‘I bought home DNA kit and discovered family secret that changed my life forever’ – The Mirror

Growing up, Brandon Tong longed for a brother or sister. Raised by a devoted single mother, Dung (known as Donna) working two jobs to keep the family afloat, he struggled to make friends.

[Mum] worked very hard to support me, Brandon, now 26 and from San Diego, told The Mirror. She owned a dollar store and also worked repairing watches. She juggled so much.

But as an only child, Brandon sometimes felt isolated.

He said: I was unbelievably lonely when I was a child. A brother or sister was pretty much all I wanted. But mum wasnt really dating or anything so another child never came.

I thought it would be really cool to have a brother.

And when he was at school, Brandons loneliness was even more acute.

Image:

Image:

For more of the news you care about straight to your inbox, sign up for one of our daily newsletters here

I was a bit lacking in social skills. I didnt really know how to make friends and I was the kid who got picked on, he recalled.

Being raised by a strong woman, Brandon never knew much about his dad. He had a few photos of his father holding him as a baby, and received birthday cards for a few years. But the cards stopped around the time he was in primary school.

Luckily, he slowly came out of his shell as he reached adolescence. But even with some friends by his side, Brandon still struggled at school.

School never went well for me. I had a big social anxiety problem and never got my high school diploma, he said.

Brandon decided to drop out of school at 17, before working part time in retail and as a sushi chef. In time, he went back to college, hoping things would be different. But when he was put on academic probation, he knew this path wasnt for him.

Thats when I joined the army, he said. My lifes been a lot better since.

And from there, things finally started to fall into place. While stationed in Korea, Brandon met his now-wife, Viktoria. The pair married in 2018 and moved across the country to San Diego, where she is from.

Happy with his lot, Brandon was never particularly interested in tracking down his biological father.

Image:

Image:

My wife was always bothered by it but I wasnt very curious, he said.

But one day, the pair saw a TV advert for a home DNA test kit and had an idea.

I was interested to find out more about the scientific side of things, like which diseases I might be susceptible to and my ethnicity. So me and my wife got a package deal and bought two kits at the same time.

The kits arrived and Brandon and Viktoria did their swabs. When the results came back, Brandon wasnt particularly surprised.

It told me I was mostly Vietnamese with some Chinese heritage but I pretty much expected that, he said.

It wasnt until Brandon logged onto his account on the 23&Me website to fill in details about health conditions that he discovered something incredible.

Image:

When he clicked on his profile, Brandon had a relative listed, who had also taken a home DNA test - his half brother, who shared a biological father.

I was so shocked. I didnt know if it was real. I did remember my Mum saying something about my dad starting a new life but it never crossed my mind that it would be possible to meet any siblings, he said.

After the initial shock wore off, Brandon started having doubts

I was hesitant to reach out to him. I didnt feel like it was natural and I didnt think it would be something he wanted to do, he said.

Meanwhile, he and Viktoria took a belated honeymoon trip to Europe, travelling across the continent. But when he landed in Barcelona, he got another surprise.

My brother actually messaged me. I got it right as I turned on my phone when we got off the flight. I was like, Oh my God, he wants to talk to me.

His name was Ben, he was 16 and living on the other side of the country in Massachusetts, where Brandon had lived when he was very young.

Image:

We were talking online for a long time. He didnt know much about his family either. He was excited about turning 18 so he could start doing his own thing, Brandon said.

When Brandon told his mum about the wonderful news, she was over the moon.

I think she was more excited than me, he joked.

Do you have a long lost family story? Did you discover a family member late in life? Send your stories to jessica.taylor@reachplc.com

With the coronavirus pandemic scuppering plans around the world, and while they waited for Ben to turn 18, the half brothers had to put their plans to meet on hold.

But just last week, Ben was travelling through San Diego with some friends and arranged to meet Brandon and Viktoria for the day.

Finally meeting his half brother for the first time, Brandon admitted it was a bit strange.

He said: Initially it was a little awkward but when we sat down to brunch, we realised we had plenty to talk about and catch up on.

We hung out for the entire day and Viktoria and I showed him the sights and drove him around.

Sadly, Ben was just passing through and could only stay for the day, but now the pair have met, theyre not letting each other go again.

Were definitely staying in touch. Its just a case of figuring out who travels to see the other one, Brandon said.

After the whirlwind of the last few years, Brandon still cant quite believe he met his brother through an online DNA kit.

Its like something out of a movie. I cant believe its real, he joked.

When Ben gets older, well have a bit more freedom to meet up, but were definitely going to see each other again.

Read the original here:
'I bought home DNA kit and discovered family secret that changed my life forever' - The Mirror