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By Rachael O'Connor
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A couple whose young son does not look like either of them finally found a family resemblance when they discovered a photograph taken more than 100 years ago.
Courtney DeFusco and her husband Stephen live in Massachusetts with their sons Jackson, 7, Brendan, 3, and 2-year-old Harrison.
Their middle son, Brendan, is the subject of a viral video on DeFusco's TikTok account @design_your_blessings, after the couple were sent a photo of Brendan's great-grandmother and her twin brother at the same age as Brendan is now—and the couple instantly realized something.
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"When [Brendan] was born we knew he resembled my husband's Italian side, and not my 100 percent Irish family," DeFusco told Newsweek, describing his large brown eyes, dimples and olive skin. But despite sharing similar features, "he didn't actually look like my husband."
"He just looked very European to us," she said.
The couple didn't know who in the family their young son looked like—but that all changed when Stephen's aunt sent them a photo of Brendan's great-grandmother Lucia, and her twin brother, Armando, who had died not long after the photograph was taken at just three years of age.
"And immediately we said, 'that's Brendan,'" DeFusco said.
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"We couldn't believe how much he looked like him. Even the way his hair falls on his face is the same," DeFusco told Newsweek. "I have shown Brendan the picture of Lucia and Armando and he said 'that's me!' He is only 3 and sees that Armando has the same face as him, so he thinks the black and white photo is him."
DeFusco insisted she does not believe in reincarnation, but said there were some strange similarities between Brendan and his great-uncle: "Armando passed away from chronic bronchitis, and Brendan was admitted for over a week at two months old for bronchiolitis."
She has also always felt "such sadness" for Lucia and Armando's mother, Lillian, knowing she had lost her 3-year-old son—something DeFusco, too, has experienced, after their son Michael was tragically stillborn.
"She must have never felt whole again after the loss of her 3-year-old," she said.
Michael was their second son, and Brendan's middle name was given in honor of the brother he never got to meet. DeFusco was also told she was unlikely to ever carry another child after Michael, and was advised to get an egg donor or surrogate—but learned she was expecting Brendan naturally, right before her final round of IVF.
Her story, shared on TikTok in April, had a huge reaction, being viewed more than 1.4 million times, as one commenter called it "beautiful."
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And while DeFusco herself doesn't believe in reincarnation, many commenters brought it up, one writing: "Who can even explain life, death and souls anyway?"
"This is Armando getting one more chance at this physical world," another believed. "He chose to come back and he waited patiently for you and your husband to bring him back."
Others shared their own stories, one writing: "My oldest son is the spitting image of my grandad, he had a dent in his right ear, my son also has that dent in his right ear."
And as one put it: "Something very beautiful about Mother Nature and how she links distant generations. Little Armando being represented 100 years later."
DeFusco told Newsweek: "As a mother who lost a baby, it is always our fear that our children who passed away will be forgotten—and I always felt that connection to Lillian, [Armando and Lucia's] mother, who looked so proud and happy of her babies in the picture.
"And I am so happy the world will now know about Armando and that Brendan had the honor of looking like his great uncle, but with mommy's dimples and blonder hair."
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