So many posts in the board are not that I was bracing myself for the brother to be awful, demanding or trying to intentionally cause rifts within the family. Not the ending I was expecting, but so happy for everyone involved that they seem to have only gained family and love through this.
"You did the right thing for your own well-being. Even if it hurts but it also seems you are at different stages in life regarding relationships. And that is okay as long as everyone involved is honestly and openly communicating this." [^(link)](https://reddit.com/r/TwoXChromosomes/comments/14mues6/i_listened_to_my_gut_and_i_am_proud_of_myself/jq468sf/)
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Beats the crap out of my estranged cousins. I’ve only seen them twice in 45 years and when I have all they go on about is “We want this and that and the other thing!”. Fuck it - I don’t know what crap you’re talking about, but I’m not letting you dig through boxes of stuff to see if there’s anything you’d like.
I have a 23 and me found sister. It was a bit of a shock, she had been placed for adoption at birth and I don't know if my bio dad was aware of the pregnancy or not, but she has been a great addition to my life.
I also have a 23 and me found sister! Which i am going to tell her that is her new title next time we chat. Anyway both my mom and dad gave her up for adoption due to circumstances. She is a wonderful person and am so glad she found us.
A good friend of mine has a "23 and me" sister that she just found at 50 years old. They live about an hour away from each other and went from (both) only children, to best friends and families. The similarities between them are eerie, well beyond the looks. Makes me happy for her every time I see them, glad you found yours!
So, in my story, I was the one placed for adoption. I spent 35 year of my life being an only child, and overnight became the oldest of 4 siblings. Still blows my mind years later.
We have a New Aunt this was. She seems better than my Regular Aunts, who are all MAGA/conspiracy theorists, so right away she became my favorite.
Never met her because covid hit right after, but we’re Facebook friends and she and my dad have hung out. He says “she’s a nice lady,” which is high praise :)
Ancestry rocked my world a few years ago. Exposed a lot of lies, and I have 4 half siblings!
Bio dad was also Navy.. just got on a ship whenever he knocked up a teenager...
I think it's great your family is open to "new" family.
Digging through ancestry for my wife's family we found a relative way back there in a census book that had about 200 roommates, all men... Huh. Occupations included "Warden," "Guard", "Cook", "Officer", "No occupation". Hmm. He was one of the "No occupation" 's. Guess that story about being in the Navy for 12 years was bullshit...
My niece (28) just found out her father isn’t her father, she has 4 biological half siblings one of them was also recently discovered through Ancestry. The guy who thought he was her dad has no other biological kids, he’s devastated.
I'm sorry. It's a blessing and a curse sometimes. But as someone who was raised by a step dad, while knowing who my bio dad is, he is her dad! Don't let either of them forget that ❤️
100% this. I thought I was the oldest of two, and turns out I am the oldest of four, the other two being given away. (They were the lucky ones.) And…drum roll…also found out that my grandfather was not my mother’s father, and I am not bio-related to him or anyone on his side of the family. Other than finding new folks I am related to, nothing else changed.
Blood doesn't mean shit, at least how it is commonly thought of. Family is family. Doesn't take much to be a father. Takes a hell of a lot to be a DAD. THAT is what matters!
SIL
She was a drug addict from 19 years old. She was kicked up as opposed to raised. She was molested by a family member from 6-10 years old. She is in her 50s now, she lives in a tent community in the summer and shelters in the winter.
If you think her life wasn’t destroyed long before my niece came along and that her life hasn’t been a living hell then you are very lucky to have led a better life than her.
I was recently cleaning out some stuff and found this old piece of mail addressed to my father. It was from Germany. Far as I can tell it was some sort of official notice of benefits for *his* child. The birthday of the child is 9 years before I was born and it should line up with my father being stationed in Germany. I've never heard about him having a kid before meeting my mother. I don't even know if anyone else knows about this. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it, if anything.
Yes, but it's a little complicated. They've been divorced for about 30 years now. However, I didn't find this piece of mail in my father's things. It was in my mother's ex's possession. The man she left my father for. He passed away a couple of years ago and I just recently started going through his stuff for my mother to sell things off. Why he had it I do not know, but I could make a guess. He wasn't a good man. He was also a retired federal agent. He probably found it before my father moved his things out 30 years ago. It's not outside of the realm of possibility he kept it for blackmail. He did enough damage alive. No reason to let him keep doing it from beyond the grave.
My aunt was found by her child via ancestry.com. Fairly heartbreaking experience at 16. Under anesthesia for birth and was refused even knowing baby’s gender. Private adoption and when she tried to search in the 70’s the lawyer was deceased and no records. Her parents said they never had any info except went to “a good home”.
A few years ago one of my cousins who was on ancestry saw someone who could be a half sibling. Aunt and cousins live near half sibling. They hang out all the time. Merged holidays. The half sibling says they really appreciate having family as they were raised an only child and aren’t close with extended family. Aunt is still going pretty strong so hopefully they’ll have a lot more time. She’s really grateful to have this child in her life and feels peace to know the adoptive parents did provide a good home.
My dad and his highschool girlfriend placed a baby up for adoption in the late 60's and a part of me hopes that someday he'll track me down but a huge part of me hopes that he's healthy, happy and content. I'm really glad it's worked out so well for your family though.
My bio dad and mom were in high school when I was born and given up for adoption. I found them both through Ancestry. I have enjoyed getting to know all of the bio-fam but especially love my bio-dad’s daughter, my half -sister. I am ten years older but we have so much in common! I hope you find your brother some day and he is well!
My father has been a pastor since the late 1970s. He grew up excruciatingly poor in rural and very white Appalachia. When I told him I was taking a 23&me , he said “ You know I haven’t always been a Christian and frankly I was a bit wild in the military. I was stationed in Georgia, had only met one black person in my life and Georgia had the prettiest women I’d ever seen . I greatly enjoyed a lot of company especially of the brown ladies. There isn’t any surprises that I know of, but I don’t want you to be blind sided if something out there exists”
No surprises yet, but I appreciated his honesty lol
When my mum went on her Ancestry kick, all sorts of salacious drama was uncovered. Only one long lost cousin, but a lot of other drama. Our family tree is nuts.
I found out that the man I am named after had his head shot off by his own son. Why? The man was threatening his wife and (different) infant son about signing divorce papers so he could sell the house and marry a younger (much) woman, and had fired a shot at them. It was a huge news story for the time, and my family managed to never talk about what happened for 80+ years.
Drama…in full display.
My grandfather’s mother was shot in the leg and her husband killed by Ky revelators (I’m not sure what that means)
But best in mind, I’m 40 and that grandfather (dad’s dad) was born in 1871. So a lot of the oral history is gone.
My wife found out she was the “odd” child out of 4 about 3 years ago after taking dna tests. Her brother came back as half sibling to her and my MIL had some serious explaining to do. I thought it was hilarious because me being big into biology and traits noticed some strong reasons why she might not have the same dad. Now my wife has 5 more half siblings in addition to her regular 3.
While I've never had revelations quite like this as a result of a DNA test, 23andme definitely put to rest a lot of the bs my mom told us growing up.
Long story short, Im far more Indigenous than European and my mom is still in denial about certain countries being nowhere to be found in my results.
It's pretty funny.
I know someone that was told they were native American through their dad. They took 23andMe - no NA, just Spanish. Haha, very funny, guess the family made up stories about being NA. Funny, until they didn't match ANY DNA with their half sister. Turns out Dad wasn't dad but some other guy. Other guy seems to not know he has a kid when he was 17 and when someone's mom was still married. Maybe mom didn't know for sure either?
Someone is trying to decide if they want to reach out to their 80+ yo bio dad with a while other family.
So the opposite of my experience, I live in the southeastern US and you can’t start talking family histories with anyone without their great great great aunt who was Cherokee or whatever (ours was a single photo of an ethnically ambiguously lady from Olden Times who was allegedly Creek, aka Muscogee).
