The 28-year-old resident of Bradford, Ont.  she said she just wanted to know about her family’s health history when she made the life-changing discovery.
The site matched her genetic information to a woman in Minnesota named Rylee Hall, and they began discussing how they might be related.
“I didn’t really talk much when Rylee first reached out because I just didn’t really know.  I just questioned everything … It was a shock,” McMaster told CTV News Toronto on Monday.
“I think it was four months later that I finally reached out again via Instagram and said maybe let’s try to look it up and figure it out.”
At that point, she said, she and Hall talked often and discovered unique similarities — their mannerisms, the distinctive blue rings around their brown eyes and their musical backgrounds.

Carlie McMaster, shown in a childhood photo, says she found out she was conceived through a sperm donation after submitting her DNA to Ancestry.com. They eventually learned that the similarities were no coincidence as McMaster and Hall had a biological father and were both conceived through sperm donation. “I was shocked at first. I think I questioned my identity a lot but also got excited to have that connection at the same time,” McMaster said. “I had to process the fact that the father I grew up with was not my biological father, but also that I have this new relationship.” Hall said the relationship with the brothers didn’t come as a huge shock to her because her mother had told her she had been conceived through a sperm donation a year before she took the test. “I knew there was a possibility of meeting brothers,” the 27-year-old American told CTV News Toronto on Monday. “So I wasn’t shocked when the news was confirmed.” The brothers say they feel grateful to have met. Rylee Hall, seen in this childhood photo, says she sees similarities between herself and her sister Carlie McMaster.
“For me, it’s just beating somebody that I know is kind of there for life. It’s just such a strong bond that we share,” McMaster said. Their story took another turn when they decided it was time to look for their “donor dad”. Hall said she was able to find him on Facebook after connecting with other relatives on ancestry websites. “He messaged me after I added him,” Hall said. “It was nice because it was a confirmation that he wants to talk. We’re not forcing him, which was nice,” McMaster added. The siblings said they now talk to their biological dad, who lives in Toronto, at least once a week. “He already supports us a lot,” McMaster said. “He’s been really good so far and he’s just a great sweet guy.” They said that in the early 1990s, their biological father donated to Canadian Blood Services, where he was a regular platelet donor, when he noticed an ad asking people to help families unable to have children. “On the papers my parents got, there was a question, ‘would you be open to meeting a descendant,’ and he checked ‘yes,’” Hall said. Rylee Hall says he visited Carlie McMaster in Brantford, Ont. and tried Tim Hortons for the first time.
Hall said she plans to visit Ontario a second time in late August. The sisters say they will also meet their biological dad in person for the first time. The sisters say they found out there are three other brothers they know about. The other siblings, they said, are all female and were born in the mid-1990s in Canada. Both Hall and McMaster said while they are excited to meet new siblings, they are very careful in how they approach potential siblings, as they don’t want to give the information away prematurely. “It just depends on the other person and whether they’re open to having siblings because some people probably just don’t want to deal with it at all,” Hall said. The sisters are launching a new podcast on Monday called “Our Daddy’s a Donor.” The podcast will delve into their experiences and discuss the stories of other people who conceived through sperm donation and who discovered the truth later in life.