A woman who spent eight years desperately searching for her mother has finally found her after a selfie of her wearing a large 'Find My Mum’ message board went viral on Facebook. Stacey Lee had become separated from Brenda Drake in 1993 when she was just two years old after a family breakdown and she went to live with her father and two brothers. Aged 15, the schoolgirl desperately wanted to find her mother and began trawling through the electoral roll, Facebook and the internet in a bid to find her. Scroll down for video . Stacey Lee decided to make a last ditch bid to find her mother by posting this picture on Facebook . At long last: An emotional 23-year-old Stacey hugs her mother Brenda for the first time in 21 years . After eight years of being met with dead ends, 23-year-old Stacey was resigned to the fact that she would never see her mother again. However, Stacey's boyfriend, 22-year-old Martin Smith, encouraged her to create a message board made out of cardboard with her mother’s name on it along with details such as her birth date and the hospital where she was born. Stacey's friend then took a photograph of her holding the message board and posted it to her Facebook page sparking the image to be shared more than 100,000 times. Within 20 hours, Stacey had a call from a woman who said she might be her cousin and put her in touch with 46-year-old Brenda on the social media network. The Facebook messages which will lead to mother and daughter being reunited at last . Later the pair were reunited during a tearful meeting at a pub near Brenda's home in Blackpool, Lancashire. ‘When I clicked on my mum’s Facebook profile I couldn’t believe it – she looked just like me!’ said Stacey, who lives in Chorley. ‘I sent her a message and told her that I had missed her and that I wanted to build a relationship with her. ‘She sent me her phone number and I called her. I was shaking as I dialled the number and I just sat staring at the phone for 15 minutes before I made the call. ‘Mum told me that she had four other children and that she had always thought about me and my older brothers. A teary-eyed Stacey is reunited with her mother, Brenda, and meets sister Shannon, for the first time . ‘We cried together on the phone. It was very emotional and I was so happy that I had finally found her. ‘I arranged to go and meet my mum the following day in Blackpool. My arms felt like jelly for the whole journey. ‘I went to meet her in a pub and when I saw her I just hugged her and we both cried. We were in shock. It was very emotional. We look a lot like each other and I am quite shy and quiet like her.’ Stacey said she had never seen a photograph of her mother, and although she knew her name was Brenda Elizabeth Davies and that she had been born in Leyland, she didn’t know her age. ‘Growing up I had always wondered about my mum,’ said Stacey. ‘I was born in Manchester but when I was two I went to go and live with my dad, David, then two years later I moved to Runcorn to live with my granddad and two brothers. 'As I approached my teenage years, I always thought about my mum. Martin Smith came up with the idea for Stacey to post the photograph on Facebook which was shared 100,000 times and help reunite mother and daughter in just 20 hours . 'My friends had good relationships with their mums and I often wondered what it would be like to have a mother-daughter relationship. 'Occasions like Mother’s Day and Christmas Day were particularly difficult and when I reached the age of 16 I started looking for my mum on Facebook and the electoral roll. 'When I first met my partner, Martin, five years ago, I confided in him about my long-lost mother and he was so supportive. He's been my rock. 'There were times when I thought I would never be reunited with my mum. She could have passed away or moved abroad for all I knew. 'Last week Martin and I were talking about my mum again and he encouraged me to create a sandwich board and use it to look for her on Facebook. 'I had seen similar posts on social media and I just thought "why not?" I had nothing to lose. 'I wrote my birth date and the hospital I was born in along with my mum’s full name and birth place. 'I knew my mum might have changed her name since I was born but it was worth a shot.' Ten hours after posting the picture to her Facebook profile, the image had been shared 100,000 times, and the next day Stacey was contacted by Kerianne Davies, a friend she had known in her teenage years. Stacey said: 'I received a Facebook message from a girl I had known when I was younger. She told me that she had some information about my mum, and that she was my cousin. I was so confused, but it turned out that her father was my mum’s brother. 'I used to go round to Kerianne’s house a lot when I was a teenager, so it turned out that I had known my uncle all along! Lots to talk about: Stacey and sister Shannon share details of their lives after growing up apart . 'It was unbelievable, I couldn’t believe that I had known some of my relatives. Kerianne had the same surname as my mum’s maiden name but we never put two-and-two together because Davies is quite a common surname.' Stacey was told her mother had changed her surname and after a quick search, found her mother’s Facebook page and sent her a message. Within an hour Brenda had replied and the pair exchanged phone numbers. Brenda explained that she had changed her surname to Drake after getting married, and had moved to Blackpool soon after she had been separated from Stacey and her brothers Stuart, now 26, and Steven, now 25. She went on to have four more children, Shannon, 19, Shona, 15, Aaron, nine, and Sabrina, eight. Stacey kisses Martin who she has described as 'her rock' throughout her search . Brenda said she was delighted to finally have been able to see Stacey again and had also searched for her and her two sons. 'I regret losing contact with my three eldest children,' said Brenda. 'I thought about them a lot, especially at times like Christmas. 'I tried looking for them but I always came to a dead end. I always thought that they would come looking for me when they turned 16 but I never heard anything from them. 'When I received the Facebook message from Stacey, I just couldn’t believe it. 'She was so beautiful and I just couldn’t wait to meet her. 'Stacey is so sweet and adorable and my other children were so pleased to find out they had an older sister. 'We're all looking forward to the future and I am going to be reunited with my two sons Stuart and Steven too.' Stacey and Brenda have a look at the Facebook post which reunited them after 21 years .
Stacey Lee was just two years old when she last saw her mother Brenda . Despair after spending years trawling the internet in vain . Boyfriend suggested making a placard with mum's details for social media . Posted picture went viral and shared more than 100,000 times .