Siblings reunited in Pontefract after 'joke' DNA test

Farrah and Steve met after they both took DNA tests

A woman who discovered she had a half-brother after taking a DNA test for "a joke" has met with her new-found sibling for the first time.

Farrah Khilji-Holmes, from Pontefract, took the test after saying to relatives she was "nothing like" her family.

The results revealed a close match with a man called Steve Bolton, in Canada, and when the two spoke they realised they had the same father.

Ms Khilji-Holmes said discovering her long-lost relative had been "fabulous".

The 52-year-old said: "I did the DNA test as a joke really, because I was sure that I must have been swapped at birth. This was the last thing I expected.

"I didn't know if he was a first cousin or a brother at first, as Ancestry said we were closely related.

"It was my mum who pieced it all together - and when we first saw Steve on a video link we couldn't believe it, it was like seeing Dad in the flesh."

Mr Bolton, 62, who travelled to West Yorkshire to meet Ms Khilji-Holmes this week, said as a child he had spent time in an orphanage before going to Jamaica with his grandmother and then being adopted by a family in Canada.

Ms Khilji-Holmes said seeing her half-brother was "like seeing Dad in the flesh"

He said the DNA test had also revealed he had another half-brother living in Hertfordshire.

"When my mum died, I got my birth certificate, started looking for my dad," he said.

"I did internet searches and then I did the DNA stuff and a couple of my cousins showed up".

But, he said it was not until Ms Khilji-Holmes registered her DNA that the final piece of the jigsaw fell into place.

He said meeting her in person had been "really emotional".

"After a couple of Facebook chats it was weird to hold somebody [especially] when you've never had a hug from a mum or dad or anybody close," he said.

While in the UK, Mr Bolton visited his father's grave with his half-sister.

Mr Bolton said: "I said 'hey Dad, we're both here now'. It was very special and meaningful to me.

"And I am the oldest one, so now I get to tell them everything to do."

Dr Michaela Hulme, genealogy expert on ITV's DNA Journey and lecturer in public history at the University of Birmingham, said: "More people are taking these DNA tests so you are hearing more of these stories but they are lovely, seeing people reunited like this."