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Melissa Gilbert identifies three biological brothers; one has died and a fourth has not responded
The actress announced the discovery on Instagram Stories after connecting with a cousin through a DNA app. She identified brothers Matt, Laird and Mark, the last of whom has died. Gilbert also noted a fourth brother she has not yet reached.
Jul 10, 12:50 PM·1m read1 source
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Melissa Gilbert announced on Instagram Stories on Thursday that she had identified three biological brothers through her birth mother's side after a DNA app connection led to the findings. nypost.com reported that Gilbert connected with a fifth biological cousin a few weeks earlier. The cousin's research traced her to the siblings named Matt, Laird and Mark.
Mark has since died. Gilbert described Matt and Laird as fantastic human beings and said she and Matt are becoming especially close. She added that she has identified a fourth biological brother but has not heard from him.
Gilbert was born in 1964 and adopted at birth by comedian Paul Gilbert and Barbara Crane. Barbara Crane later gave birth to Gilbert's sister, Sara Gilbert. Many years earlier Gilbert located her birth father's family, including three older half-siblings.
She described those relationships as fraught and still containing secrets. Matt Gilbert posted on Instagram that the discovery was not on his 2026 bingo card. He wrote that the past few weeks involved discovering family history, sharing stories and getting to know Gilbert.
Gilbert told nypost.com that her mother has been remarkably supportive of the search.
