A birthday gift led to a lifelong discovery when MyHerritage DNA A test has revealed an 80-year-old family secret: a Quebec man and a Dutch man are long-lost brothers.
Frank McGrath, 78 LongueuilQuebec and Frans Bannink, 80, of Almelo, the Netherlands, first met in April after DNA testing by Bannink's granddaughter showed a family connection to Canada.
“My grandfather was hesitant to find out who his biological father was,” said Amber Hogervorst, who made the trip to Canada with her grandparents.
“When I saw the link on the website, I messaged Frank immediately and he responded within a few weeks.”
The rest, she says, is history.
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“It was very emotional for me. I was very happy,” McGrath said. “Because I was an only child, I learned that I had an older brother… and a brother like our father.”
The two share the same father, Staff Sgt. Dermot McGrath, Canadian soldier stationed in the Netherlands after their liberation during World War II. Dermot McGrath met Frank's mother a few years after Frans Bannink was born.
“He didn't know. He never talked about it,” McGrath said. “He was married to my mother for 60 years and she passed away. That was his devotion. If he had known…we would have known everything.”
The brothers described their first personal meeting in Amsterdam as immediate and natural.
“We landed in Amsterdam and got a hotel near France's house. We met every day for four days. We had a really good time,” McGrath said.
“He came downstairs to the hotel and I said, 'There's this guy.' It happened instantly,” said Frans Bannink.
Both families were struck by the strong physical resemblance, shared mannerisms and striking similarities, including the almost identical names of the two brothers: France and Francis, who was called Frank.
The reunion laid the foundation for permanent relationships between the families.
“It was an instant connection between the two of them and us,” said McGrath's wife, Joanna Tremblay McGrath.
“My newfound daughter-in-law, same values, we both hug and we both cry,” she added.
Once separated by 5,000 kilometers, these two families are now united by an inexplicable closeness. Despite a deep understanding of what could have been, both families are looking forward to the years ahead.
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