My sons haven’t seen their dad in 12 years and want to get to know him- I’m struggling to find him

DEAR DEIDRE: FOR more than 12 years, my two teenage boys haven’t seen or heard from their dad.

They are keen to find him and get to know him, but everything I’ve tried so far has drawn a blank.

I am their 39-year-old mum. My boys are 13 and 15. They began asking questions about their dad a few months ago.

They were aged one and three when their dad left, so they hardly remember him at all. Our relationship wasn’t great – he did exactly what he wanted and I felt invisible.

We have searched on social media but his name doesn’t come up anywhere.

We are going through a tough time with debt and we’ve had a couple of family bereavements recently.

I wish I could get in touch with him and I just hope he has changed.

DEIDRE SAYS: It’s natural for children to be curious about their absent dad. He’s the remaining piece of their family jigsaw.

It is good you are willing to support your children, even though you remember what was lacking in your relationship.

Your sons need to be 18 to start a proper search for their dad, so the request would need to come from you.

My support pack Tracing Someone will help you. Good luck.