You could occasionally feel like the odd one out if you don’t look like your parents or siblings. You may even occasionally consider being adopted or having your biological parents exchange you at birth.

Given that Farrah Khiji-Holmes claims to be ‘nothing like’ her family, she has always pondered whether this would be the case.

She consequently made the decision to undergo a DNA test in order to finally learn the truth for good.

But what had initially been just a giggle quickly turned into a true shock when the 52-year-old learned she had a half-brother that none of her family members were aware of.

After Steve Bolton, 62, visited her and his other family in the UK after traveling from Canada, Farrah got to meet her new sister.

The siblings don’t know about each other until they found a match on their DNA tests, yet they have separate moms and the same father, Dr. Mohammad Elijaz Khilji.

The initial findings appeared to indicate that they might be first cousins, but when Farrah made a video conversation with Steve, she was astounded because it was ‘like seeing her dad in the flesh.’ They were eventually determined to be half-siblings, not cousins.

Before Steve travelled to visit Farrah in her hometown of Pontefract, West Yorks, the pair spoke online for 18 months via WhatsApp and video calls.

‘Just for fun, I checked on to see if I had been switched at birth. In our family, it has long been a running joke ‘ said Farrah.

‘I’ve always maintained that I must have been switched at birth because I have no business being a member of such an odd family. So I made my mother take a DNA test as a prank. Without a doubt, she is my mother.’

‘But because there was such a wide range, it only returned a near match to a man who it said was a first cousin or even closer.’

‘About 18 months ago, I was in the pub when Steve texted me, and I exclaimed, ‘I’ve got a brother!’

‘It truly is as if you are seeing your father in person. He is said to be an exact replica of my father by my friends who have seen him.’

Since then, Farrah has discovered that her father had an affair with Pamela, the mother of Steve, in London in the 1960s before abandoning her while she was expecting his kid and leaving Pakistan.

Tragically, Pamela passed away when Steve was only seven years old, and Dr. Khilji passed away in 1998 without ever knowing he had a second son.

In the interim, he fathered children in Pakistan, and upon his return to the UK, he produced two daughters—Farrah and her sister, Zarah—from a relationship with Sue Burton.

Farrah also had three other half-siblings, whom she was aware of as she grew up, but she was unaware about Steve until the results of her DNA test were released.

Farrah continued: ‘I forwarded the details to my mother, who filled in the blanks by stating that Steve is probably my half-brother.

‘My sister and I were raised by my mother and dad. My dad raised all of his kids, and if he had known he had a second child, he would have told us.

‘Dad played a significant role in all of our lives, and if he had known about Steve, he would have made sure that he joined our family as well.’

There is no way dad would have allowed any of his kids to be placed in foster care because he actively participated in all of their lives.

Teve was born in London and was only familiar with his father’s moniker and the fact that he had ties to Karachi.

Steve spent some time in an orphanage after his mother passed away from pneumonia before his grandparents brought him to Jamaica, where his mother was born.

But once his grandmother fell ill, he was returned to a Jamaican orphanage before being taken in by a family from Canada. From the age of thirteen on, he resided in Toronto.

He obtained his birth certificate and began hunting for his father after the death of his adopted mother.

His DNA was matched with many cousins two years ago after he sent over a sample. When he unexpectedly received a message from Farrah asking if he was her brother, he was on the verge of giving up his search.

Before meeting up with Farrah while in the UK, Steve paid a visit to his father’s grave, which he described as being ‘very sad.’

‘It’s difficult to believe it’s occurred after so much waiting. It’s utterly bizarre, and I have no idea how to digest it’ explained Steve.

‘Later on, a buddy assisted me in obtaining my English birth certificate. My wife conducted all of the research and persuaded me to visit Ancestry.com.

‘Then Farrah messaged me as I was preparing to delete my subscription despite receiving a few clicks from cousins. She shook his hand and said, ‘I suppose you’re my half-brother,’ before enquiring about his father.