this is "nightline." >> tonight, after a lifetime of questions, one woman's search for a birth mother leads her down an unexpected path to the surprise discovery of an entire family she never knew she had. but what was detected next that would change their lives forever. >> plus go big or go home. the mantra that propelled a one time struggling actor into a million dollar broker. and the one thing you may be doing wrong when you try to sell your home. but first, the night line five. >> huh, my poor mouth breather, allergies, stuffy nose, can't sleep? enough. take that. a breathe right nasal strip, and

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bgentle diffused light when you swant it. darkened privacy when you don't. modern elegance always. right now take 30% off our entire selection of beautiful cascade shades. let the sun shine in. or don't. it's all good. blinds to go. blinds for life. good evening. thank you for joining us. it started out as one woman's quest to find her buy logical mother. she was adopted and rescued by a good samaritan, but what this woman found out would not only change her life but the lives of two strangers forever. >> reporter: i think if it was a saturday morning.

>> reporter: 26-year-old mother of two, ja an houser runs out to grab milk for that morning's breakfast. >> i thought i heard something like cat. >> reporter: a closer look revealed a paper bag next to a dumpster. >> i looked into the bag and there was a baby. >> reporter: a baby, naked with the umbilical cord still attached. >> i picked up the bag and i road back to my house and i dialled 9-1-1. >> reporter: the local television station kabc captures this video of a newborn hours old in an incubator at the hospital. the local newspaper hails the woman on the bicycle as an angel of mercy. >> she looked like a little doll, just perfect. >> reporter: a perfect baby girl, abandoned on a street in this working class community of california, a street that held a gritty distinction. >> what's its reputation?

>> prostitution. >> reporter: this woman's specialty is foundlings, the name for abandoned babies. >> initially i thought the mother was a prostitute working on the street. >> reporter: was it one of the working girls or a teenager from the local high school just down the street? no one ever claims the baby doe. fast forward 34 years, that baby is now all grown up. >> you take this one. >> reporter: janet lives north of los angeles about 100 miles from where she was found. >> this is my dad. >> reporter: after a year in foster care, she was adopted by a loving family. but an exing questions remained. >> do i have siblings? who are their parents? why was i adopted? why didn't they want me? i got mad and angry and held onto that. she tossed me away.

it was tearing me up inside. i couldn't handle it anymore. >> reporter: she turned to the good samaritan to found her in the paper bag, joanne houser. she was my last connection to my birth mother. >> reporter: and that led to this emotional reunion with her guardian angel. >> she told me that i wasn't crying. it was more of a whimper. >> reporter: i imagine you thanked her? >> i did. she could have kept going and i wouldn't be sitting here today. >> reporter: the two stayed in touch, but there were no clues. >> the only other way they can learn about their heritage and birth families is dna. >> reporter: so janet sends a saliva sample to ancestry.com and almost immediately hits pay dirt. a notification she has a match. >> i was like what? wait a minute. >> reporter: baby jane doe as a brother named dean hondorf.

the reunion was captured on local news. what was that like to put your arms around your sister for the first time in your life? >> it was like we'd known each other forever and like we never skipped a beat. >> it was a brother hug. >> reporter: the brother and sister soon realized they shared more than blood. like janet, dean was a foundling, abandoned just hours old in a paper bag, a mile from the alley where janet was found five years earlier. >> and then another surprise. another hit on the dna database. >> wow. holy cow. >> reporter: the genealogist found the sister neither of them knew they had whose life echoed that familiar refrain, a baby just hours old wrapped in a towel, abandoned. that baby, julie hutchson is now 31 and working as an artist in

baltimore. "nightline" brings julie 2600 miles from baltimore to los angeles to meet her buy logical brother and sister. >> there she is. >> okay. we're nervous. >> oh, give me a hug. >> oh, my god. >> we have the same laugh. >> yes. >> i know. >> reporter: but cici wasn't done. there was another match. >> we got lucky. we found a first cousin. >> a first cousin on their mother's side. his name is adrian, and here is where it gets interesting. she looks adrian up on facebook and there she is stunned. as she scrolls down, adrian's list of friends, a name this patchwork family already knows well. joanne hauser. remember her. >> there was a baby in the bag. >> reporter: that good samaritan who found janet while riding her

