DNA test gives adopted Missouri man a shock: His dad is singer Michael McDonald

BS BULLETIN:

Michael Goessling always knew he was adopted, but had no idea who his biological father was.
A DNA test taken by a previously unknown half-brother ultimately led him to five-time Grammy winner Michael McDonald.
Nearly six decades after he was placed for adoption, father and son finally met — and McDonald discovered he was also a grandfather.

Michael Goessling spent 58 years knowing he had biological parents somewhere out there.

He probably wasn’t expecting one of them to have sung “What a Fool Believes.”

The St. Louis man recently discovered that his biological father is Michael McDonald, the unmistakably voiced singer-songwriter whose career includes the Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan collaborations and a long solo career.

Goessling was adopted as an infant by Paul and Kay Goessling and said he grew up knowing about the adoption.

He also makes one thing very clear about the couple who raised him.

“I could not pick two finer folks to raise me,” he told KMOV.

The mystery of his biological family began unraveling when one of McDonald’s other children took a 23andMe DNA test.

Within 36 hours, that man received a notification identifying Michael Goessling as a half-brother in St. Louis.

“And that’s how this all began,” Goessling said.

On his 58th birthday, Goessling met his biological mother.

Then came the father.

During a phone conversation, Goessling asked the man what he did for a living. He was told he was a musician who would soon be touring through St. Louis.

Goessling finally asked the obvious question:

“Are you Michael McDonald?”

“Yeah, I’m afraid so,” came the answer.

And no, the matching first names were not some long-hidden clue.

Goessling’s adoptive mother Kay had named him Michael without knowing who his biological father was.

The circumstances surrounding the adoption are extraordinary themselves.

McDonald and Goessling’s biological mother were both only 14 years old when Goessling was conceived.

The two remained friends over the decades, and McDonald said they continued wondering what had happened to the child they had given up.

“We always talked about him,” McDonald said.

He said his greatest concern was simply whether life had treated his son well.

McDonald also acknowledged carrying guilt about the adoption for years, but said discovering that Goessling had enjoyed a happy upbringing brought enormous relief.

“The real rock stars in this story are his adoptive parents,” McDonald said.

Eventually, the two Michaels met face to face.

Goessling said McDonald immediately opened his arms, gave him a “big old bear hug” and told him he loved him.

Goessling said he told him the same.

The family surprises weren’t finished.

McDonald also learned that the son he had wondered about for nearly six decades had children of his own.

At 74, Michael McDonald suddenly had grandchildren he had never known.

“What a gift,” he said.

MY QUICK TAKE

Every now and then we get to end the morning with a story where nobody needs to be yelled at.

Two 14-year-old kids made an impossibly difficult decision. A loving couple raised their baby. Nearly six decades later, everybody found each other — and there seems to be gratitude all the way around.

And imagine being 58 years old, finally asking the question you’ve wondered about your entire life, and the voice on the other end sounds suspiciously like Michael McDonald.

At that point, forget the DNA test. You’d know by the second syllable.