Kelly Ripa stuns with photo of rarely-seen family member - and the resemblance is striking

Kelly Ripa has taken to Instagram in celebration of her nephew's birthday, sharing a snapshot of the birthday boy with her fans.

The family photo shows Sergio Giuseppe Ripa - son of Kelly's older sister Linda - smiling for the camera with his arm around a small black dog.

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"It's my nephew's birthday and Lena is pretty psyched about it! She's already singing! Happy birthday @maanbarepiig," Kelly, 50, captioned her post, adding a series of birthday cake emojis.

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The star's famous friends were quick to send their best wishes to Sergio, including Ryan Seacrest, Andy Cohen, Holly Peete and Kelly's son Michael Consuelos. Fans also commented on the post - with a large number commenting on the striking family resemblance.

Kelly shared a snapshot of nephew Sergio in celebration of his birthday

"He looks like you Kelly! HBD to yr nephew!" one remarked. A second added: "He is your sister's twin!! happy birthday sergio!" And a third stated: "Everyone's stunning in that gene pool! Happy Birthday."

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Sergio is Linda's only child. Shockingly, when she was seven months pregnant with her son, her car was struck by a drunk driver. She sustained horrific injuries, including multiple broken bones and a crushed pelvis which pushed into her unborn baby's head.

Kelly pictured with her older sister, Linda

Sergio went into a coma in utero and his mum refused anesthetic for leg surgery for fear of damaging her unborn child. Her child was born seven weeks early and the road to recovery began for them both.

Linda later called him "a miracle baby," and told The New York Times: "We don’t know how it happened. But it did."

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Kelly rarely talks about the accident but has said it’s made her incredibly grateful for her husband, Mark Consuelos, and their three children, Joaquin, 18, Lola, 20, and 24-year-old Michael.

Kelly shares three children with husband Mark

"Every day of my life that I feel like I'm going to complain about something small, minute, I think of my sister. And it makes you appreciate what's important in life.

"We, Mark and me, have three beautiful, healthy kids and if everything we've achieved together disappeared tomorrow, we would still have three healthy, beautiful kids. And who could ask for anything more than that?"

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