STREAM EXCLUSIVE ORIGINALS

59-Year-Old Man Makes Shock Discovery Of 40-Year-Old Second Daughter After Using Ancestry DNA Kit

For 11 years, John and Siciliano lived only three miles apart without even knowing.

When John Gonsalves’ daughter gifted him an AncestryDNA kit for his birthday, he thought he’d only be learning about his European ancestors. Little did the 59-year-old know that he has a 40-year-old daughter who lived just a few miles away.

"It's just as exciting to me to have a daughter who's 40 years old as one that's only one-month old," Gonsalves, of New Jersey, told CBS News.

Jeanie Siciliano, who was adopted at a young age, also completed an AncestryDNA.com kit, and when she got her results she learned John was her father. Back in 1977, John fathered a child with high school fling. The baby was given up for adoption two months after she was born. 19 years later, Siciliano searched for her birth parents, but only located her mother.

"I did some searching … but I didn't come up with any solid information. So I kind of put that all to the side," Siciliano told CBS News. "When I first opened my AncestryDNA.com results and John's name came up and underneath it, it said 'father,' and I was, like, 'Holy cannoli this guy is my biological father. Oh my gosh.'"

Jeanie then decided to write John a letter.

"I was stunned. I literally felt the world stop and the second thought was, 'This is a scam. There's no way that I could have a child 40 years old,'" John Gonsalves said. "And then I started to cry. I felt joy. I was like, 'This is such a great gift.'"

Two months after they made contact, John, along with his other daughter Robin, met Jeanie for the first time.

"I get to chat with my daughters. It's no longer singular. It's plural!" John said.

To make matters even more unbelievable, John learned that he only lived three miles away from Siciliano for 11 years. They probably crossed paths at the same stores, but now fate has finally brought them together.

Robin said that having someone like Jeanie to look up to feels like a blessing, as her mother died a few years ago.

"I think that when I lost my mom, the thing that I was most concerned about was, like, 'How am I going to navigate my dating life, like, without my mom?" Robin said. "I don't have too many women figures in my life but losing my mom was really hard. So it's important to have women to look up to. So having someone like Jeanie is really nice."

Latest News

Subscribe for BET Updates

Provide your email address to receive our newsletter.


By clicking Subscribe, you confirm that you have read and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge our Privacy Policy. You also agree to receive marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers) and other information from BET and the Paramount family of companies. You understand that you can unsubscribe at any time.