In this milestone episode, the hosts of Family Twist take a heartfelt, unfiltered look back on three years of storytelling, 150 episodes, and the ever-evolving journey of uncovering and healing from family secrets.

What began as a podcast to share one adoptee’s story has blossomed into a powerful platform amplifying voices from the adoption, donor-conceived, NPE (Not Parent Expected), and DNA discovery communities. With vulnerability, wit, and unwavering honesty, the hosts explore:

Why “family secrets are the ultimate plot twist” remains their most resonant theme

• The ongoing emotional toll of being someone’s secret—and the healing that comes from being acknowledged
• How guest stories have stirred deep empathy and fierce protectiveness
• The complicated feelings around birth family rejection, even years after reunion
• Why ethnic identity, once a background detail, now feels like a source of rooted pride
• Evolving perspectives on adoption, kinship care, and what family should mean
• Behind-the-scenes podcasting challenges: guest droughts, unexpected breakthroughs, and learning to let the story unfold in real time
• Aspirations for a book, live events, and collaborations that blend heartbreak with humor

This episode isn’t just a reflection—it’s a recommitment. To the community. To truth-telling. To showing up, every week, with an open heart.

Whether you've been with the podcast since episode one or you're just discovering it now, this episode offers a deeply moving, occasionally hilarious, and always honest window into why stories like these matter—and why they need to be told.

In this powerful, first-time full release of our conversation with Wendy Kramer, co-founder of the Donor Sibling Registry (DSR), we explore the deeply personal and transformational story behind one of the most influential voices in the donor conception world. Originally thought to be partially lost due to a damaged audio file, this complete conversation captures every twist, turn, and truth.

Wendy shares how her journey began in 1990 when her son Ryan was born via an anonymous sperm donor. What started as a personal experience quickly evolved into a mission to help other donor-conceived individuals and families find answers, medical information, and—most importantly—connection.

We talk candidly about:

How Wendy’s young son sparked a life-altering conversation at age two

The early challenges of seeking information in a pre-DNA testing world

Ryan becoming the first known donor-conceived person to identify his biological father through DNA testing

The emotional, profound first meeting between Ryan and his biological father

The ever-growing half-sibling group—now 28 and counting—and how they’ve built relationships

The founding of the Donor Sibling Registry and how it’s connected nearly 25,000 people

The unethical practices of sperm banks and the lack of industry accountability

The emotional toll of secrets, shame, and what happens when families choose fear over truth

Powerful parallels between donor conception and Kendall’s own adoption journey

Plus: You’ll hear about how Ryan’s story continues to impact new donor-conceived individuals as they discover unexpected half-siblings—and how Wendy has built a “soft landing” for them in a world still catching up to the reality of DNA, identity, and truth.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone touched by donor conception, adoption, or family secrets—and for anyone seeking to better understand the emotional power of being known.

🩸 Episode Summary:

In this hauntingly heartwarming bonus episode of Family Twist, Corey and Kendall open the crypt to their other podcast, Horror Heals—where trauma, grief, and found family intersect with creepy dolls, final girls, and haunted conventions.

You’ll hear from six remarkable guests who’ve turned fear and pain into art, community, and healing. These are the stories of a horror icon reclaiming her narrative, a PTSD plushie inventor, a veteran finding solace through eerie dioramas, and more. Through these voices, we’re reminded that healing doesn’t always come from a DNA match—sometimes it comes from horror movies, hot glue guns, and the weird, wonderful people who truly see us.

👥 Guests Featured:

• Adrienne King, legendary final girl from Friday the 13th, shares how fan connection helped her overcome trauma from a real-life stalker.
• Jennifer Ginty, creator of Moody, a monster doll for processing emotions, shows how PTSD inspired purpose.
• Eerie Earl, a military veteran and miniatures artist, finds peace and camaraderie through eerie creations.
• Andre Gower, star of The Monster Squad, shares how his film became a lifeline for a child with severe autism.
• Catherine Bonetti, the mind behind Devil Eyed Dumplings, talks about how creepy dolls and horror conventions helped her overcome social anxiety.
• Nate Gaik, actor and survivor of childhood abuse, reclaims power by playing a witch on screen—and confronting the shadows of his past.

💡 Why it matters to Family Twist listeners:

These stories reflect what our show is all about—resilience, identity, chosen family, and healing in unexpected places. If you’ve ever felt like an outsider, struggled with grief, or searched for a place to belong, this episode is for you.

🎧 Listen to the full Horror Heals episodes at: horrorheals.com

Listener Note: This episode contains sensitive content, including the death of a pet, home invasion, and terminal illness.

In this powerful continuation of Kendall’s adoption journey, we dive deep into one of the most defining and devastating chapters of his life: the years following his adoptive mother Betty’s terminal diagnosis.

Corey and Kendall reflect on the difficult balance Betty and Ruble struck — trying to give Kendall a joyful childhood filled with travel, birthdays, and laughter, even as Betty’s health declined. From cross-country road trips in a Monte Carlo to a handmade pool-shaped birthday cake, this episode paints a vivid picture of love under pressure.