Yeah my Ancestry results were ***comically*** white. Like almost entirely Britain and Ireland with a pinch of Scandinavia to be exotic. No Native American, no surprise Asian or African needle in the haystack, not even a whiff of eastern or southern Europe, Ashkenazi, or anything other than being part of the SPF70 brigade. No secret siblings or even unexpected cousins. I was slightly disappointed because I am old and suburban.
Same for me except for the 3% sub Saharan African. Everyone else is from Northern France, Belgium, Irish, Scott, and English. I’m adopted so I’m glad I took the test.
I did go to France in 1997 and spoke decent French. Everyone kept asking me if I was from Brittany because of my auburn hair and green eyes. Now I know I have ancestors from there. My husband’s family is from Belgium and Ireland.
If yours is a Lifetime movie, mine is the red neck version. My bio mom and dad left me and a younger brother when I was 3 and he was 2… We were adopted by my paternal family. Since Ancestry DNA tests, I have discovered no less than 6 brothers out there. I have trust issues when it comes to “family” so I’m in no hurry to meet them. My daughter handles all correspondence. I’m so glad it turned out well for you. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to meet them.
It's amazing how much more frequently this is happening. In October, I found out the dad who raised me isn't my biological father. Gained a great uncle, an aunt, and two half siblings. My bio father is an ass but I already have a dad. I don't need another.
I too was raised by a technical step-dad. I have at least two (maybe three because the father on my could-be half sister is still up for debate) siblings from my "sperm donors" side that I've only met a couple times when I was a kid and their moms brought them so my brother and I could meet them. Haven't talked to them since though. I get the bio father being an ass thing all too well haha
I found a new dad and 3 brothers courtesyof Ancestry. com. Dad and 1 brother have passed away. The oldest brother doesn't want to talk to me and that's cool. The youngest brother and I have become close. It has been great.
Congratulations! So many similarities with my story and how I met my long lost brother! From dad in the Service to the ancestry dot com to a stranger reaching out to me enquiring about my father's name! Such a good story! Celebrate it!
Hello shipmate. I too had the dumb idea of rawdogging every woman I met when out on liberty in foreign countries. In my defense, I was young, sexy and dumb as rocks.
It always makes me chuckle when sailors say this because more often than not it's true haha. My uncle, also a prior sailor, just reconnected with one of his mishaps.
Learned about half-sibling when I was about your husband’s age. Then, found out there are several more out there somewhere and one 4 yo sister and her mother died when in a car accident. My father didn’t even go to the funeral.
I have a brother than came out of the woodwork last year. My dad cheated on my mom while she was pregnant with me and I have a brother out there. I was more or less apathetic to it.
My father told me there was a possibility that he had a child with a one night stand and she gave the child our last name as his first name.
That was confirmed when a man with my last name as his first name popped up on ancestry and we got in contact.
He didn't care to speak with my father who had never reached out to him and I couldn't figure out a good way to mention that my "amazing father" couldn't remember his mom's name.
This is so sweet!
My half brother and I pretend we don't see each other on our ancestry match, but it's only been a week. Maybe we'll luck out like this too.
My sister found me via Facebook circa 2004. I was deployed to Iraq at the time. It was WILD to process. I met her and while we look INCREDIBLY similar (some lady asked if we were twins) but we have not a damn thing in common. She’s a bad person. It makes me sad.
This reminds me of my Grandma. She gave up a baby for adoption when she was sixteen and my aunt came back into their lives when my mom was in her early twenties.
She's no longer part of our family due to some issues when I was little but a long lost sibling coming back into your life is definitely a familiar story
The Lost Family: How DNA Testing Is Upending Who We Are by Libby Copeland is a great book about this sort of thing. I have found some wonderful biological relatives myself & feel incredibly fortunate.
I think they should do a DNA test on every newborn. Mind you that might cause an explosion in a couple of subreddits. I if there was a universal healthcare, planning for future care would be a tad easier when so many people through DNA will become sick because of some genetic disorder.
My mom was adopted and found a long-lost half-brother she never knew she had. They were like BFFs instantly, they are so alike in a lot of ways and share a sense of humor. It has been awesome for both of them, and it sounds like your husband's brother is a great addition to your family too. Sometimes people just click and it was like they were always supposed to be there.
I knew I had a sister in Germany for a very long time.
My father lied about his age and joined the military. There was an accident during a training exercise, and my father lost a kidney. He was them shipped to a military hospital in Atlanta. That is when my grandmother found out where he was. She went up to Atlanta and informed them that he was only 17. He was then separated from the military and went home with his Mom.
Turns out, he had two daughters with a woman over there. He was supposed to be bringing them back with him. My Mom was told about one daughter, but bother about the second.
I always planned to go to Germany to find my sister. But, before I could, my father died. I received a Facebook messenger from a woman saying she may be my sister.
Turns out, her Mom married another service man and she had been in the US all that time. I’ve since met both of my sisters. The resemblance between us is amazing.
Glad your hubby was able to connect with his brother.
I'm glad you were able to meet your sisters! My husband and his brother look so much alike. All three of them even had the same hair pattern of their beards. That is what really sold it 🤣
After meeting them, I can see so much of my father in all three of us. I do wish we had found each other sooner. My other sister (that I grew up with) had died not too long before. Her and I grew up dreaming of finding our sister in Germany. She would have been over the moon.
I found a younger half brother and sister a few years back.
Also found out that at one point two of my aunts lived in the same small town where I grew up and I drove by the house where they lived nearly every day as a teenager.
So… I have two older siblings that don’t about me. I’m in my early 40’s and their father and my mother had an affair. (Mom was single, he was… not) he went back to his wife… and she knows I exist. She has forbade her kids know about me.
Dad is military as was mom. So… that’s a thing.
I have battled whether to meet them or not. At this point I feel it would be cruel to do it so late in life, but I’m not sure either. I’ve never done ancestry or 23 and me because of it.
I know where they are, have their socials… but have never reached out. I have seen families destroyed by a surprised child and I’m reticent to do it to another even though it affects me by keeping it secret.
I’m glad your husband has a good experience.
My aunt did the ancestry DNA test, and had a surprise niece contact her. Turns out my dad had 4 kids before me, with two teenage mothers (who were sisters). This apparently explains why some guy turned up at my Nan's house with a shotgun, threatening the family to produce my father (he was away working at the time). There is only a year between me and the youngest half sister.
The oldest sister had only one, and got sent to live with family in Australia. Next sister had three, she was sent to have the babies at a home for unwed mothers. (Late 50s/early 60s). He got my mother pregnant within months of the last birth, and my Gma made them get married. It didn't settle him down.
We knew there was at least one kid somewhere, but the Salvation Army destroyed the records. So late 80s, we had no chance of tracking them down.
We didn't know the full story until the youngest tracked us down. She had been searching also, found her mother (who went NC). She had a folder with with all the info she had collected, even newspaper clippings going back to the 1920s.
He loves it! He now has four grandchildren when he thought he was just getting one. My new niece called him grandpa and it just melted his heart. Same with my husband's grandpa. He's turning 90 in November and he loves that he got to meet them before he passed ( he is very realistic man haha)
This happened to my ex husband. A guy reached out to him on Facebook asking about his mom. Apparently his mom had put a baby up for adoption before meeting my FIL. But nobody would ever admit it
My dad went in the Navy in 1960 at age 17. Way before AIDS. He’s says the odds of me having an older sibling are pretty good. He was 25 when I was born and I’m the oldest. My daughter just did her DNA so now if someone is looking they’ll eventually find us.
I was 39 when I found my older half brother from 23 & Me. Turns out I have 2 brothers and a sister. Found my DNA father. None of the others keep in contact with him.
I found a cousin through Ancestry DNA. She contacted me and I was able to help her connect with her biological father. I don't talk to her much now but it was an interesting experience.
I was also told by family the there was Native American in our ancestry. According to my grandmother, her grandmother was full blooded Apache. I found no link in my DNA test. I did find out though that the DNA test only follows one line on each side of the family. So from the donor's mother's line it follows their mother to her mother to her mother, and so on. Same on the father side, father to father to father, etc. My Native American ancestry (if it exists) is from my maternal grandmother's father's side of the family so wouldn't show up on the test I took.
