A MODEL only discovered she had a secret brother when he reached out on his 18th birthday – and now he’s joining the family for Christmas dinner.
Katrina Rose already knew she came from a large clan, with three brothers on her dad’s side and six sisters on her mum’s.
But everything changed when the now 20-year-old’s siblings sat her down at 16 and revealed the shock news – another young man had contacted the family, claiming he was also a biological relation.
Katrina’s mum later confirmed she had given up a son for adoption when she was younger, and that he’d reached out hoping to reconnect.
Since then, Katrina says she and her brother have become inseparable – and he now visits regularly for the holidays.
“I grew up the youngest girl in a very feminine household with my mum and two of my sisters,” said Katrina, who has 101,000 Instagram followers @kattyybae.
“We all have different dads, but my dad kind of raised us all.
“When my mum was dating my dad, before they had me, she went on a trip to a lake.
“She met a younger man who they’ve told me was a bit of a player.
“He was a sports guy in college and just out to have fun.
“One thing led to another and my brother happened.
“She came home and nine months later he was born.”
Katrina believes her mum may not have wanted any boys in the house.
She said: “I have this theory that my mum didn’t want any boys because she was very much a girly girl.
“We did pageants and cheerleading and she loved it.
“The thing is, my dad was fully ready to take him in. He loves kids.
“He loved taking in children that weren’t his own because it made him feel really good about his childhood.
“He was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll take him.’”
Katrina says her dad was aware of the pregnancy from the beginning.
She said: “He even called the man and yelled at him for getting my mum pregnant and was like, ‘How could you do this?’
“And the guy was like, ‘Huh? What? She’s pregnant?’
“But he hung up the phone and never spoke to him again.
“My mum immediately put him up for adoption and he was originally adopted by a really, really religious family.
“He said they were borderline in a cult.”
Fortunately, his biological dad eventually stepped in.
She said: “My brother has told me that when his dad found out that he was up for adoption he was like, ‘Well, I want him, I’ll take him, give him to me.’
“And then he lived with his dad.
“He’s known about us his entire life, but we didn’t know about him until he texted my mum on his 18th birthday.
“My sisters sat me down and said, ‘We have something to tell you.’
“And I was like, ‘Who died? Who’s pregnant?’
“They said, ‘Actually we have a brother.’”
Katrina quickly found him on Instagram and the pair have been glued at the hip ever since.
She said: “I introduced myself as the youngest one and we picked him up from the airport the next week.
“He looks nothing like any of us.
“He has blonde hair and blue eyes, whereas we’re all brunette.
“He is the sweetest, sweetest little southern boy in the entire world. He has an absolute heart of gold.
“It was actually insane. It was like finally finding a puzzle piece under the cabinet.
“I feel like I’ve lived my entire life with him.”
Katrina said he’s joining them for Christmas again this year.
She said: “We like to fly him out for my sister’s husband’s birthday because they’re like besties.
“They love to hang out and they golf together.”
And Katrina tries not to hold anger towards her mum, despite everything.
The brunette beauty, from Arizona, US, added: “We don’t get along for a lot of reasons.
“I feel bitter towards her because I didn’t get the chance to grow up with my brother.
“But, at the end of the day, I’m just grateful to have a relationship with him now at all.”
