Siblings Making up for Lost Time
Kyle Gulden, a US Army Veteran from New Jersey had been trying to find family members on his father’s side of the family since he was 7 years old. Born in 1985, his mother got pregnant with him when she was stationed in Germany in the Air Force. He was later adopted, but with little information to go on, he never had any success in locating his father.
After completing a DNA test, Kyle received a MyHeritage DNA match of 3.4% to a first-second cousin once removed — Sheila Trevett. The cousins connected and not only did Kyle help Sheila find her father, but Sheila also helped Kyle finally find his long-lost family.
Sheila was also adopted at childhood. She found out who her mother is a few years ago when she got access to her adoption files. Her mother didn’t know who the father was. Based on only a few details Sheila created a family tree on MyHeritage with 128 people in it and a few branches on her paternal side. You can read Sheila’s full story here.
When Kyle and Sheila matched, Kyle told her that his father’s last name was Martin. Sheila was able to find him in her family tree.
I went instantly to go look at my big tree to try and figure out who his birth dad was. Then I found him!
Sheila also discovered that Kyle’s father had more children, making them Kyle’s half siblings. One half-sibling passed away in a tragic accident in 2010, but they uncovered another sibling living in Arizona.
When Melissa Galatas, a 35-year-old nurse was contacted about having a half-brother in New Jersey, she was ecstatic. She never knew that she had other siblings.
Melissa, with her two children.
After speaking on the phone for a few weeks, the wait was over and they finally decided to meet each other at the end of July. It was well worth the wait. Melissa flew to New Jersey to meet her brother and nervously awaited meeting Kyle for the first time.
The two shared a hug and were finishing each other’s sentences only moments after they first laid eyes on each other.
Melissa, her sister-in-law, Kyle and their children.
Melissa is thrilled about her new family
It’s opened up a whole new lease on life for me. In addition to a brother, I now have two adorable nieces and a sister in law! I feel like I’m standing outside my body looking at someone else’s story unfolding.
Kyle and Melissa have 31 years of sibling teasing and catching up to do, but for the meantime, they are just so excited to have found each other. For Kyle, having a sister fills a real void in his life.
When I found out I had Melissa, it filled a hole and there’s definitely a strong connection there.