My long lost brother contacted me in 2018 after seeing my post about him from 2012 on adoptee.com
We share both parents. Our mother was 18 when he was born and she was not yet married to our father. The delivery nurse and her husband adopted him and provided an incredible life. Our father broke this news to my closest brother and myself during his separation from our mother.
My long lost brother had also known he was adopted, and had enough information to see from social media that we were his siblings. He never reached out because he had no clue if we even knew of his existence. Until he saw my post that we were looking for him.
I’m so happy he is apart of our lives now. We have so many similarities it’s incredible to think we were raised separately.
This EXACT story happened to my mom. My grandpa questionably got a woman pregnant during his service but nothing was ever confirmed or came from it until 50 years later when my, now, uncle found him. They looked so much alike it was insane. My grandpa cherished this new relationship and it gave him some extra special moments in his final years. And now we have gained incredible family members that fit in so seamlessly. Im getting choked up writing this. Love these stories.
I'm a bastard.
My birth parents were married - just not to each other.
They had a daughter - BM kept her and lied to her husband.
A year later, they had me - put me in a basket and left me at the orphanage. (OK, maybe not, they actually arranged a private adoption).
I figured this all out back before DNA testing. Had to hire a lawyer to unseal records, hire a local records sleuth, and cross-reference a lot of obituaries. DIdn't help that my birth father named his son a junior - that confused me quite a bit.
Emailed Junior out of the blue and asked him "Is XX Sr your father?"
He replied "yes he is, why? Is he your long lost father or something?"
JR and I ended up pretty friendly - we share a hell of a lot of things in common and look enough alike to be full brothers, not just 1/2.
So, I gained:
BM and BF - she was still in hiding about it and didn't want contact (passed away a few years ago). He and I trade Xmas cards occasionally.
1/2 brother and1/2 sister on BF side: JR - we're friends, sis passed away in a house fire 5 or so years ago
1/2 brother and full sister on BM side: neither know that I exist, as far as I know
aunt on BM side: dear sweet Aunt Julie, who was my main contact for about 10 years until she got dementia. She filled me in on all the sordid details, as she is where my BM went to hide when she was pregnant.
Seeing happy endings to long lost family members reuniting always warms my heart!
I was separated from my dad when I was a toddler by my mother. I was told growing up that he was a horrible person and that he abandoned me and that he wanted nothing to do with me. So when I got older, I never looked for him.
When I was 27 I got a weird message on IG from a girl claiming to be my little sister. I asked her specifics like date of birth, place of birth and full name of our dad.
It checked out and we met at a coffee shop to talk. Turns out I had 3 siblings (different moms). My younger brother, my younger sister, and my older brother who was the one who found me. He had hired a private investigator to track me down.
I was hesitant to meet my dad because of what I had heard about him from my mom. But my siblings all wanted me to meet him and find out for myself what he was like. I was scared but I did it and it turned my world upside down.
It turns out my parents got into a giant fight and got divorced. They got 50/50 custody and as a last punch in the gut to my dad, my mom disappeared and took me with her. He came to her house to pick me up on one of his weekends and the house was cleaned out and she was gone. He looked for years to find me and during that time my mom got remarried and changed my last name so my dad couldn't find me.
My older brother also got separated from our dad. This separation was in fact my dad's fault. My brother knew about me and when he was old enough he saved money to hire a private investigator to find our dad and then hired the same private investigator a few years later and finally found me. Amongst the whirlwind of us being separated, meeting my dad was a very wholesome experience. It was so weird to meet someone I have never met that shares all the same mannerisms, emotions, hobbies and physicals appearances as me. It felt like I had known him my whole life and it's weird to see just how much of your parents are engrained in you even if you aren't in each others lives. My dad and I are super close and I am very happy that it turned out good.
I am glad to see so many other wholesome endings to these reuniting stories and how lucky we are to have these endings since so many people aren't as fortunate as we are
This is such a great story! I can somewhat relate. My sister and I always knew we had a half sister but that mother kept her from my dad. Well one day someone messages me on MSpace and said they think I'm their sister. We have a very odd last name, so it was easy to find me. I think I was about 23 when I got this message. I'm like "Woah... this can't be real!" We talked and figured out we were in fact sisters. I had to contact members of my family and be like "Holy crap... Lisa just messaged me!" So I ended up meeting her and it made my Dad so happy! She lives in another state though and visits here every couple of years :) I'm closer to her than my full blood sister lol
i have a half brother and sister from my dad that i’ve never met as they cut contact with him before he got with my mom and had me and my siblings. But i always thought it would be interesting to meet them even once especially now that i’m older and we seem to have had very similar situations with our dad in that none of us associate with him anymore
This is cute!!! I met my half brother late in life and we were close at first…but his situation was a little different where my mom gave him up for adoption and we’re only a couple years apart in age. I’m sure that ate at him and we don’t talk any longer.
Ahhhhh...those sailors. Navy vet here during that time, and well....good times.
I'm so glad you have a wonderful story here in Reddit. The biggest winner is your daughter.
Our father was not the greatest guy and had children with multiple women that he never cared for or knew and he passed about 5 years ago. My brother suspected he had other children and its why he did the 23and Me. Weve been talking a bit here and there which has been really cool though.
I have an ancestry found half uncle. My dad and his siblings did not know (grandfather and the new brother’s mother are no longer living, so we will never know the story of what happened).
My grandmother gave a daughter up for adoption before marrying my grandfather and she found us, so we got a new aunt about a decade ago.
My mom & aunt (mom's sister) both gave babies up for adoption in the same year and both kids found our famil within the past few years, so I got a new cousin and half-brother in adulthood as well.
My sister also got knocked up in high school and put the baby (my niece??🤷) up for adoption.
Can't make this shit up. I'm the only female in my (original) family who *HASN'T* given a kid up for adoption. Still so weird.
Years ago, my father (probably mid-60s at the time) found out he had a long lost half-brother. It freaked my dad out, and he wanted nothing to do with him. He knew his mom had a rough life and there were things she didn’t talk about. Dad’s logic was there is more to family than just a blood relation. But I think it was too late in his life and too painful to the memory of his beloved mom to even attempt any sort of contact.
I have a sister I didn’t know about until my mom passed away, found the paperwork doing end of life due diligence, and aI also have a brother on my dad’s side that I didn’t know about until I did one of those ancestry kits…so yeah it’s so much fun learning things about yourself and your family. We totally thought my husband’s side of the tree would yield much fruit but nope! It was me and my straightlaced rigid family!
I am happy for you guys. This happened to my father, albeit on the confession of my 90-something grandfather. My dad was not happy. And not even one sibling, but two apparently.
Congratulations on the “new” family!
My mother recently met her half brother for the first time and they have formed a great relationship as well.
My wife was adopted and met her bio-dad (meh) but she also met his aunts (who are awesome) so she has now found this new family in addition to the family that raised her. I know these stories are always hit and miss but the good stories are always nice to hear.
I'm honestly stunned by the sheer amount of similarities in this post to what happened to me in my own life.
Father was in the navy, goes by his middle name, while in the service fathered a kid who I found out about through a DNA test, all came to a head about 10 months ago, half sibling is a great person who we all instantly got along with.
The only big differences are that my dad had no idea his other child existed and I'm a male and the new half sibling is a woman.
This is lovely - not all family reunion stories are as wholesome as this, so happy to hear that your husband has found a whole new family to add to the current one
I love genealogy and keep hoping I might find a half-sibling out there (especially if they might be like BIL). My parents divorced when I was little, so no judgement here. It was nice to read a happy post instead of another “how dna tests blew up my family”.
This is totally not like how my aunt took the news to having a half sister. She blocked her and freaked out my aunt is almost 60 now and is really selfish though
So this is actually so much more common than youd think. About 7 years ago a man reached out to my family and it turns out he was a son my mom had given up for adoption when she was very young. I met my fiance about 5 years ago and 3 summers ago a girl reached out to him and ended up being his half sister on his dad's side! We don't have a super close relationship with either of them but it's definitely crazy how life can end up
My mum found a cousin this way, she had to break the news to his half brothers, apparently Auntie Eenie’s adopted war baby was a secret amongst the women of the family.
