Little House on the Prairie star, Melissa Gilbert, says she’s had ‘remarkable few weeks’ after discovering she has three brothers after being adopted at birth
Melissa Gilbert has revealed some huge family news(Image: Getty Images)
Little House on the Prairie icon, Melissa Gilbert, who plays Laura Ingalls in the iconic show, has revealed some huge news about her family.
The actress, now 62, who shot to fame in the wholesome series, which first aired in the seventies and is now available to watch on Netflix, said she’d had a “remarkable few weeks” after finding out she had three brothers after being adopted at birth.
Claiming she would be “eternally grateful” for being adopted, the actress revealed that she had connected with some of her birth father’s family decades ago, but admitted that the relationships had been strained.
Taking to Instagram, she shared: “For those who don’t know, I was adopted at birth. For which I will be eternally grateful. Decades ago, I found my birth father’s family. Including my three older half-siblings.
“Those relationships were a bit fraught. Not very close and still full of secrets. Not what I’d hoped but ultimately an important part of my story and one for which I will always be grateful to them for.”
However, revealing that she connected to her cousin three weeks ago via an app, which lead to the discovery of her three siblings on her mother’s side, she continued: “A few weeks ago I connected, trough an app with my fifth biological cousin on my birth mothers side.”
That cousin then lead Melissa to her biological brothers on her “birth mother’s side”. Describing the discovery as a ‘dream come true’, she said: “I’d always wished for a big brother and I found out I have three,” while tagging the two surviving siblings, Matt and Laird.
Admitting discovering that he had a sister, who was a famous actress, was ‘not on his bingo card’, Matt, 66, said that he’s “looking forward to seeing where this new chapter leads” adding that Melissa’s discovery “wasn’t on my 2026 bingo card.”
He wrote: “After 66 years, I learned that my brothers Laird Steven E. Paine and Mark A. Olson Sr. and I have a biological sister! Unfortunately Mark Is no longer here to share in the excitement, but his son Mark Olson is.
“Some of you already know this story, but many of you don’t. It’s been an incredible few weeks of discovering family history, sharing stories, asking a million questions, and getting to know someone I never knew existed.”
Insisting that he wasn’t interested in Melissa’s fame, he added: ““Before anyone asks, the part that means the most to me isn’t that she’s a public figure. It’s that we’ve finally found each other after a lifetime apart.”
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