Imagine you and your best friend stay BFFs for 60 years, and then you find out you’re actually related–siblings, no less. No, it’s not the plot to the best buddy comedy of all time. In fact, it’s exactly what happened to two men in Hawaii, over the holidays.
As KHON reports, Walter Macfarlane of Oahu was searching for his father, when he decided to try using a DNA matching website. He came upon a list of DNA matches via Ancestry.com, and at the top of that list was a user by the name of Robi737. As it happens, Robi737 is none other than Macfarlane’s best buddy since the sixth grade, Alan Robinson, a former 737 pilot for Aloha Airlines. Robinson had also used Ancestry.com to find out more about his birth family, as he was adopted.
Turns out Robinson and Macfarlane share identical X chromosomes, indicating they had they same birth mother. Both men were born in Hawaii, 15 months apart. Naturally, the two were taken by surprise. “It was a shock!” said Macfarlane. “Yeah, it was a shock, definitely,” Robinson agreed. The new(ish) brothers broke the news to friends and family on Saturday.
“It was an overwhelming experience, it’s still overwhelming. I don’t know how long it’s going to take for me to get over this feeling,” Robinson said. “This is the best Christmas present I could ever imagine having.”
“It really is a Christmas miracle and we’re just so happy that we found it,” Macfarlane agreed. Awwww! The bros say they plan to travel and enjoy retirement together.