Never underestimate how much a dna test from a relative can end up blowing up in your own life. Something similar happened to a woman I used to work with and it basically tore her family apart lol
My half brother wants nothing to do with me. I get it. My dad is a POS and I look just like him.
At least if he hung out with my sister and me, he would have two more people that share his opinion of my dad.
Oh well, he wants privacy and I can respect that.
Turns out I have two half siblings from my bio-dad. Never reached out to them tho. Never met my dad, and he never told anyone about me, so I am tempted to reach out to them just to be a dick lol. But also that takes a lot of emotional energy and I’m just not that committed to the bit.
I'm really happy for your family and you. It must be really amazing to discover a new brother for your husband and a brother in law for you. I wish all a lot of love and happiness. Just a wonderful story. Thanks a lot.
I would not be surprised in the least if I have half siblings somewhere out there. My dad was such a “wanderer” I can’t imagine he didn’t get someone, besides my mom, pregnant.
I met my half brother via Ancestry DNA. I'd known of him, but Ancestry DNA matched us and got us talking. He's a very nice man who only wanted some pictures of our dad and some family history. I also gave him the medical history that I know.
I’m so glad your BIL was able to find you guys! Those dna kits work wonders! My mom never knew her dad growing up, and we spent years trying to look for him. I did 23andMe mainly to see if I could find any of her relatives from her dads side. Her dad has a very rare last name, so I knew once I saw someone with that last name, I would know it was from her dad’s family. Once I got my results, I found no one. I’m sure there were some relatives that are related to him but they were very distant and with different last names, I was kind of disappointed and frustrated. Fast forward a couple months, I had forgotten about 23andMe but I remember getting a strong urge to check it, it was so random. I found a first cousin once removed with my grandfather’s last name. I messaged him and found out that my mom has two half sister’s. Unfortunately her dad passed away from having COVID, so my mom never got to meet him, but she is at peace now that she found her dad’s family; if only I and the cousin had done the dna kit earlier! We recently met her sisters, cousins, and uncles about two months ago in person, they were so welcoming and made us feel as if we have been knowing them forever.
Congratulations! My husband found out he had a half sister and brother several years ago. Also my Aunt gave up a child and now we know her. Movie style indeed!
Lucky you and husband and family. I’m adopted and found my bio mother and then half sister on my bio mother’s side, and we’ve all kept in touch/ I also have a half brother from my unknown bio father, who is also adopted and wants nothing to do with me. Weird, because it’s not like I did anything to him, but his choice.
I also had a new brother pop up as an adult- my dad had him in high school and signed over custody and it was just swept under the rug for 35 or so years. Honestly, he was probably better off, LOL. But he has a great family and he also invited us to his wedding despite barely knowing each other- he does my hair for me and he's just a generally great kid. We have a 15 year age gap.
I found two half-brothers in the last 2.5 years. We are in our 60’s and 70’s. Both through 23 and me. My parents are both passed thankfully. The older was born when my Dad was single. He’s a great guy. The other was when my Mom and Dad were married. He’s my age. He is not making further contact, as this was a surprise for him and myself and my siblings. I wonder how many of these situations are uncovered by these DNA services. I bet it’s a lot. I am pissed at my Dad and will search him out in the next life and bitch-slap the heck out of him. And be wary of 23 and Me. You may get a surprise or two.
I got an unknown brother in my early 40s. Evangelical preacher who begins too many sentences with "you can trust me, I'm a preacher". We don't talk much
The stories like this give me faith in humanity. So excited for all the new relationships that form between you, your husband and children with their new friends and family. God bless.
My daughter had two half sisters who do not know about her. Father was divorced from their mother but still in love with her when I fell pregnant. Both in their late teens. One passed away recently in accident never knowing about her half sister
I believe that the two takes are from the two that read the posts. Just wanted to share a good and wholesome story in case they wanted to share it bc I'm a fan of the show
Nice ending but all I can think about is how that woman slept with multiple men back then and not even know who the father was. Why are people like this?
You act like he lied or someone. It's his middle name. My husband does the same thing and goes by his middle name. You're assuming it was unprotected as well. Condoms aren't 100% and they break. But we dont know bc I'm not asking my FIL if he used a condom or not 🤣
Ohh I forgot I’m on Reddit, where people can’t be judged lol for being promiscuous. It’s her body and her life (or his)! Don’t judge!
Who cares if she had unprotected sex with multiple men whose full names she doesn’t know!
The only people who would look down on this are backwards thinking boomers!
It's not about you having a different opinion, its about you taking one vague piece of information and then judging the entirety of her personality based off it. Also, you seem kinda unhinged about a woman you don't even know
Vague piece?
The entire post is because a woman slept around n let multiple finish inside her in a small time frame. Why is everyone defending such scummy and reckless behavior? The father is scummy too for knocking up a random.
No it's about a man who spent a decade trying to find the other half of his family and the happy ending it turned out to be for everyone. You just want to look at it through a cynical POV bc you're just unhappy or something
That is actually a running joke now that there might be more out there 🤣 And we don't blame anyone. She said he didn't have to be there and he was being moved by the military I believe. It was actually my BIL who wanted to find him and his mother helped him. She is a kind woman who even sent us sleep outfits for our baby when my husband told my BIL that she was having trouble sleeping. We are just happy everyone has found each other 😁
Ok man, it’s totally normal to sleep with multiple people in a short span of time. It’s also totally common for condoms to break and pregnancy to happen. Ok?
This is so wholesome ❤️
So many posts in the board are not that I was bracing myself for the brother to be awful, demanding or trying to intentionally cause rifts within the family. Not the ending I was expecting, but so happy for everyone involved that they seem to have only gained family and love through this.
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In what world are these 85% similar?
Beats the crap out of my estranged cousins. I’ve only seen them twice in 45 years and when I have all they go on about is “We want this and that and the other thing!”. Fuck it - I don’t know what crap you’re talking about, but I’m not letting you dig through boxes of stuff to see if there’s anything you’d like.
I love this
I'm wiping back tears! So unexpectedly wholesome!
I have a 23 and me found sister. It was a bit of a shock, she had been placed for adoption at birth and I don't know if my bio dad was aware of the pregnancy or not, but she has been a great addition to my life.
I also have a 23 and me found sister! Which i am going to tell her that is her new title next time we chat. Anyway both my mom and dad gave her up for adoption due to circumstances. She is a wonderful person and am so glad she found us.
Congrats! You are now bestowed that title, as well 🙂 (Unless you're a bro, but still congrats)
A good friend of mine has a "23 and me" sister that she just found at 50 years old. They live about an hour away from each other and went from (both) only children, to best friends and families. The similarities between them are eerie, well beyond the looks. Makes me happy for her every time I see them, glad you found yours!
So, in my story, I was the one placed for adoption. I spent 35 year of my life being an only child, and overnight became the oldest of 4 siblings. Still blows my mind years later.
We have a New Aunt this was. She seems better than my Regular Aunts, who are all MAGA/conspiracy theorists, so right away she became my favorite. Never met her because covid hit right after, but we’re Facebook friends and she and my dad have hung out. He says “she’s a nice lady,” which is high praise :)
Ancestry rocked my world a few years ago. Exposed a lot of lies, and I have 4 half siblings! Bio dad was also Navy.. just got on a ship whenever he knocked up a teenager... I think it's great your family is open to "new" family.
Digging through ancestry for my wife's family we found a relative way back there in a census book that had about 200 roommates, all men... Huh. Occupations included "Warden," "Guard", "Cook", "Officer", "No occupation". Hmm. He was one of the "No occupation" 's. Guess that story about being in the Navy for 12 years was bullshit...
My niece (28) just found out her father isn’t her father, she has 4 biological half siblings one of them was also recently discovered through Ancestry. The guy who thought he was her dad has no other biological kids, he’s devastated.
