Oh my God you guys... here it finally is and I am so pleased with the results. Let's paint a scene: me, my dear friend Matt, my biological Aunt Dot, Cousin Kelly, First Cousin Once-Removed Adasynn are gathered around 2 mics, in the sun room, sometime before midnight, casually discussing the ladies' visit from Oklahoma and our collective family story. We discuss what discovering each other means to all of us, how and when we all met, the importance of hugging, celebrity encounters, and what IS a leaf-peeper anyway? Adventures were had that week, in the mountains, at the seaside, and in the darkness of my creepy New England basement. Leaf-peeper Dot shares her story which leaves her still with many questions about her own origins, how reconnecting with me and my mother was an unexpected Ancestry.com bonus, and how peeking in drawers sometimes is worth the trouble.

Have a story to share or know someone who may? The podcast can't go on without YOUR stories! Email me at [email protected] or message me on Instagram @BloodStrangers

Blood Strangers is co-created by Charleen Thorburn and Tiffany Lessard; Title and Concept by Tiffany Lessard. Hosted and Produced by Charleen Thorburn. Audio Engineering by Justin Smith. Theme music is "The Plot Thickens" by Joshua Specht, courtesy of Soundstripe.

Karen Doane (nee Cannizzaro) shares with us the decades long journey from first inquiry into her adoption when she was 18, to present-day connections with her extended birth family.  This wild ride takes us across time and space, before the time of the internet and DNA tests, from coast to coast, across the Northern Border, and is chock full of laughter and Karen's sweet memories of her birth mother.  

JD Mott shares his experience of receiving communication from a daughter he never knew he had (Tanya Hart, episode 3, Defeating the Gremlin: A Tale of Three Dads"), their meeting in 2020, and how their relationship has developed. If you've ever wanted to hear what pure astonished love, joy, and pride sound like: click here. 

(FYI Parents: Marked "explicit" for brief swearing only). 

The circle is truly unbroken in this story told by Jess Linscott. Jess is a substance use disorder therapist and former burlesque artist (I know, right?!) who originally came to talk about how she found and met her father, aunt, and siblings four years ago but from that meeting, something else truly magical happened. Call it fate, kismet, destiny, or whatever you want. It's undeniable that the connections we make are no coincidence and can carry much deeper meaning. 

Have a story or know someone who does? email me at [email protected] or send a message on Instagram @bloodstrangers

If you're someone who's got some familial emotional baggage, you may be well-acquainted with the creature Tanya Hart talks about: the Gremlin.  It's the embodiment of that feeling that you don't belong, that you aren't cared for, or that you've been forgotten.  It can take years to identify it, look it square in the eye and defeat it.  Finally finding and meeting her birth father helped the amazing Tanya Hart slay that Gremlin - or at least give it a good slap in the face. 

Have a story or know someone who does? email me at [email protected] or send a message on Instagram @bloodstrangers

One word Mike Wolstat used more than once to describe his emotional adoption reunion when we sat down to chat, was "lucky". He certainly is. In at least 40 states, adoptees are allowed minimal or no access to their birth and adoption records. Things changed in Massachusetts which allowed Mike to set off on a journey which led him to a reunion which for him, ended in a sense of wholeness, so much love, and feeling like the luckiest guy in the world.  

Have a story or know someone who does? email me at [email protected] or send a message on Instagram @bloodstrangers

Tiffany Lessard, co-creator of Blood Strangers, came by to tell me her great "Mama Mia!" story of the search for her biological father.  You'll love her Do No Harm approach to her journey and search.  It's an insightful reminder to any of us on a search for The Past, that care must be taken with the emotions of everyone involved.  

Check out her store Lost Coast in Kittery, Maine which she co-owns with her husband Jon; in person, on Facebook, or Instagram. 

NEW! Podcast about family stories.  Adoption stories; those who find out later in life about their adoption or an adopted sibling they never met... Reunion stories of people meeting again, decades later... Secret families and love children... One half heartbreak, one half heartwarming, these are the stories that represent the furthest branches of our family trees. 

We are always on the lookout for guests to share a story - please contact us if you or someone you know has a great story to share.