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.