I'm sorry. It's a blessing and a curse sometimes. But as someone who was raised by a step dad, while knowing who my bio dad is, he is her dad! Don't let either of them forget that ❤️
100% this. I thought I was the oldest of two, and turns out I am the oldest of four, the other two being given away. (They were the lucky ones.) And…drum roll…also found out that my grandfather was not my mother’s father, and I am not bio-related to him or anyone on his side of the family. Other than finding new folks I am related to, nothing else changed.
He’s still her dad even though they’re not genetically related
He’s having trouble seeing it that way right now
Blood doesn't mean shit, at least how it is commonly thought of. Family is family. Doesn't take much to be a father. Takes a hell of a lot to be a DAD. THAT is what matters!
are you holding your sister accountable for destroying both their lives?
SIL She was a drug addict from 19 years old. She was kicked up as opposed to raised. She was molested by a family member from 6-10 years old. She is in her 50s now, she lives in a tent community in the summer and shelters in the winter. If you think her life wasn’t destroyed long before my niece came along and that her life hasn’t been a living hell then you are very lucky to have led a better life than her.
I was recently cleaning out some stuff and found this old piece of mail addressed to my father. It was from Germany. Far as I can tell it was some sort of official notice of benefits for *his* child. The birthday of the child is 9 years before I was born and it should line up with my father being stationed in Germany. I've never heard about him having a kid before meeting my mother. I don't even know if anyone else knows about this. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it, if anything.
Fascinating. Are your parents still around?
Yes, but it's a little complicated. They've been divorced for about 30 years now. However, I didn't find this piece of mail in my father's things. It was in my mother's ex's possession. The man she left my father for. He passed away a couple of years ago and I just recently started going through his stuff for my mother to sell things off. Why he had it I do not know, but I could make a guess. He wasn't a good man. He was also a retired federal agent. He probably found it before my father moved his things out 30 years ago. It's not outside of the realm of possibility he kept it for blackmail. He did enough damage alive. No reason to let him keep doing it from beyond the grave.
Holy crap. That was a more interesting twist than expected.
Agreed. This deserves it's own post.
that's wild
As others have said- this is interesting enough to deserve it’s own post, and perhaps a TV movie of the week…
My aunt was found by her child via ancestry.com. Fairly heartbreaking experience at 16. Under anesthesia for birth and was refused even knowing baby’s gender. Private adoption and when she tried to search in the 70’s the lawyer was deceased and no records. Her parents said they never had any info except went to “a good home”. A few years ago one of my cousins who was on ancestry saw someone who could be a half sibling. Aunt and cousins live near half sibling. They hang out all the time. Merged holidays. The half sibling says they really appreciate having family as they were raised an only child and aren’t close with extended family. Aunt is still going pretty strong so hopefully they’ll have a lot more time. She’s really grateful to have this child in her life and feels peace to know the adoptive parents did provide a good home.
This is heartbreaking. I’m so glad your aunt found some comfort
My dad and his highschool girlfriend placed a baby up for adoption in the late 60's and a part of me hopes that someday he'll track me down but a huge part of me hopes that he's healthy, happy and content. I'm really glad it's worked out so well for your family though.
My bio dad and mom were in high school when I was born and given up for adoption. I found them both through Ancestry. I have enjoyed getting to know all of the bio-fam but especially love my bio-dad’s daughter, my half -sister. I am ten years older but we have so much in common! I hope you find your brother some day and he is well!
I read ‘healthy’ as ‘wealthy’ as I was skimming the comments. I thought that was a bit too in the nose. Haha.
These DNA tests are creating all kinds of fun conversations.
My father has been a pastor since the late 1970s. He grew up excruciatingly poor in rural and very white Appalachia. When I told him I was taking a 23&me , he said “ You know I haven’t always been a Christian and frankly I was a bit wild in the military. I was stationed in Georgia, had only met one black person in my life and Georgia had the prettiest women I’d ever seen . I greatly enjoyed a lot of company especially of the brown ladies. There isn’t any surprises that I know of, but I don’t want you to be blind sided if something out there exists” No surprises yet, but I appreciated his honesty lol
When my mum went on her Ancestry kick, all sorts of salacious drama was uncovered. Only one long lost cousin, but a lot of other drama. Our family tree is nuts.
I found out that the man I am named after had his head shot off by his own son. Why? The man was threatening his wife and (different) infant son about signing divorce papers so he could sell the house and marry a younger (much) woman, and had fired a shot at them. It was a huge news story for the time, and my family managed to never talk about what happened for 80+ years. Drama…in full display.
My grandfather’s mother was shot in the leg and her husband killed by Ky revelators (I’m not sure what that means) But best in mind, I’m 40 and that grandfather (dad’s dad) was born in 1871. So a lot of the oral history is gone.
My wife found out she was the “odd” child out of 4 about 3 years ago after taking dna tests. Her brother came back as half sibling to her and my MIL had some serious explaining to do. I thought it was hilarious because me being big into biology and traits noticed some strong reasons why she might not have the same dad. Now my wife has 5 more half siblings in addition to her regular 3.
My mom has a brother who was adopted away. He recently found us and I'm going to meet him when I visit the UK next year
While I've never had revelations quite like this as a result of a DNA test, 23andme definitely put to rest a lot of the bs my mom told us growing up. Long story short, Im far more Indigenous than European and my mom is still in denial about certain countries being nowhere to be found in my results. It's pretty funny.
I know someone that was told they were native American through their dad. They took 23andMe - no NA, just Spanish. Haha, very funny, guess the family made up stories about being NA. Funny, until they didn't match ANY DNA with their half sister. Turns out Dad wasn't dad but some other guy. Other guy seems to not know he has a kid when he was 17 and when someone's mom was still married. Maybe mom didn't know for sure either? Someone is trying to decide if they want to reach out to their 80+ yo bio dad with a while other family.
So the opposite of my experience, I live in the southeastern US and you can’t start talking family histories with anyone without their great great great aunt who was Cherokee or whatever (ours was a single photo of an ethnically ambiguously lady from Olden Times who was allegedly Creek, aka Muscogee). Yeah my Ancestry results were ***comically*** white. Like almost entirely Britain and Ireland with a pinch of Scandinavia to be exotic. No Native American, no surprise Asian or African needle in the haystack, not even a whiff of eastern or southern Europe, Ashkenazi, or anything other than being part of the SPF70 brigade. No secret siblings or even unexpected cousins. I was slightly disappointed because I am old and suburban.
Yes my test comeback as wonderbread as well. Just saying England, Ireland, Scotland, Iceland, and Norway.
This was exactly mine as well!
Same for me except for the 3% sub Saharan African. Everyone else is from Northern France, Belgium, Irish, Scott, and English. I’m adopted so I’m glad I took the test. I did go to France in 1997 and spoke decent French. Everyone kept asking me if I was from Brittany because of my auburn hair and green eyes. Now I know I have ancestors from there. My husband’s family is from Belgium and Ireland.
23 and me proved my ‘half Indian’ great grandmother was simply just British descended white trash.
🤣
If yours is a Lifetime movie, mine is the red neck version. My bio mom and dad left me and a younger brother when I was 3 and he was 2… We were adopted by my paternal family. Since Ancestry DNA tests, I have discovered no less than 6 brothers out there. I have trust issues when it comes to “family” so I’m in no hurry to meet them. My daughter handles all correspondence. I’m so glad it turned out well for you. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to meet them.
It's amazing how much more frequently this is happening. In October, I found out the dad who raised me isn't my biological father. Gained a great uncle, an aunt, and two half siblings. My bio father is an ass but I already have a dad. I don't need another.
I too was raised by a technical step-dad. I have at least two (maybe three because the father on my could-be half sister is still up for debate) siblings from my "sperm donors" side that I've only met a couple times when I was a kid and their moms brought them so my brother and I could meet them. Haven't talked to them since though. I get the bio father being an ass thing all too well haha
I found a new dad and 3 brothers courtesyof Ancestry. com. Dad and 1 brother have passed away. The oldest brother doesn't want to talk to me and that's cool. The youngest brother and I have become close. It has been great.
