DNA Surprises

In this week’s episode, Kara shares her donor conceived journey. Kara’s parents told her and her twin sister that they were conceived with a donor egg when they were 10 years old. The family never really spoke about it again.

Kara shares how she connected with her bio mom, how she feels about donor conception, and what steps would make donor conception more ethical today.

Thanks for sharing your story, Kara.
You can follow Kara on Instagram at @kara_donorconceived

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Michael Paul always felt different from his family. He was treated differently than his two younger brothers and went through multiple periods of estrangement from his raised parents. In this week’s episode, he shares how he finally learned the truth through a consumer DNA testing kit.

He tells us how he connected with his biological dad and why he made the difficult decision to ultimately go no contact with his raised family.

Thanks to Michael Paul for sharing his story.

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In this week's episode, Charlotte shares her journey as both an adoptee and NPE. Charlotte always knew she was adopted. Her parents were always open with her and she never wanted to seek out her birth parents. After taking a 23&Me test to learn her health history, she was surprised to realize that it also connected her with DNA matches.
She shares how she found her birth parents, how this process affected her relationship with her raised parents, and what she's learned about her family and herself throughout this process.
Thanks to Charlotte for sharing her story.

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In this week's episode, Cara shares an NPE story with lots of twists and turns. She tells us how she found out about her NPE and the journey to finding her biological father. She also shares how her new relationships are forming and how this process has affected her relationship with her BCF (birth certificate father) and mother.
Thanks to Cara for sharing her story.

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Welcome to season 2 of DNA Surprises! In this week’s episode, we’ll hear Gretchen’s NPE story.

Like many of our stories, Gretchen’s DNA surprise includes many people, and it can be difficult to understand the roles of everyone involved, so before we begin I want to give some background.

Before her DNA surprise, Gretchen believed she was the youngest of 3 children. It turns out that Gretchen’s biological father had two children before her - he had a daughter, Barbara, in his first marriage. Then he had her brother, Jimmy, in his second marriage. He abandoned both families and had an affair with Gretchen’s mother, which is how Gretchen came to be. After his relationship with Gretchen’s mom ended, Gretchen’s mother returned to her birth certificate father while pregnant with her.

Gretchen’s father remarried and had two more children. He is still with his third wife today. While all of the children involved know about each other, his third wife does not. Gretchen and her two older siblings remain secrets. Gretchen’s story is painful and complicated. She speaks about how she always felt different and how she feels knowing the truth.
Thanks to Gretchen for sharing her story.

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Surprise! It’s a bonus episode. In recognition of DNA Day, on April 25, we’re dropping a special episode with author Leeanne R. Hay, who recently released her book NPE* A story guide for unexpected DNA discoveries.

In this episode, we take a deeper dive into some of the things Leeanne wrote about, from why she wrote the book to NPEs in the media to how consumer DNA testing companies should be held accountable to their customers. 

You can buy her book here:
United States

International

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Welcome to the season 1 finale of DNA Surprises. In this week’s episode, I am going to share my story. In July, I found out that I am an NPE. I was completely blindsided by not only that discovery but a massive shift in racial identity. I’m going to discuss what my discovery was like and how I’ve processed what happened. I’ll also talk about what has helped me heal so far.

Thank you for listening to my story.

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While a DNA surprise can be a painful and traumatic experience, some NPEs are able to find a silver lining through beautiful new relationships. In this week's episode Rose shares her journey from feeling disconnected from her raised family to establishing a connection with her biological father.
Thanks to Rose for sharing her story.

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In this week’s episode, Jessica shares how her NPE discovery unfolded. She discusses how it’s affected her relationship with her raised family and how she is trying to learn about her biological father, a man she was aware of while growing up.

One of the things that struck me most about Jessica’s story is how much it reflects the effects COVID 19 on DNA surprises. From delayed opportunities to connect with family to deaths preventing NPEs from getting the answers they so badly want, the pandemic has changed the trajectory of many journeys.
Thanks to Jessica for sharing her story.

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In this week’s episode, Lisa reveals how her DNA test uncovered not one, not two, but three NPEs in her family. She shares how her NPE status affected her childhood before she even knew it. Lisa also shares the positive aspects of connecting with her newfound family.

Thanks to Lisa for sharing her story. 

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