Michael Goessling was raised by Paul and Kay Goessling in St. Louis, Missouri. He had a happy childhood, and his parents were open about the fact that they adopted him in 1966. Michael told local news outlet KMOV that he always wondered about his biological parents and who they might be. He took a 23andMe DNA test, and on his 58th birthday, he met his biological mother, who got him in touch with his biological father. He never dreamed in 1 million years that his father was Michael McDonald. Yes, the Michael McDonald from the Doobie Brothers. The king of yacht rock. As the mystery man spoke about his job as a musician and his plans to travel through his native St. Louis that summer, Michael Goessling had to ask.
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“And then I finally said, ‘Are you Michael McDonald?’” He said. “And he said, ‘Yeah, I’m afraid so.’”
Michael McDonald Always Wondered About His Son
The fact that they are both Michaels is purely a coincidence. Michael McDonald and Michael Gosseling’s biological mother was 14 when he was born and did not give him a name; that came from Kay.
Michael McDonald praised the Gosselings for giving his son the life he couldn’t as a teenage boy.
“I always carried that guilt with me,” the singer said. “But just to know that he was okay and that he had a good life, and a life certainly that I wouldn’t have been able to afford him at that time in my life, was a great reward. The real rock stars in this story for us are his adoptive parents, who really gave Michael everything a child needs in terms of love and security.”
When the pair finally met in person, it was a reunion that filled both of their hearts.
“He just put his arms out, just gave me a big old bear hug and told me he loved me, and I told him the same,” Michael Goessling said.
This story’s featured image is by Bobby Bank/WireImage
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