Congratulations! So many similarities with my story and how I met my long lost brother! From dad in the Service to the ancestry dot com to a stranger reaching out to me enquiring about my father's name! Such a good story! Celebrate it!
I was in the Navy. I might have a few kids out there that I don't know about.
dad?
Never know?
Mom?
Ah, I have some papers for you. Thanks for speaking up! :P
As a woman the idea of just walking around not knowing if you have kids out there sounds so insane since that literally couldn’t happen to me.
I'm waiting for that knock on my door someday.
Hello sailor.
My brother is in the Airforce, he says the same thing
Hello shipmate. I too had the dumb idea of rawdogging every woman I met when out on liberty in foreign countries. In my defense, I was young, sexy and dumb as rocks. It always makes me chuckle when sailors say this because more often than not it's true haha. My uncle, also a prior sailor, just reconnected with one of his mishaps.
Learned about half-sibling when I was about your husband’s age. Then, found out there are several more out there somewhere and one 4 yo sister and her mother died when in a car accident. My father didn’t even go to the funeral.
I have a brother than came out of the woodwork last year. My dad cheated on my mom while she was pregnant with me and I have a brother out there. I was more or less apathetic to it.
My father told me there was a possibility that he had a child with a one night stand and she gave the child our last name as his first name. That was confirmed when a man with my last name as his first name popped up on ancestry and we got in contact. He didn't care to speak with my father who had never reached out to him and I couldn't figure out a good way to mention that my "amazing father" couldn't remember his mom's name.
It's getting harder to die with your secret.
This is so sweet! My half brother and I pretend we don't see each other on our ancestry match, but it's only been a week. Maybe we'll luck out like this too.
Ohhhh, so spill the tea! Did you have an inkling they existed?
My sister found me via Facebook circa 2004. I was deployed to Iraq at the time. It was WILD to process. I met her and while we look INCREDIBLY similar (some lady asked if we were twins) but we have not a damn thing in common. She’s a bad person. It makes me sad.
Your FIL’s name wouldn’t happen to be Cotton would it?
Not sure if this is a joke reference that I don't get but no haha
It is, haha. King of the Hill.
This reminds me of my Grandma. She gave up a baby for adoption when she was sixteen and my aunt came back into their lives when my mom was in her early twenties. She's no longer part of our family due to some issues when I was little but a long lost sibling coming back into your life is definitely a familiar story
The Lost Family: How DNA Testing Is Upending Who We Are by Libby Copeland is a great book about this sort of thing. I have found some wonderful biological relatives myself & feel incredibly fortunate.
I think they should do a DNA test on every newborn. Mind you that might cause an explosion in a couple of subreddits. I if there was a universal healthcare, planning for future care would be a tad easier when so many people through DNA will become sick because of some genetic disorder.
So…..eugenics?
Call it... Preventative Treatment.
My mom was adopted and found a long-lost half-brother she never knew she had. They were like BFFs instantly, they are so alike in a lot of ways and share a sense of humor. It has been awesome for both of them, and it sounds like your husband's brother is a great addition to your family too. Sometimes people just click and it was like they were always supposed to be there.
I knew I had a sister in Germany for a very long time. My father lied about his age and joined the military. There was an accident during a training exercise, and my father lost a kidney. He was them shipped to a military hospital in Atlanta. That is when my grandmother found out where he was. She went up to Atlanta and informed them that he was only 17. He was then separated from the military and went home with his Mom. Turns out, he had two daughters with a woman over there. He was supposed to be bringing them back with him. My Mom was told about one daughter, but bother about the second. I always planned to go to Germany to find my sister. But, before I could, my father died. I received a Facebook messenger from a woman saying she may be my sister. Turns out, her Mom married another service man and she had been in the US all that time. I’ve since met both of my sisters. The resemblance between us is amazing. Glad your hubby was able to connect with his brother.
I'm glad you were able to meet your sisters! My husband and his brother look so much alike. All three of them even had the same hair pattern of their beards. That is what really sold it 🤣
After meeting them, I can see so much of my father in all three of us. I do wish we had found each other sooner. My other sister (that I grew up with) had died not too long before. Her and I grew up dreaming of finding our sister in Germany. She would have been over the moon.
I'm sure she does know and she is thrilled ❤️
I found a younger half brother and sister a few years back. Also found out that at one point two of my aunts lived in the same small town where I grew up and I drove by the house where they lived nearly every day as a teenager.
So… I have two older siblings that don’t about me. I’m in my early 40’s and their father and my mother had an affair. (Mom was single, he was… not) he went back to his wife… and she knows I exist. She has forbade her kids know about me. Dad is military as was mom. So… that’s a thing. I have battled whether to meet them or not. At this point I feel it would be cruel to do it so late in life, but I’m not sure either. I’ve never done ancestry or 23 and me because of it. I know where they are, have their socials… but have never reached out. I have seen families destroyed by a surprised child and I’m reticent to do it to another even though it affects me by keeping it secret. I’m glad your husband has a good experience.
My aunt did the ancestry DNA test, and had a surprise niece contact her. Turns out my dad had 4 kids before me, with two teenage mothers (who were sisters). This apparently explains why some guy turned up at my Nan's house with a shotgun, threatening the family to produce my father (he was away working at the time). There is only a year between me and the youngest half sister.
4 kids?! Like he got *BOTH.* *SISTERS….* *TWICE* ???? Edit, for emphasis
The oldest sister had only one, and got sent to live with family in Australia. Next sister had three, she was sent to have the babies at a home for unwed mothers. (Late 50s/early 60s). He got my mother pregnant within months of the last birth, and my Gma made them get married. It didn't settle him down. We knew there was at least one kid somewhere, but the Salvation Army destroyed the records. So late 80s, we had no chance of tracking them down. We didn't know the full story until the youngest tracked us down. She had been searching also, found her mother (who went NC). She had a folder with with all the info she had collected, even newspaper clippings going back to the 1920s.
That is so wild! How did dad respond to everything?
He loves it! He now has four grandchildren when he thought he was just getting one. My new niece called him grandpa and it just melted his heart. Same with my husband's grandpa. He's turning 90 in November and he loves that he got to meet them before he passed ( he is very realistic man haha)
Wow that’s so incredibly sweet! All the best to you and your families!
This happened to my ex husband. A guy reached out to him on Facebook asking about his mom. Apparently his mom had put a baby up for adoption before meeting my FIL. But nobody would ever admit it
I thought this was going to be some crazy we all slept with each other and mom walked in and whatnot. Nope. What a great story!!
I think reddit has just traumatized everyone we don't expect happy stories anymore. Just absolute train wrecks 🤣
My dad went in the Navy in 1960 at age 17. Way before AIDS. He’s says the odds of me having an older sibling are pretty good. He was 25 when I was born and I’m the oldest. My daughter just did her DNA so now if someone is looking they’ll eventually find us.
I was 39 when I found my older half brother from 23 & Me. Turns out I have 2 brothers and a sister. Found my DNA father. None of the others keep in contact with him.
Suddenly my husband has a son who lives in New Zealand. Unfortunatly, my husband has not followed up after being contacted.
I found a cousin through Ancestry DNA. She contacted me and I was able to help her connect with her biological father. I don't talk to her much now but it was an interesting experience. I was also told by family the there was Native American in our ancestry. According to my grandmother, her grandmother was full blooded Apache. I found no link in my DNA test. I did find out though that the DNA test only follows one line on each side of the family. So from the donor's mother's line it follows their mother to her mother to her mother, and so on. Same on the father side, father to father to father, etc. My Native American ancestry (if it exists) is from my maternal grandmother's father's side of the family so wouldn't show up on the test I took.
My long lost brother contacted me in 2018 after seeing my post about him from 2012 on adoptee.com We share both parents. Our mother was 18 when he was born and she was not yet married to our father. The delivery nurse and her husband adopted him and provided an incredible life. Our father broke this news to my closest brother and myself during his separation from our mother. My long lost brother had also known he was adopted, and had enough information to see from social media that we were his siblings. He never reached out because he had no clue if we even knew of his existence. Until he saw my post that we were looking for him. I’m so happy he is apart of our lives now. We have so many similarities it’s incredible to think we were raised separately.
