Would you contact a half-sibling you've never met?

Some years before my parents were married, my mother had a son and gave him up for adoption.

I know who this guy is and where he lives. In fact, his own son (now a grown man) became famous during the mid-2000s and was frequently in the national news for a while (he’s a Wikipedia subject). I know a great deal about my half-brother’s wife and family. I’ve even found his Facebook page and read it.

It would be so simple to reach this man, yet I’ve never done so. I’ve had his contact information for years but never used it. Now, I’d just need to send him a Facebook “friend” request and explain who I am.

But, something holds me back. Maybe I’m afraid that he won’t be receptive to meeting his half-sister, and that I’d be an unwelcome intrusion into his life. Perhaps I really prefer not to reach out and open my own life to him; I might know, on some level, that I don’t want this relationship. Maybe I’m just plain scared, period.

What do you think? What would you do?