodes | Episodes | First released | Last released |
| 1 | 8 | 8 | March 6, 2016 (2016-03-06) | April 24, 2016 (2016-04-24) |
| 2 | 13 | 13 | February 12, 2017 (2017-02-12) | April 25, 2017 (2017-04-25) |
| 3 | 6 | 6 | November 6, 2017 (2017-11-06) | December 11, 2017 (2017-12-11) |
| 4 | 9 | 9 | April 8, 2018 (2018-04-08) | May 16, 2018 (2018-05-16) |
| 5 | 9 | 9 | October 8, 2018 (2018-10-08) | December 17, 2018 (2018-12-17) |
| 6 | 8 | 8 | October 25, 2019 (2019-10-25) | December 13, 2019 (2019-12-13) |

### Season 1 (2016)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date |
| 1 | 1 | "I've Waited for This Call for 45 Years" | March 6, 2016 (2016-03-06) |
| 2 | 2 | "Your Mom's Been Here the Whole Time" | March 13, 2016 (2016-03-13) |
| 3 | 3 | "Nobody Knew I Existed" | March 20, 2016 (2016-03-20) |
| 4 | 4 | "I Should Have Fought Harder to Keep Her" | March 27, 2016 (2016-03-27) |
| 5 | 5 | "Am I Who I Think I Am?" | April 3, 2016 (2016-04-03) |
| 6 | 6 | "Why Did You Leave Me?" | April 10, 2016 (2016-04-10) |
| 7 | 7 | "Everything Your Parents Told You Was a Lie" | April 17, 2016 (2016-04-17) |
| 8 | 8 | "Alone in a Crowded Room" | April 24, 2016 (2016-04-24) |

### Season 2 (2017)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date |
| 9 | 1 | "There's No Easy Way to Say This" | February 12, 2017 (2017-02-12) |
| 10 | 2 | "The Court Said No, We Were Too Young" | February 19, 2017 (2017-02-19) |
| 11 | 3 | "I Want to Heal My Mother's Heart" | February 26, 2017 (2017-02-26) |
| 12 | 4 | "Born Together, Stay Together" | March 5, 2017 (2017-03-05) |
| 13 | 5 | "One More Reason to Fight for My Life" | March 12, 2017 (2017-03-12) |
| 14 | 6 | "Did You Have Dreams, Did You Follow Them?" | March 19, 2017 (2017-03-19) |
| 15 | 7 | "All the Leaves Fell Off My Family Tree" | March 26, 2017 (2017-03-26) |
| 16 | 8 | "The Last Time I Saw My Mother, I Was 5 Years Old" | April 2, 2017 (2017-04-02) |
| 17 | 9 | "Do I Call Him My Son?" | April 9, 2017 (2017-04-09) |
| 18 | 10 | "If You Bring Your Baby Home, You Can't Come Home" | April 16, 2017 (2017-04-16) |
| 19 | 11 | "Am I a Secret She Had to Keep?" | April 23, 2017 (2017-04-23) |
| 20 | 12 | "It's the Fulfillment Of a Promise" | April 24, 2017 (2017-04-24) |
| 21 | 13 | "We Don't Need Anything From Them Besides Love" | April 25, 2017 (2017-04-25) |

### Season 3 (2017)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date |
| 22 | 1 | "She Just Drove Off and Never Returned" | November 6, 2017 (2017-11-06) |
| 23 | 2 | "My First Chapter Is Unwritten" | November 13, 2017 (2017-11-13) |
| 24 | 3 | "If I'd Only Known About Her" | November 20, 2017 (2017-11-20) |
| 25 | 4 | "The Letters Just Stopped Coming" | November 27, 2017 (2017-11-27) |
| 26 | 5 | "There's More to Saying Sorry" | December 4, 2017 (2017-12-04) |
| 27 | 6 | "My Birth Certificate Reads 'Jane Doe'" | December 11, 2017 (2017-12-11) |