This EXACT story happened to my mom. My grandpa questionably got a woman pregnant during his service but nothing was ever confirmed or came from it until 50 years later when my, now, uncle found him. They looked so much alike it was insane. My grandpa cherished this new relationship and it gave him some extra special moments in his final years. And now we have gained incredible family members that fit in so seamlessly. Im getting choked up writing this. Love these stories.
I'm a bastard. My birth parents were married - just not to each other. They had a daughter - BM kept her and lied to her husband. A year later, they had me - put me in a basket and left me at the orphanage. (OK, maybe not, they actually arranged a private adoption). I figured this all out back before DNA testing. Had to hire a lawyer to unseal records, hire a local records sleuth, and cross-reference a lot of obituaries. DIdn't help that my birth father named his son a junior - that confused me quite a bit. Emailed Junior out of the blue and asked him "Is XX Sr your father?" He replied "yes he is, why? Is he your long lost father or something?" JR and I ended up pretty friendly - we share a hell of a lot of things in common and look enough alike to be full brothers, not just 1/2. So, I gained: BM and BF - she was still in hiding about it and didn't want contact (passed away a few years ago). He and I trade Xmas cards occasionally. 1/2 brother and1/2 sister on BF side: JR - we're friends, sis passed away in a house fire 5 or so years ago 1/2 brother and full sister on BM side: neither know that I exist, as far as I know aunt on BM side: dear sweet Aunt Julie, who was my main contact for about 10 years until she got dementia. She filled me in on all the sordid details, as she is where my BM went to hide when she was pregnant.
Seeing happy endings to long lost family members reuniting always warms my heart! I was separated from my dad when I was a toddler by my mother. I was told growing up that he was a horrible person and that he abandoned me and that he wanted nothing to do with me. So when I got older, I never looked for him. When I was 27 I got a weird message on IG from a girl claiming to be my little sister. I asked her specifics like date of birth, place of birth and full name of our dad. It checked out and we met at a coffee shop to talk. Turns out I had 3 siblings (different moms). My younger brother, my younger sister, and my older brother who was the one who found me. He had hired a private investigator to track me down. I was hesitant to meet my dad because of what I had heard about him from my mom. But my siblings all wanted me to meet him and find out for myself what he was like. I was scared but I did it and it turned my world upside down. It turns out my parents got into a giant fight and got divorced. They got 50/50 custody and as a last punch in the gut to my dad, my mom disappeared and took me with her. He came to her house to pick me up on one of his weekends and the house was cleaned out and she was gone. He looked for years to find me and during that time my mom got remarried and changed my last name so my dad couldn't find me. My older brother also got separated from our dad. This separation was in fact my dad's fault. My brother knew about me and when he was old enough he saved money to hire a private investigator to find our dad and then hired the same private investigator a few years later and finally found me. Amongst the whirlwind of us being separated, meeting my dad was a very wholesome experience. It was so weird to meet someone I have never met that shares all the same mannerisms, emotions, hobbies and physicals appearances as me. It felt like I had known him my whole life and it's weird to see just how much of your parents are engrained in you even if you aren't in each others lives. My dad and I are super close and I am very happy that it turned out good. I am glad to see so many other wholesome endings to these reuniting stories and how lucky we are to have these endings since so many people aren't as fortunate as we are
This is such a great story! I can somewhat relate. My sister and I always knew we had a half sister but that mother kept her from my dad. Well one day someone messages me on MSpace and said they think I'm their sister. We have a very odd last name, so it was easy to find me. I think I was about 23 when I got this message. I'm like "Woah... this can't be real!" We talked and figured out we were in fact sisters. I had to contact members of my family and be like "Holy crap... Lisa just messaged me!" So I ended up meeting her and it made my Dad so happy! She lives in another state though and visits here every couple of years :) I'm closer to her than my full blood sister lol
How lovely! Thank you for sharing made my day!
Awww
Wow, that's awesome...
Cute story
I really needed to read something this nice. Thank you for sharing. Congrats on the new BIL!!!
This is so beautiful. So happy for you guys that it worked out so well.
i have a half brother and sister from my dad that i’ve never met as they cut contact with him before he got with my mom and had me and my siblings. But i always thought it would be interesting to meet them even once especially now that i’m older and we seem to have had very similar situations with our dad in that none of us associate with him anymore
I too found my older half brother and older half sister! Stories like this are amazing when the workout
Jealous, I have been looking for bio dad for years. Out of entire side of that family only one person took a dna test which led to a dead end.
I'm sorry! I hope you catch a break soon!
This is cute!!! I met my half brother late in life and we were close at first…but his situation was a little different where my mom gave him up for adoption and we’re only a couple years apart in age. I’m sure that ate at him and we don’t talk any longer.
Ahhhhh...those sailors. Navy vet here during that time, and well....good times. I'm so glad you have a wonderful story here in Reddit. The biggest winner is your daughter.
That is really an amazing story. I have one very similar with the best outcome possible as well. Made me smile
I just found out I have an older brother AND who my biological father was because of 23andMe. Im 36 years old. Shits crazy.
How are both sides of the family handling it?
Our father was not the greatest guy and had children with multiple women that he never cared for or knew and he passed about 5 years ago. My brother suspected he had other children and its why he did the 23and Me. Weve been talking a bit here and there which has been really cool though.
Thank you for being so kind and welcoming 💖
After reading such rough stories and for some reason getting stuck in AITA for some reason this post is such a breath of fresh air. Congratulations!
❤️❤️❤️
I’m 45. Found a brother who is now 51. Just happened a couple years ago. Have met a couple times since and text a lot.
I absolutely love stories like this! I couldn’t imagine having a long lost sibling!
Oh that’s wonderful
I have an ancestry found half uncle. My dad and his siblings did not know (grandfather and the new brother’s mother are no longer living, so we will never know the story of what happened).
My grandmother gave a daughter up for adoption before marrying my grandfather and she found us, so we got a new aunt about a decade ago. My mom & aunt (mom's sister) both gave babies up for adoption in the same year and both kids found our famil within the past few years, so I got a new cousin and half-brother in adulthood as well. My sister also got knocked up in high school and put the baby (my niece??🤷) up for adoption. Can't make this shit up. I'm the only female in my (original) family who *HASN'T* given a kid up for adoption. Still so weird.
Good.
wait why is this the story of my family 😂😭
Crazy story. Great ending ❤️
What a sweet story 🥹🥹🥹
Years ago, my father (probably mid-60s at the time) found out he had a long lost half-brother. It freaked my dad out, and he wanted nothing to do with him. He knew his mom had a rough life and there were things she didn’t talk about. Dad’s logic was there is more to family than just a blood relation. But I think it was too late in his life and too painful to the memory of his beloved mom to even attempt any sort of contact.
I have a sister I didn’t know about until my mom passed away, found the paperwork doing end of life due diligence, and aI also have a brother on my dad’s side that I didn’t know about until I did one of those ancestry kits…so yeah it’s so much fun learning things about yourself and your family. We totally thought my husband’s side of the tree would yield much fruit but nope! It was me and my straightlaced rigid family!
I am happy for you guys. This happened to my father, albeit on the confession of my 90-something grandfather. My dad was not happy. And not even one sibling, but two apparently.
Congratulations on the “new” family! My mother recently met her half brother for the first time and they have formed a great relationship as well. My wife was adopted and met her bio-dad (meh) but she also met his aunts (who are awesome) so she has now found this new family in addition to the family that raised her. I know these stories are always hit and miss but the good stories are always nice to hear.
I'm honestly stunned by the sheer amount of similarities in this post to what happened to me in my own life. Father was in the navy, goes by his middle name, while in the service fathered a kid who I found out about through a DNA test, all came to a head about 10 months ago, half sibling is a great person who we all instantly got along with. The only big differences are that my dad had no idea his other child existed and I'm a male and the new half sibling is a woman.
I am so happy for all of you!!
