Woman, 26, who discovered she was conceived with a sperm donor at the age of 20 is stunned to learn she has 77 secret siblings – after a stranger contacted us to reveal the identity of her biological father

A woman who thought she was an only child was shocked to discover she not only has one secret sibling, but 77 of them.

Sheena Holland-Dolan, from Cleveland, Ohio, has met dozens of relatives — they even became so close with a half-sister that they honeymooned together.

Sheena, 26, spent the first 20 years of her life thinking she had no siblings until she found out her mother and disabled father had used a sperm donor to get her after she struggled to conceive.

“To say it was a shock is an understatement,” Sheena admitted. 'I was left shocked.'

Sheena's parents were told not to tell their daughter about her genetic father, but when she was 20, her parents finally revealed the truth.

“It was a difficult situation, I was initially so upset that I had been lied to,” Sheena recalls.

“I understand that maybe there was an element of shame at the time, and they were worried about what other people would think,” she reasoned.

Sheena was drawn to find out if she had any relatives, so she looked for answers on the ancestry website 23andme.

“The prospect of siblings hadn't even occurred to me when I started hunting family tree sites,” she admitted. “But someone contacted me and said, 'I know who your father is.'”

There, Sheena discovered she was the 47th sibling of the same donor to be found.

“There are now 78 of us, and I'm sure there are many more waiting to be found,” the family-oriented woman said.

Sheena was then invited to join a Facebook group set up by her older half-sibling, Kianni Arroyo, who tried to track down as many siblings as possible.

Sheena discovered that her biological father had signed up to donate sperm when he was in college to make extra money and help couples get pregnant.

“I have a kind of morbid fascination with it, especially in the beginning,” she admitted.

Sheena loves finding new siblings to add to the group, and has even found new family members – and contact with their parents – as young as five years old.

“Everyone has different levels of involvement, which is fine, but there are a lot of us who meet regularly and we have a great time,” she explained.

“Every time I meet a new half-sibling, I look for similarities: do they have the same dimples as me, or the same sense of humor?” Sheena asked.

Despite not knowing her siblings, Sheena said she – and her husband Andrew – noticed they had similar mannerisms in common.

“I first met Kianni after she invited me to visit her in Florida. “I don't like saying no to an adventure, so off I went,” she said.

“We hit it off right away, and I was so happy to have a sister,” she said. 'We found out we were both getting married at the same time, so we agreed to honeymoon together. It was so special.'

Although she believes there should be stricter controls and more rules around sperm donation and clinics, she is happy that she has found a whole family.

“I've been able to travel a lot and meet so many interesting people,” Sheena said.

“It does worry me a little that if I have children, I will have to warn them that they have to be very careful when choosing their partners,” she added. “They'll have so many close relatives that they won't know about.”

“I would love to eventually meet all my half-siblings,” she said.

“It's such an exciting journey.”