Wolcott man finds siblings through DNA

Bill Herbert, of Wolcott, is discovering his biological family through DNA.

Growing up, Bill Herbert, of Wolcott, knew he was adopted, and his parents found him at an adoption agency in Montreal, Canada. He was 1-year old when he was adopted and brought to Ft. Wayne, where he grew up.

In 2007, he decided he’d like to know where he came from and learn more about his family history. He checked with the Catholic Charities of Indiana and the Canadian Adoption Services and received a “little info” but nothing identifying who his biological parents were.

He dropped his search, until this year, when he decided to take a DNA ancestry test to see if he could find out anything about his family. In late February or early March, he sent in his sample, and it resulted in quite a few DNA matches with one listed as a potential sister.

After contacting the woman, he found out she was a cousin, not a sister, but she knew if half-siblings on his birth mother’s side. He found out he has two sisters and two brothers who all grew up together and are now living in their father’s house. His birth mother had already passed when he found his half-siblings, but he was overjoyed to have found people with his own DNA.

Bill Herbert is surrounded by his newfound family, (seated) Leisa, (left to right) Tara, Mercer, Bill Herbert, Ricky and Shawn. All half-siblings on his mother’s side found through his DNA at 23&Me live in New Jersey, where he visited them in June. Photos Provided

The siblings were aware that their mother had had a child before she married their father, a military man from New Jersey. She was living in the Montreal area when they met and she later became a U.S. citizen after marrying the man, who would’ve been Herbert’s stepfather.

After emailing back and forth and talking to his newfound brothers and sisters on the phone, he finally went to meet them in person in July in New Jersey, where they all reside.

He said they were happy to get to know him. Both their mother and father had passed, and they took him to visit his mother’s grave.

“All of a sudden I have a whole group of relatives,” he said, “on my mother’s side. There’s a possible half-sibling on his father’s side.”

He did learn his father’s name and is hoping to find out more about that side of his family tree. His father would not talk with him or meet him because his family does not know of his existence.

Herbert learned his mother was born in Nova Scotia and he has found he has relatives in that area through the DNA tests. He also took a test through Ancestry.com and discovered the possible half-sibling on his father’s side. He still would like to pursue more information on that side of his biological family. The Ancestry.com results showed it might be a cousin and the man has the same last name as his biological father.

Herbert said with most adopted children, they want to know why they were put up for adoption. Having been the child of an unwed mother in 1952 would have been reason enough for his mother to place him in adoption or it could have been a bad situation for both his mother and father. The why doesn’t concern him as much now, but he is thrilled to find more about his birth family and where his ancestors have come from. They are mostly Nordic origins with some French as well.

His birth mother was one of seven siblings, and her mother (his grandmother) also came from a large family, so there are many DNA matches with similar ancestry, mostly cousins and distant cousins. There is no one left of his mother’s siblings alive now, but he’s hoping to get to know more of the cousins as well as his siblings.

He’s hoping they will all come to Wolcott to visit him.

After high school, Herbert went to a trade school in Ft. Wayne, and after graduation, one of his classmates found a job in Morocco, Indiana. He went there as well and worked at Permanite for many years while living in Kentland. He later went to live in St. Louis for a few years, and returned to Indiana in 1994, where he went to work at Adkev in Goodland.

He married and moved to Remington in 2010, then to Wolcott in 2013 to be closer to his parents, who have since passed as well as his wife.

He has a sister, who was also adopted. He said she is happy for him and his new family but hasn’t taken the step to learn who her birth family might be. It can be difficult, especially, like with his birth father, that part of the family won’t meet or acknowledge the existence of another child. Or, at this time in their lives, may have already died, leaving questions unanswered.

Herbert said he speaks to at least one of his new siblings several times a week and is looking forward to meeting more cousins and possible siblings as his journey to learn about his origins continues.