Melissa Gilbert’s little house just got bigger.
The “Little House on the Prairie” alum, 62, announced on Instagram Stories Thursday that she recently discovered three biological brothers on her mother’s side, calling the last few weeks “remarkable.”
“A few weeks ago I connected, trough [sic] an app with my fifth biological cousin on my birth mothers [sic] side,” Gilbert wrote. “His intrepid research let [sic] me to my biological siblings on my birth mother’s side.
“I found out I have three: Matt, Laird, and Mark (who unfortunately has passed away),” she wrote, calling her older brothers “fantastic human beings.”
“Matt and I are becoming especially close.” Gilbert continued. “The true story of our adoptions is a jaw dropper which we will be sharing soon over on @substack. I’ve always said that I don’t have a family tree, I have a family shrub. It’s now more of a climbing rose vine. Covering an enormous wall with its many different shapes and colored blooms.”
“Nothing like what I thought I knew,” she said, calling all the revelations “wild.”
The “DWTS” alum also wrote that many years ago she found her birth father’s family, “including three older half-siblings.”
“Those relationships were a bit fraught,” she confessed. “Not very close and still full of secrets. Not what I’d hoped for but, ultimately, an important part of my story and one for which I will always be grateful to them for.”
Elsewhere in her post, Gilbert also included her 66-year-old brother Matt’s own words about the family discovery.
“Well… this wasn’t on my 2026 bingo card,” he wrote in his own Instagram post featuring childhood photos comparing him and Gilbert. “It’s been an incredible few weeks of discovering family history, sharing stories, asking a million questions, and getting to know someone I never knew existed. That little sister is @melissagilbertofficial!”
The actress has dedicated herself to finding out about her past after her birth parents, Kathy Wood and David Darlington, placed her for adoption when she was born in 1964.
She was later adopted by comedian Paul Gilbert and his wife, Barbara Crane, the daughter of “The Honeymooners” creator, Harry Crane. Barbara later gave birth to Melissa’s sister, “Roseanne” alum Sara Gilbert,
Melissa stressed to us that her mother and Sara “have been remarkably supportive” of her journey.
“I’m very close with them,” she shared, “I love them so much.”
