A woman discovered at the age of 80 that she had five siblings she didn’t know about.
Paola Franzin found out thanks to her daughter, who had encouraged her to get a DNA test.
Paola grew up without a dad.
Her father was a soldier and was stationed around her hometown of Cessalto, Italy, during World War II.
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Born in 1943, she was the result of a love affair between him and her mother.
Paola’s father returned to his own hometown of Veroli to marry and have children.
As she grew up, she received no news of him.
But her daughter, Sonia Andretta was determined to trace the family tree.
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She spent three decades piecing together the puzzle, as reported on What’s The Jam.
She was stunned when she found out that her pensioner mum had five half-siblings.
Sonia told local media: “The soldier was transferred and my mother grew up.
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“I learnt about this story from my grandmother, I remember it was a summer evening.
“I wrote down Pietro Martelluzzi’s name, keeping it in my diary, and promised her I would find him.
“For 30 years, I searched through the Red Cross records, among the lists of repatriated, missing, and surviving soldiers.
“I went through them one by one.
“I also placed ads in newspapers in Rome, around, and on social media.
“I wrote to ‘C’è posta per te’ by Maria De Filippi but with no success.
“I had too few leads at my disposal.”
‘C’è posta per te’ is a reality show that covers topics such as strained family ties, lost loves, old friendships, or unresolved issues.
The turning point came last November.
Sonia said: “I had my mother undergo a DNA test. I had heard about this approach in an interview.
“The result, compared with all those in a database, closely matched that of a girl with origins in the municipality of Veroli.
“So, I focused all my research on the town until I reached a nephew of Pietro Martelluzzi.”
The news was a bolt from the blue for the five siblings, who had no idea Paola existed.
Four of them travelled from Veroli to embrace their eldest sibling for the first time.
Sisters, Anna and Filomena, and brothers, Severino and Gino, took part in the heartwarming get-together.
Only brother Fernando was absent because he lives in Canada.
Sonia said: “The meeting was unforgettable.”