### Season 4 (2018)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date | US viewers (millions) |
| 28 | 1 | "The First and Last Time I Saw My Sister" | April 8, 2018 (2018-04-08) | 1.42 |
| 29 | 2 | "She Never Came Back" | April 15, 2018 (2018-04-15) | 1.13 |
| 30 | 3 | "You Think They Are Blood" | April 22, 2018 (2018-04-22) | 1.50 |
| 31 | 4 | "You Have Been Loved Your Whole Life" | April 29, 2018 (2018-04-29) | 1.46 |
| 32 | 5 | "28 Foster Homes" | May 6, 2018 (2018-05-06) | 1.42 |
| 33 | 6 | "A Slamming Door" | May 13, 2018 (2018-05-13) | 1.18 |
| 34 | 7 | "Nothing Short of a Miracle" | May 14, 2018 (2018-05-14) | 0.85 |
| 35 | 8 | "This Is Your Truth" | May 15, 2018 (2018-05-15) | 0.94 |
| 36 | 9 | "That Was My One Shot" | May 16, 2018 (2018-05-16) | 1.26 |

### Season 5 (2018)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date | US viewers (millions) |
| 37 | 1 | "A Baby In A Shoe Box" | October 8, 2018 (2018-10-08) | N/A |
| 38 | 2 | "A Mysterious Disappearance" | October 15, 2018 (2018-10-15) | N/A |
| 39 | 3 | "Waiting a Lifetime" | October 22, 2018 (2018-10-22) | N/A |
| 40 | 4 | "A Hole in My Soul" | October 29, 2018 (2018-10-29) | N/A |
| 41 | 5 | "Feelings of Abandonment" | November 5, 2018 (2018-11-05) | N/A |
| 42 | 6 | "Secrets Are Better Kept Than Said" | November 12, 2018 (2018-11-12) | N/A |
| 43 | 7 | "She Chose Another Person Over Her Child" | November 19, 2018 (2018-11-19) | N/A |
| 44 | 8 | "I Want To Go Back" | November 26, 2018 (2018-11-26) | N/A |
| 45 | 9 | "She's Gone" | December 17, 2018 (2018-12-17) | N/A |

### Season 6 (2019)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date | US viewers (millions) |
| 46 | 1 | "Why Couldn't They Raise Us?" | October 25, 2019 (2019-10-25) | 0.87 |
| 47 | 2 | "I'm the Only One Left" | November 1, 2019 (2019-11-01) | 0.92 |
| 48 | 3 | "Are They Looking For Me?" | November 8, 2019 (2019-11-08) | 0.89 |
| 49 | 4 | "Not My Child to Keep" | November 15, 2019 (2019-11-15) | 0.91 |
| 50 | 5 | "An Adult Orphan" | November 22, 2019 (2019-11-22) | 0.85 |
| 51 | 6 | "What Family Feels Like" | November 29, 2019 (2019-11-29) | 0.88 |
| 52 | 7 | "The Missing Piece" | December 6, 2019 (2019-12-06) | 0.93 |
| 53 | 8 | "Switched in the Hospital" | December 13, 2019 (2019-12-13) | 0.93 |

## Production
### Development

On February 2, 2016, it was announced that TLC had given the production a series order. It was reported that the series would be hosted by Chris Jacobs and Lisa Joyner and produced by Shed Media.
Season one of Long Lost Family premiered on March 6, 2016. On June 9, 2016, it was announced that TLC had renewed the series for a second season. Season 3 had 6 additional episodes for 2017 and began airing on November 6, 2017. On March 20, 2018, it was announced that the series had been renewed for a third season set to premiere on April 8, 2018. On September 7, 2018, it was announced that additional episodes for 2018 were expected to premiere on October 8, 2018.

### Marketing

Alongside the initial series announcement, TLC released the first teaser trailer for the series. On March 20, 2018, TLC released the official trailer for season three.

## International versions

The original British program began airing in 2011 and has so far distributed fourteen series and several specials. It is hosted by Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell.
There is also a Norwegian version of called Sporløs that has been airing on Norwegian channel TV 2 since 2010 with six seasons so far.
An Australian version of Long Lost Family, hosted by Chrissie Swan and Anh Do, began airing around the same time as the U.S. version in 2016, but was canceled by 2017.