Louise and Jess meet for the first time and try to figure out how to form a sibling bond with a stranger. Meantime, Louise speaks to others who have already navigated new-found half-brother/sister relationships. But new siblings aren't the only DNA discoveries that lie in store for Louise. You can follow You Look Like Me on Twitter and Instagram: @YouLookLikeMe_ And while you're here.... You Look Like Me is a labour of love from a two-person team, produced alongside our day jobs. It's also self-funded. If you want to support us you can buy us a coffee: http://ko-fi.com/youlooklikeme You Look Like Me is hosted by Louise McLoughlin, edited by Tamsin Hughes, and recorded in lockdown
Just a note before we start this episode contains strong language Again, that's my fault.
You look like me.
A podcast making sense of the life and families of donor conceived people.
This is my story and it's also a place for yours.
When I found my siblings, my half siblings, I felt relief, like I wasn't alone anymore.
I feel like a family can never be too big.
And I felt excited.
I still feel excited.
I grew up with paternal half siblings who I was very close with.
I don't think there's any reason I shouldn't be able to be just as close with these maternal half siblings that I haven't met yet.
It's invalidating to be treated as if our genetic family is not our real family.
When I discovered my half siblings, I felt excited to be a part of this weird club.
It wasn't until a few days later that the enormity of the situation really hit me.
Now I had all these relationships to maintain or not maintain.
It was pretty confusing.
Welcome to youo Look like me.
I'm Louise McLachlan.
Until 2017, I was an only child.
That year, at age 26, I got a relative match through ancestry and found my first half sibling, Jess.
Two weeks later, we were meeting up for the first time.