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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Lucy Skoulding

Woman who took DNA test as a 'joke' discovers half-brother living abroad

A woman who took a DNA test for “a joke” discovered she had a half brother who lived overseas.

Farrah Khilji-Holmes, from Pontefract, took the test after saying to relatives she was “nothing like” her family.

To her shock the results revealed a close match with a man called Steve Bolton, who lived in Canada.

When they chatted over Facebook to each other, she said they realised they had the same father.

Ms Khilji-Holmes, 52, from West Yorkshire told the BBC, discovering her long-lost relative had been “fabulous”.

She said: “I did the DNA test as a joke really, because I was sure that I must have been swapped at birth.

"This was the last thing I expected.

“I didn’t know if he was a first cousin or a brother at first, as Ancestry said we were closely related.

“It was my mum who pieced it all together - and when we first saw Steve on a video link we couldn’t believe it, it was like seeing Dad in the flesh.”

Farrah told the BBC, discovering her long-lost relative had been 'fabulous' (Getty Images)

This week, Mr Bolton, 62, travelled to West Yorkshire to meet Ms Khilji-Holmes.

He told how as a child he'd lived in an orphanage before going to Jamaica with his grandmother and then being adopted by a family in Canada.

He said the DNA test had also revealed he had another half-brother living in Hertfordshire.

“When my mum died, I got my birth certificate, started looking for my dad,” he said.

Steve said the final piece of the jigsaw showed up after Ms Khilji-Holmes registered her DNA (Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“I did internet searches and then I did the DNA stuff and a couple of my cousins showed up”.

But, he said the final piece of the jigsaw showed up after Ms Khilji-Holmes registered her DNA.

He said meeting her in person had been “really emotional” adding: “After a couple of Facebook chats it was weird to hold somebody (especially) when you’ve never had a hug from a mum or dad or anybody close.”

While in the UK, they visited his father’s grave together.

Mr Bolton said: “I said ‘hey Dad, we’re both here now’. It was very special and meaningful to me.

“And I am the oldest one, so now I get to tell them everything to do.”

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