After decades apart from her daughter, Sian Williams believed she finally found her and even moved closer to her new 'family' before a devastating message changed everything10:02, 05 Sep 2026A heartbroken mum searching for the daughter she lost more than two decades ago thought her prayers had finally been answered when a message appeared on Facebook.‌Sian Williams, 57, had spent years desperately trying to find Tilly, who was adopted as a toddler after being taken into foster care as a baby, not because of Sian's actions. She received photos and updates, but once Tilly turned 18 this came to an end and Sian lost contact with her daughter completely.‌Seven years after posting her details online, a woman contacted mum-of-four Sian claiming to be her long-lost daughter — and even knew Tilly’s correct date of birth. Sian, from Pembrokeshire, said: “I had posted on Facebook adoption groups, desperate to find my daughter. I included her birth name and date of birth in the hopes it would reach the right person.‌“With no luck, I accepted I’d never see her again but then my phone pinged. The person messaging me relayed Tilly’s correct date of birth and I truly thought I had found my little girl."The woman, who called herself Cindy, told Sian she had four children and began sending photographs of herself as Sian desperately searched for signs she really was Tilly. She told Creatorzine: “I sent her every picture I had kept of Tilly so she could confirm that it was her.‌"She sent me selfies, comparing them to her baby pictures, and I thought I could spot the resemblance. When she offered a DNA test, I was certain there were no games being played; but then she changed her mind. Not wanting to push her away, I dropped it.”The pair grew closer, speaking on video calls which also included the children Sian believed were her grandchildren. Cindy began confiding in the woman she claimed was her biological mum, telling her she was trapped with an abusive boyfriend who had taken her children to visit Sian's ex in prison.Sian's former partner, Timothy Jenkins, who was 19 at the time, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of manslaughter in relation to Sian’s five-year-old daughter, Jessica, in October 1996. Tilly was taken into foster care when she was just six months old, and Sian was allowed supervised visits until Tilly was adopted at the age of two.‌Fearing history could repeat itself, Sian sent her £150 to help her leave the alleged relationship. In October 2025, she then made a four-hour journey to finally meet the woman she believed was Tilly - more than two decades after her daughter had been taken away.Convinced she had found the family she had spent years searching for, Sian later uprooted her life and moved nearby to be closer to Cindy and the children. She also removed herself from the adoption contact register, which she had signed up to in 2024. But her long-awaited reunion was not what it seemed.‌A message from another woman claimed Cindy was not her daughter at all and alleged she had done the same thing before. Sian said: “It read that Cindy wasn’t my real daughter and that she had done this before. My stomach dropped. I didn’t believe this could be true."When I confronted Cindy, she told me to block the woman. But then two others came forward. I sent one final message asking Cindy to own up and tell the truth. Her reply came quickly: ‘I’m really sorry, I wanted to have a mum, someone who put me first. I never had that.’ I felt physically sick.”‌After learning the truth about Cindy, Sian began looking back at their relationship and questioning how she had been convinced the woman was her daughter. She said: "Cindy only knew Tilly's date of birth as I had posted about it.“She knew I would never follow through with pushing for a DNA test in case it risked my relationship with her. And her abusive boyfriend? I doubt he was real, so £150 went down the drain.”Sian, who went on to have two other daughters during her search for Tilly, is now applying to rejoin the adoption contact register after waiting a year. Her search for her daughter continues, but the experience has left her shaken, and fearful that it may make her distrustful if the real Tilly ever does come forward.Article continues belowShe added: “I shudder when I think of how I told Cindy everything about my life. I’m terrified that if the real Tilly comes forward that I won’t believe her. It’s completely destroyed my trust in people. And when I try to picture Tilly’s face, all I can see is Cindy’s cruel face grinning back at me.”Tilly and Cindy's names have been changed to protect their identies.