Doobie Brothers’ Michael McDonald reconnects with long-lost son 58 years after placing him up for adoption

Wesley StenzelThu, October 1, 2026 at 9:44 PM UTC

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Michael McDonald in Nashville on June 5, 2026Credit: Robby Klein/GettyKey points -

Michael McDonald conceived a son when he was 14 years old and placed him up for adoption.

His son, Michael Goessling, contacted the singer after discovering the identities of his half-brother and birth mother.

McDonald and Goessling eventually met in person: “He just put his arms out and just gave me a big old bear hug.”

Michael McDonald is making up for lost time.

The Doobie Brothers musician recently reconnected with his son, Michael Goessling, for the first time since giving him up for adoption in the mid-1960s, St. Louis outlet KMOV reported. Goessling discovered his connection to the “What a Fool Believes” singer after his half-brother — whom he didn’t know existed — took a 23andMe DNA test, which led to him meeting his birth mother on his 58th birthday, and later connecting with McDonald.

Goessling said that he first met the “Minute by Minute” singer on the phone, and didn’t immediately know his identity. “I said, ‘So, tell me about yourself. What do you do?’ And so he said, ‘Well, I’m a musician.’ And he went on to tell me that, ‘In fact, looks like we’ll be touring this summer and we’ll be stopping in St. Louis,’” he recalled. “I finally said, ‘Are you Michael McDonald?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, I’m afraid so.’”

Goessling was conceived when his birth mother and McDonald were both 14 years old. The two teens placed him up for adoption, and Paul and Kay Goessling became his adoptive parents.

“We always talked about him. And it always came down to our greatest fear was, how did life treat him?” McDonald told the outlet. “I always carried that guilt with me. But just to know that he was okay, and that he had a good life, and a life, certainly, that I probably wouldn’t have been able to afford him at that time in my life, was a great reward.”

McDonald had no input into naming his son, so the fact that they share a first name is a total coincidence. “I was unnamed. So it was my mom Kay who named me,” Goessling told KMOV.

He also noted that he had no complaints about his adoptive parents. “Always knew I was adopted,” Goessling said. “Had a wonderful childhood. I could not pick two finer folks to raise me.”

Michael McDonald in Nashville on June 5, 2026Credit: Terry Wyatt/WireImage

Goessling also worked with musicians for part of his career, managing the St. Louis band Stir in the 1990s, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He now works at a construction company, according to his Facebook profile.

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“The real rock stars in this story for us are his adopted parents, who really gave Michael everything that a child needs in terms of love and security,” McDonald said.

Eventually, McDonald and Goessling met in person. “He just put his arms out and just gave me a big old bear hug and told me he loved me,” Goessling recalled. “And I told him the same.”

“It was a wonderful, wonderful experience to see Michael and get to meet my son after all these years thinking about him,” McDonald added.

McDonald, who has two children with his wife Amy Holland, said that he still hasn’t quite wrapped his head around the fact that he’s a grandfather because Goessling has children of his own. “That’s still sinking in to me,” the singer said. “What a gift.”

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The musician also sang the praises of Goessling’s family. “My daughter-in-law is the daughter-in-law you would hope for as a parent, and the kids are two of the greatest kids you’ll ever meet,” he said. “I’m just so proud of them.”

McDonald added, “I think it’s an amazing tribute to the fact that adoption is a wonderful option.”

on Entertainment Weekly

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”