DNA Surprises

Welcome to Season 5 of DNA Surprises. In the first episode of the season, Christa shares her NPE story. 
Christa always knew that something wasn’t quite right because she looked different from her family. 
When she got the results of her 23&Me test, she learned that her biological father wasn’t who she expected, and neither was her ethnicity. Christa talks about how she’s navigated building relationships with her newfound family and connecting to her Moroccan Jewish heritage. She also discusses the challenges she faces because her mother died shortly after her DNA surprise.
Thanks to Christa for sharing her story.

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Welcome to a bonus episode of DNA Surprises! Today I am joined by my good friend and co-founder of the DNA Surprise Retreat, Debbie Olson. Debbie is a Certified Life Coach and founder of DNA Surprise Network. She helps others navigate life’s path after having a DNA Surprise, having experienced one of her own. She enjoys using her skills of empathy, understanding, and communication with her coaching clients. 
In Debbie’s session at the DNA Surprise Retreat, “What’s Next?” she’ll talk about building on our strengths, the power we already have, and the next right moves to keep practicing after the retreat.
In today’s episode, we talk about what a life coach does, how it’s different than therapy, and why there is room for both. We also discuss how coaching can help people navigate a DNA surprise by using their existing strengths and emotions to help them move forward.
Stay tuned to the end of the episode where Debbie makes a special offer for podcast listeners!
To schedule a session with Debbie, email [email protected].

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Welcome to the season 4 finale of DNA Surprises. 

One of the things I’ve observed throughout my conversations within this community is that NPEs often explain away confusing details about their conception or births because we trust our parents. We believe what we’re told. In this week’s episode, Sam explains how she always felt different from her sisters and raised her father but trusted what her mother told her.

Eventually, she uncovers a mystery with multiple possible biological fathers. Sam shares how she found her biological father’s identity (with the help of DNAngels) and how she’s connecting with her newfound family, even though he died just 18 months before she identified him.

At the end of the episode, Sam joined me for an update on how her journey is going.

Thanks to Sam for sharing her story, and thank you to everyone who joined me for Season 4: Natalie, Robin, Shannon, Phil, Laurie, Debra, Scarlett, Kim, Aly, Stacy, Angie, and Sam. Your bravery in sharing your stories helps others feel less alone - including me.

That’s all for season 4, but we’ll be back in May with season 5. 

Thank you for listening. Until next time.

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Welcome to a bonus episode of DNA Surprises. Christine Wolf is a Chicago-based author and writing coach whose focus is on memoir and biography. Her award-winning work is regularly featured in national newspapers, magazines, and on live storytelling stages. 

Through her compassionate and trauma-informed approach, Wolf empowers writers and non-writers alike to find their authentic voices. In 2018, Wolf lost a younger sister suddenly; in 2022, thanks to a home DNA kit, she discovered an older sister they never knew existed. 

Christine will facilitate a session at DNA Surprise Retreat - “Write-to-Heal" is an empowering, flexible, and compassionate exploration of therapeutic (cathartic) journaling as a tool to help document your story and aid true healing. 

In this episode, we discuss Christine’s personal experience with DNA surprises, how writing is a proven healing tool, and why you don’t have to be a “good writer” to reap its benefits. My conversation with Christine inspired me to get started on my own story–I hope it moves you to do the same. We all have stories to tell!

Thanks again to Christine for joining me! If you’d like to join us for her Write to Heal session, reserve your space at the DNA surprise retreat - May 4-7 in Tucson, AZ.
Christine Wolf

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Sometimes DNA surprises lead to flourishing relationships with newfound family, but sometimes they do not. In this week’s episode, Angie shares how a comment from her birth certificate father’s wife revealed a non-paternal event. 

She discusses how she identified her biological father with the help of DNAngels and her disappointment at his unwillingness to build a relationship. Angie also shares how she reached a place of compassion for him and his family, as well as her mother.

Thank you, Angie, for sharing your story.

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Welcome to a bonus episode of DNA surprises. In this episode, I’m joined by Lindsay Johnson, a registered nurse, board-certified nurse coach, and integrative health coach who cares for the caregiver through stress, burnout, and trauma healing. She utilizes various methodologies in her practice, including mindful listening, transformative coaching, somatic experience and trauma healing, mindfulness, HeartMath, and gentle accountability. 

Lindsay helps her clients reconnect to themselves and their bodies, become more aware and mindful of their coping mechanisms, access their courage and inner wisdom, and shed old habits in order to make way for more self-compassion and love.

In her session, “Let it RAIN: Recognize, Allow, Investigate, and Nurture,” Lindsay will teach us how self-compassion is a vital portion of the healing process for DNA surprises. 
In this episode, we discuss what RAIN is, why self-compassion is so important, and how we can come home to ourselves.
You can learn more about Lindsay at: https://catalina-wellness.com/. 

Thanks again to Lindsay for joining me! If you're interested in learning more about how to nurture yourself through a DNA surprise, join us at the DNA surprise retreat - May 4-7 in Tucson, AZ.

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DNA surprises can cause major disruptions to our interpersonal relationships, particularly the bonds we have with our raised parents. But often what most affects those relationships isn’t the surprises themselves, but how people act afterward.
In this episode, Stacy shares how she uncovered not one, but two NPEs throughout her life. She shares how she’s built amazing relationships with her newfound family and how things have unfortunately deteriorated with her mother. 
At the very end of this episode, Stacy graciously shares the letter that she wrote her mother in its entirety–and her mother’s response.
Thank you, Stacy, for sharing your story.

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When people experience DNA surprises, the range of emotions they feel can be wide. There’s sadness. There’s confusion. There’s happiness, sometimes. And often, there is anger. 

In this week’s episode, Aly shares how she felt when she learned that her birth certificate father isn’t her biological father and that she was born after a years-long affair between her mother and a colleague. She discusses how it’s been difficult to get the truth from her mother, how her relationship with her biological father isn’t want she hoped it would be, and how she discovered that her birth certificate father also knew the truth for decades.

Thank you, Aly, for sharing your story.

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Welcome to a bonus episode of DNA surprises. In this episode, I’m joined by Jennica Klemann, an Advanced Certified Grief Recovery Specialist and Arizona Licensed Massage Therapist. She specializes in a variety of losses including death, divorce, loss of health, child loss, pet loss, and complicated familial dynamics, just to name a few. Jennica is facilitating a session on grief at the DNA surprise retreat.

In this episode, we discuss the different kinds of grief, misconceptions about grief, and how we can begin to integrate grief into our lives. Grief is a huge part of the DNA surprise journey. I hope you find this information helpful.

Thanks again to Jennica for joining me. Jennica offers free consultations to anyone interested in doing grief work with her - visit griefreliefwithjennica.com for more information.

And if you’re interested in gaining some tools to work through grief loss in a space with people who have similar experiences, join us at the DNA Surprise Retreat - May 4-7 in Tucson, AZ.

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Sometimes DNA surprises aren’t surprising at all, but validating. 

In this week’s episode, Kim shares how she learned that after feeling different from her family her entire life, she is not genetically related to her raised father. She also learned that she isn’t white as she believed, but descends from a large Mexican family.

She shares how she’s processing her surprise and connecting with her family.

After my interview with Kim, she decided to turn her DNA surprise into support for others. At the end of the episode, we reconnect to discuss what’s changed for her and what’s she doing now.

Thanks again to Kim for sharing her story. If you’re interested in learning more about Kim’s work visit: kimmillertraumacoaching.com.

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