bike. cici takes the news to all three siblings. >> the woman that found you is either your mother or your aunt. >> i've met her. i sat in her house. this breaks my heart. >> i'm so sorry. we all had to go through, you know -- >> reporter: after more than three decades, finally joanne hauser's moment of reckoning has arrived. she's being paid a visit by three siblings. janet is finally sitting at the table with the woman who may have the answers to a lifetime of questions. >> well, okay. i have something to say. i, today, i decided i'd better come clean, and it's probably mind boggling, but, yeah, i did give birth to you. >> i knew it. >> i want you to know i'm not mad. >> i'm so sorry. i'm so sorry. >> reporter: a 34-year-old mystery is solved. joanne wasn't her guardian

angel. joanne is her birth mother. >> i forgive you. i really do. i forgive you. we want you to know we are not mad at you. we love you. >> when she finally came clean, i could feel her burden. i could feel it and i could see it, and i just couldn't be mad at her. >> i hated you. not you, but i hated you. >> yeah, i know. >> and i can't. i can't anymore. >> reporter: moments later dean and julie appear at the door. >> and this is dean. >> as soon as i walked in my heart broke for her. >> why? >> this woman has been through so much. i can't hate her. >> i want you to know that i do love you. >> do you? >> yeah. >> we all do. he's the quiet one. >> reporter: dr feen, forgiveness is hard. >> she looked like a stranger to me. >> reporter: no flicker of recognition, not like your sisters?

>> no. >> reporter: there are people who hear this and can sort of wrap their heads around, perhaps doing it once but three times? >> right. i didn't want to do this, because i would be here with you and i would be on tv, and everybody is going to know. it's not easy to face. >> reporter: and it's not an easy story to tell. at 22 years old joanne marries and has two boys. but the marriage crumbles. she divorces and broke, single, unemployed, she finds herself pregnant. >> what happened when you went into labor? were you afraid? >> i was terrified. it was around 4:00 in the morning, and i did it by myself. you know, i laid there and went through the labor, and then went into the bathroom in the tub and drew the warm water and layed in the warm water.

that helped. >> reporter: feeling ill equipped to care for anymore children, out of desperation, joanne hatches that outlandish scheme, playing good samaritan who found a baby in the alley. four years later, still single, she finds herself pregnant yet again. and shockingly, it would happen a third time. >> reporter: how much did you think about these three children? >> all the time. every day. >> reporter: and then one day in 2013 you find out janet is looking for you? >> yeah. >> reporter: were you excited? >> yeah, i was. >> reporter: you thought i'm going to see my daughter. >> i was thrilled. it was like there she is. she's a grown woman. >> reporter: have you forgiven yourself yet in. >> i don't think i have. i don't think so. i don't know how i'm going to get there. i really don't. >> reporter: at least now the really hard healing can begin. >> a group hug, please. >> i've learned that families are the most forgiving, loving

people when they grow up that i've ever met. they want that connection, and so in order to have that and foster it, you have to let go to the negativity. >> reporter: a family working to rebuild itself, forging new memories together, stitching the once torn fabric into a portrait of an american family. >> cheers. >> cheers. >> to family. >> reporter: for "nightline," we're in new york. >> next, he's ranked as new york's number one realize broker. how he propelled himself to tv fame, and the one thing we can all learn from him about selling our own homes. how are you supposed

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of the most unlikely realize success stories ever. today ryan serhant is a force to be reckoned with. you may be surprised to learn his success didn't always go through the homes of rich and famous. rebecca jarvis has the story. >> reporter: if you want to see some of the most luxurious and expensi expensive realize on the market, tag along with ryan serhant. his confidence and quick whit have propelled him to the top of both realize and reality tv. >> we made it.

