Michael McDonald has reunited with a son he placed for adoption more than 50 years ago after becoming a father at just 14 years old.
Michael Goessling, who was adopted as an infant, confirmed that his biological father is the five-time Grammy winner and Doobie Brothers lead vocalist, according to First Alert 4.
McDonald and Goessling’s biological mother were both 14 when he was conceived. He was subsequently raised in St. Louis by Paul and Kay Goessling. “Always knew I was adopted. Had a wonderful childhood. I could not pick two finer folks to raise me,” Goessling said of his adoptive parents.
The discovery eventually connected him with one of McDonald’s other children, his half-brother, who had taken a 23andMe DNA test. “Within 36 hours, he got an email notifying him: Michael Goessling, half-brother, St. Louis. And that’s how this all began,” Goessling explained.
Goessling met his biological mother in person on his 58th birthday. He later spoke by phone with the “What a Fool Believes” musician before the two finally came face-to-face. “When he first saw me, he put his arms out, gave me a big old bear hug and told me he loved me, and I told him the same,” Goessling recalled.
The five-time Grammy winner also discovered that he is now a grandfather to Goessling’s two children.
“We always talked about him. And it always came down to our greatest fear was, how did life treat him? I always carried that guilt with me,” McDonald told First Alert. “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, was a great reward. The real rock stars in this story are his adoptive parents.”
McDonald, whose hits include “I Keep Forgettin’ (Every Time You’re Near)” and “Sweet Freedom,” released his most recent album, Wide Open, in 2017.
