I Thought My Father Was the Actor. A MyHeritage DNA Test Revealed That He Was Actually the Composer

I never imagined this would happen — not after 77 years. But just days before Christmas in 2024, I uncovered a truth so astonishing, it feels like a miracle.

A new story has emerged. One I didn’t know existed. And now, everything I believed about my life is being rewritten.

Brigitta D’Souza

For years, I had been searching for my ancestors through MyHeritage — mostly to document things for my five grandchildren. I started in 2018, spent 6 years carefully researching, and just this past fall, I was about to let my subscription expire. I thought I had found all there was to know. But then, out of nowhere, a DNA match appeared.

It said I had a niece.

Brigitta’s DNA match with a niece on MyHeritage

That was impossible. I had no siblings. I was an only child.

Or so I believed.

A secret hidden in plain sight

The DNA match was to a woman named Susanne Heitmann, 58, living in Hamburg, the same city I live in. Her father, Heinz Husfeld, it turns out, was my half-brother. And with that connection came something even more staggering: the man I had always known as my father — the actor Charlo Clee — was not, in fact, my biological father.

My real father was Hans Husfeld, a composer and musician. I had never even heard his name before that moment.

Hans Husfield, Brigitta’s biological father, around age 72

In October 1946, my mother Rosita was dancing in a theater production called Five Minutes to Midnight. Charlo, her husband at the time, was acting in the same show. The music for the revue was composed by Hans — and that’s when I was conceived.

Memorabilia from Five Minutes to Midnight, including the program that lists Charlo and Rosita performing side by side to the music composed by Hans

I later found out that Hans, too, was married. I believe their relationship was a short-lived affair, and my mother — determined to preserve the stability of her marriage and the respectability of her family — kept the truth buried. She never said a word. Not to me, not to anyone. She carried the secret with her to the grave.

Brigitta’s mother Rosita in her later years. The poster from Five Minutes to Midnight is behind her, along with the photo of the cast, both shown below

But the truth has a way of surfacing, even decades later.

He was there all along

I still have the poster from Five Minutes to Midnight. It has been hanging above my desk for 40 years. I loved it simply as a beautiful memory of my parents’ work. Only recently did I realize that the man who composed the music, the man whose name is printed opposite my mother’s on the poster, was my father.

He was right there, in front of me, for all those years.

The poster from Five Minutes to Midnight. Hans Husfeld’s name appears in red on the left under “Musik”

There’s another photograph I’ve had forever — one of my mother on stage with Charlo. I now know that Hans is also in that picture. I never even realized what play it was from until I began uncovering all of this.

The clues were always around me — I just didn’t know how to read them.

And then there’s the face. All my newly discovered family told me, “Oh, you look just like Hans Husfeld.” I agree. You can totally see it — even when I was a baby. I never looked anything like Charlo, and I always wondered why. Now, I finally have the answer.

Music was in my blood

Perhaps the most profound revelation of all was this: I come from a long line of musicians. My grandfather, Ernst Heinrich Husfeld, was first violinist at the Hamburg State Opera.

My father, Hans, played both violin and piano. His father before him, Christoph, was also a musician.

Hans playing violin

Hans playing piano

And me? I ran a music school in Hamburg for over 50 years. I had teachers from all over the world teaching music at my school. I mainly taught children piano, flute, and guitar. Always the beginners, always with love.

But I didn’t study music — I studied pedagogy. I used to ask myself, “Why do I run a music school? Where did that come from?”

Now I understand. It was in me all along. It was in my blood.

Even more astonishing, when I opened the music school in 1969, my real father opened a restaurant right next door. We must have walked past each other countless times. We lived our lives side by side, without ever knowing. That’s the part that gives me chills.

From silence to belonging

Today, I have two half-sisters: Sabine, who is 70, and Hella, 79. I’ve met both of them. My half-brother Heinz passed away, but I’ve connected with his daughters Susanne and Birgit. One by one, I’ve met the people I never knew I was connected to — and yet, I’ve felt an immediate familiarity.

Left to right: Brigitta’s niece Susanne, sister Hella, Brigitta, sister Sabine, and niece Birgit

Sabine and Susanne’s sons even took DNA tests through MyHeritage, and all the connections checked out. The science confirmed what my heart was already beginning to know.

I’m not angry with my mother. I forgive her. There is no bitterness in me. I carry Charlo in my heart. He raised me, he was there. But now, there’s more to hold. Now, I know where I come from.

My longing, my mother’s longing — the distance I felt from Charlo — it all makes sense now. The yearning I see in Hans’s face in old photographs is reflected in my own expression. It was the longing of two people, perhaps briefly in love, creating a life together in the shadows.

That shared longing now feels resolved. What I’ve discovered is more than new relatives; it’s the context that gives shape to my life. After so many years, I understand not just where I come from, but why I am who I am.

Many thanks to Brigitta for sharing this amazing story with us! If you’ve also made an incredible discovery through MyHeritage, we’d love to hear about it. Please share it with us via this form or email us at stories@myheritage.com.

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Source: My Heritage