>> reporter: as one of the wheeling and dealing brokers on brau bravo ease million dollar listing new york. last year he and his team sold over $500 million in realize. he was ranked the number one broker in new york. today he's taking us inside one of his most dazzling properties on the upper east side. >> this is a country kitchen. >> it's massive. >> no expense is spared. >> floating staircase takes us up to a basketball court. >> right, this little thing. >> fortunately, ryan is better at selling homes than he is at basketball. >> whatever. okay. let's go to the basket. go this way. i'm done. >> why are you crying? >> reporter: the embodiment of the mantra go big or go home. ♪ he proposed to his girlfriend on

camera in dramatic fashion by shutting down time square. >> will you marry me? >> reporter: what was that like? >> the day was crazy. i think i cried for a week. >> reporter: they're getting married this july in her native greece. he was only 25 when million dollar listing started filming and his bachelor antics were a staple of the show. >> i had no filter whatsoever. i take every part of my job seriously. i'm just going to take this part of my job a little more seriously. >> reporter: ryan's wild single days are behind him. you were a pretty big lady's man in the beginning. what happened? >> i met amelia. we met at a party, and we're not jewish. >> reporter: it's the miracle of hanukkah. >> yes. >> reporter: he is no softy when it comes to business. >> they went all out with the finishes. it's crazy. >> reporter: his secret?

smart staging. >> everything that i've sold staged has always sold at or above the price we were asking for. >> reporter: at or above the price because it was staged? >> i say because it was me. also because it was staged. >> reporter: but you don't need to be a millionaire to make your home look like a million bucks. >> people think staging is decorating their home and they get worked up about it, but it's not. staging is makeup. i'll take you there. >> he might seem like a fish in water showing properties, but realize wasn't his first calling. >> you'll never get away with this. >> reporter: he moved to new york to be an actor. he had a part on "as the world turns". >> i'm not a killer. i never wanted to hurt anybody. >> reporter: and also worked as a hand model. >> i had no money. i was living in 300 square feet in korea town. i was trying to make money. i did one deal and got addicted.

it was fast. >> reporter: he has a frank talk and willingness to call it like he sees them. do you think it's about the market or the person selling the home? >> i think it's a lot about the seller. >> when i write my first book it's going to be called your house isn't worth that much and your kid is also not the smartest in the classroom. >> reporter: how do you think it will silver sus frederick's book? >> i didn't know frederick wrote a book. just kidding. a lot better, obviously. >> reporter: frederick is frederick ekland. >> how are you? >> okay. how are you? >> really busy. i mean, you know, it's like whoa. >> reporter: another top broker and ryan's arch nemesis. in the past things have been downright ugly between them. >> i don't think you're ever going to not be angry at me until you do better than me. >> reporter: ryan threatened to

expose that he starred in a gay important movie. >> i can hear his heart racing and i'm loving it. >> reporter: ryan is now older and wiser. >> i had a vengeful moment with frederick, and said things that i definitely regret. >> reporter: now 31, he's almost as much a celebrity as he is a realize broker. he relentlessly promotes all things from his work to workouts on instagram to his 428,000 followers. he scored a spot on the big screen across from ben stiller in "while we're young"? >> yeah. >> really? >> no. >> reporter: and often plays the side kick on watch what happens live. >> i think you started that rumor five years ago. >> backstage andy cohen says ryan has the winning combination. >> he has magnetic charisma from

his first moment on the casting tape. >> reporter: a personality made for tv. >> if you don't like him, you love not liking him. >> reporter: for ryan, it's all in a day's work. for "nightline," i'm rebecca jarvis in new york. >> and next, donald trump on paul ryan. what he told us about what he plans to tell america's speaker of the house.

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finally tonight, just one week ago few could have predicted this only one republican candidate would be left standing but donald trump may still have an up hill battle inside his own faert. he told us what he makes of paul ryan holding back his support. >> got to talk about paul ryan. he says you have to earn his support. >> i think i earned the support from the people. we've gotten more votes than anybody in this position that's ever run for the office. if you look a