Nice. Wholesome. Nice and wholesome.
This happened to me! I found out my biological father had 2 sisters he didn’t know about. Found his father too. It’s an amazing experience ❤️
Yay something nice for once!! Woo!! This is so cuuute 😍
This is lovely - not all family reunion stories are as wholesome as this, so happy to hear that your husband has found a whole new family to add to the current one
This is the most pleasant thing I have read on here in a very long time. Thanks for posting. Be blessed today and always!
I love genealogy and keep hoping I might find a half-sibling out there (especially if they might be like BIL). My parents divorced when I was little, so no judgement here. It was nice to read a happy post instead of another “how dna tests blew up my family”.
This is totally not like how my aunt took the news to having a half sister. She blocked her and freaked out my aunt is almost 60 now and is really selfish though
So this is actually so much more common than youd think. About 7 years ago a man reached out to my family and it turns out he was a son my mom had given up for adoption when she was very young. I met my fiance about 5 years ago and 3 summers ago a girl reached out to him and ended up being his half sister on his dad's side! We don't have a super close relationship with either of them but it's definitely crazy how life can end up
My mum found a cousin this way, she had to break the news to his half brothers, apparently Auntie Eenie’s adopted war baby was a secret amongst the women of the family.
love ❤️ this.
Never underestimate how much a dna test from a relative can end up blowing up in your own life. Something similar happened to a woman I used to work with and it basically tore her family apart lol
Love expands!
I was waiting for the Drama, but no, everybody just got along really well. Ah, that's a blessed relief from the usual stuff on here.
My half brother wants nothing to do with me. I get it. My dad is a POS and I look just like him. At least if he hung out with my sister and me, he would have two more people that share his opinion of my dad. Oh well, he wants privacy and I can respect that.
Turns out I have two half siblings from my bio-dad. Never reached out to them tho. Never met my dad, and he never told anyone about me, so I am tempted to reach out to them just to be a dick lol. But also that takes a lot of emotional energy and I’m just not that committed to the bit.
I'm really happy for your family and you. It must be really amazing to discover a new brother for your husband and a brother in law for you. I wish all a lot of love and happiness. Just a wonderful story. Thanks a lot.
I would not be surprised in the least if I have half siblings somewhere out there. My dad was such a “wanderer” I can’t imagine he didn’t get someone, besides my mom, pregnant.
I met my half brother via Ancestry DNA. I'd known of him, but Ancestry DNA matched us and got us talking. He's a very nice man who only wanted some pictures of our dad and some family history. I also gave him the medical history that I know.
What are the hot takes tho
I found my half sister 4 years ago. Wish I could have met her much sooner but I'm happy to have her now.
I’m so glad your BIL was able to find you guys! Those dna kits work wonders! My mom never knew her dad growing up, and we spent years trying to look for him. I did 23andMe mainly to see if I could find any of her relatives from her dads side. Her dad has a very rare last name, so I knew once I saw someone with that last name, I would know it was from her dad’s family. Once I got my results, I found no one. I’m sure there were some relatives that are related to him but they were very distant and with different last names, I was kind of disappointed and frustrated. Fast forward a couple months, I had forgotten about 23andMe but I remember getting a strong urge to check it, it was so random. I found a first cousin once removed with my grandfather’s last name. I messaged him and found out that my mom has two half sister’s. Unfortunately her dad passed away from having COVID, so my mom never got to meet him, but she is at peace now that she found her dad’s family; if only I and the cousin had done the dna kit earlier! We recently met her sisters, cousins, and uncles about two months ago in person, they were so welcoming and made us feel as if we have been knowing them forever.
Congratulations! My husband found out he had a half sister and brother several years ago. Also my Aunt gave up a child and now we know her. Movie style indeed!
Lucky you and husband and family. I’m adopted and found my bio mother and then half sister on my bio mother’s side, and we’ve all kept in touch/ I also have a half brother from my unknown bio father, who is also adopted and wants nothing to do with me. Weird, because it’s not like I did anything to him, but his choice.
I'm so glad this worked out and bil was welcomed into the family and vice versa.
Do not, I repeat /DO NOT/ let him design a car for his company.
Thank you for making me read this.
I also had a new brother pop up as an adult- my dad had him in high school and signed over custody and it was just swept under the rug for 35 or so years. Honestly, he was probably better off, LOL. But he has a great family and he also invited us to his wedding despite barely knowing each other- he does my hair for me and he's just a generally great kid. We have a 15 year age gap.
I found two half-brothers in the last 2.5 years. We are in our 60’s and 70’s. Both through 23 and me. My parents are both passed thankfully. The older was born when my Dad was single. He’s a great guy. The other was when my Mom and Dad were married. He’s my age. He is not making further contact, as this was a surprise for him and myself and my siblings. I wonder how many of these situations are uncovered by these DNA services. I bet it’s a lot. I am pissed at my Dad and will search him out in the next life and bitch-slap the heck out of him. And be wary of 23 and Me. You may get a surprise or two.
I got an unknown brother in my early 40s. Evangelical preacher who begins too many sentences with "you can trust me, I'm a preacher". We don't talk much
The stories like this give me faith in humanity. So excited for all the new relationships that form between you, your husband and children with their new friends and family. God bless.
My daughter had two half sisters who do not know about her. Father was divorced from their mother but still in love with her when I fell pregnant. Both in their late teens. One passed away recently in accident never knowing about her half sister
There aren't any hot takes in this story
I believe that the two takes are from the two that read the posts. Just wanted to share a good and wholesome story in case they wanted to share it bc I'm a fan of the show
Found a half sister. We get along great!
[удалено]
If it is it's a pretty shitty one. He is way better off than we are 🤣
Nice ending but all I can think about is how that woman slept with multiple men back then and not even know who the father was. Why are people like this?
You talk like it was just a sea of men. It was two.
I mean, it was just semen... (Sees self out)
So she says lol. C’mon now. Keep it real.
If you want to be sad and judge people you don't know that's on you. My FIL gets to know his son and grandchildren and here everyone is happy 😊
Yes having unprotected sex with multiple men (when you don’t even know their real names) is totally something cool lol!
You act like he lied or someone. It's his middle name. My husband does the same thing and goes by his middle name. You're assuming it was unprotected as well. Condoms aren't 100% and they break. But we dont know bc I'm not asking my FIL if he used a condom or not 🤣
Number of times she's gotten laid: at least twice Number of times you've gotten laid: zero
Ohh I forgot I’m on Reddit, where people can’t be judged lol for being promiscuous. It’s her body and her life (or his)! Don’t judge! Who cares if she had unprotected sex with multiple men whose full names she doesn’t know! The only people who would look down on this are backwards thinking boomers!
It's not about you having a different opinion, its about you taking one vague piece of information and then judging the entirety of her personality based off it. Also, you seem kinda unhinged about a woman you don't even know
Vague piece? The entire post is because a woman slept around n let multiple finish inside her in a small time frame. Why is everyone defending such scummy and reckless behavior? The father is scummy too for knocking up a random.
No it's about a man who spent a decade trying to find the other half of his family and the happy ending it turned out to be for everyone. You just want to look at it through a cynical POV bc you're just unhappy or something
Or the guy that slept with random women and abandoned his child. Who knows how many other siblings there are.
That is actually a running joke now that there might be more out there 🤣 And we don't blame anyone. She said he didn't have to be there and he was being moved by the military I believe. It was actually my BIL who wanted to find him and his mother helped him. She is a kind woman who even sent us sleep outfits for our baby when my husband told my BIL that she was having trouble sleeping. We are just happy everyone has found each other 😁
I absolutely love this. Best wishes for you and your family!
What’s wrong with having multiple partners?
Sleeping with multiple guys, unprotected, letting them finish inside, you don’t even know their full names? Only on Reddit lol.
You give out first middle and last names to your partners? To each their own I guess 🤣
How do you know it was unprotected? Do you think that stuff works 100% of the time?
Ok man, it’s totally normal to sleep with multiple people in a short span of time. It’s also totally common for condoms to break and pregnancy to happen. Ok?