But that love story is interrupted by tragedy: a break-in at their home while they were visiting Betty in the hospital. The burglars didn’t just ransack the house — they poisoned the family dog, creating a trauma that Kendall still dreams about decades later.

In a raw and emotionally honest conversation, Kendall opens up about what it felt like to be shielded from the truth, how much he admires his parents’ strength, and the complicated feelings he later developed about how he handled things with Ruble after Betty’s death.

If you’re part of the adoption community, dealing with grief, or curious about how family secrets shape our lives — this episode is essential listening.

Topics Covered:

• Betty’s terminal illness and how the family kept it from Kendall
• Summers filled with joy, despite looming loss
• The emotional impact of childhood travel and adventure
• The trauma of coming home to a burglarized house — and a poisoned pet
• Grief, guilt, and coming to terms with how we treat our parents
• What it means to be emotionally honest in hindsight

Have a question for Kendall about his adoptive parents? We’re taking listener questions for an upcoming follow-up episode. Email or send us a voice message — we’d love to include your question in a future show.

In this episode of Family Twist, Corey and Kendall sit down with Eve Sturges, therapist, writer, and host of the podcast Everything’s Relative, to share her powerful journey through the twists and turns of family discovery. After taking a DNA test, Eve uncovered life-changing truths about her origins — and embarked on a heartfelt road trip across the country to meet three newly discovered half-siblings.

Corey and Eve discuss the emotional complexity of finding new family later in life, the courage it takes to lean into truth instead of running from it, and how those unexpected revelations can simultaneously shatter and rebuild your sense of identity. Eve opens up about the vulnerability of meeting strangers who are somehow your closest relatives — and what it really means to redefine the word "family."

They also explore the deeply relatable moments of grief, anger, connection, and humor that come with uncovering hidden family secrets — a journey Corey and Kendall know all too well.

Topics Discussed:

• Eve’s DNA discovery and cross-country sibling reunion trip
• The emotional stages of a family twist: shock, grief, acceptance, and joy
• Finding strength and resilience when your origin story is rewritten
• The power of storytelling in healing and community building
• Overlapping themes between Eve's journey and Kendall's family discovery
• How 'Everything’s Relative' amplifies voices navigating the messy beauty of NPE, adoption, and donor-conceived experiences

Resources Mentioned:

• Everything’s Relative Podcast: Listen Here
• Eve’s Website: Visit Here
• Support organizations for NPE, adoptees, and DNA surprise discoveries

Connect with Family Twist:

• Family Twist Podcast
• Instagram
• Facebook

Eve Sturges is a therapist, writer, and host of the acclaimed podcast Everything’s Relative, where she shares real stories of DNA discoveries, surprise family revelations, and the evolving meaning of identity. After taking a DNA test, Eve uncovered a deeply personal family secret that propelled her into the growing community of NPE (Not Parent Expected) individuals, adoptees, and donor-conceived people.

With humor, heart, and honesty, Eve uses her platform to foster healing, connection, and empowerment for anyone navigating a new version of their family story. When she’s not podcasting or working with therapy clients, Eve loves writing, road-tripping, and embracing the unpredictable beauty of life’s unexpected turns.

Learn more at evesturges.la and everythingrelativepodcast.com.

This week on Family Twist, we’re celebrating a major milestone—three years of storytelling, surprise DNA discoveries, and untangling family secrets. And to mark the occasion, we’re bringing you a brand-new edit of one of our most meaningful conversations: a full, uncut interview with Brian Stanton, an acclaimed playwright and adoptee whose solo show, Blank, explores identity, origin, and the emotional terrain of adoption.

When we first released our conversation with Brian, time constraints meant cutting things short. But we always knew his full story deserved to be heard. Now, for our third anniversary, we’re setting the record straight—sharing the complete, powerful dialogue about how art can be a lifeline through family trauma, confusion, and healing.

Brian’s story runs parallel to Kendall’s in striking and emotional ways. Both experienced the complexity of growing up with missing pieces and found strength by stepping into the light of their truth—Kendall through podcasting, Brian through theater. In fact, theater is what first brought Corey and Kendall together, making this conversation feel full circle.

Brian Stanton is a Los Angeles-based actor, writer, and adoptee whose acclaimed solo show Blank explores his personal journey to uncover the truth about his identity. Through raw storytelling and theatrical vulnerability, Brian brings to light the emotional complexity of adoption and the universal search for belonging. He has performed Blank across the U.S. and internationally, sparking important conversations about family, secrecy, and self-discovery. Brian believes in the transformative power of theater—and uses the stage as a space for healing, both for himself and for others navigating similar journeys.

🎭 In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Brian’s deeply personal journey of writing and performing his solo show Blank
• Why adoption stories are never truly finished—and how that fuels Brian’s creative process
• Kendall reflecting on seeing Blank and the emotions it stirred in his own search for identity
• The therapeutic, transformative nature of storytelling—onstage and off
• A behind-the-scenes look at how Corey and Kendall’s love story began with theater

Whether you’re part of the adoption, NPE, or donor-conceived community—or simply drawn to stories of identity and transformation—this episode is a heartfelt tribute to the power of performance, memory, and finding your voice.

🎧 Listen if you love:

• True stories of adoption and DNA surprises
• Theater as a tool for healing
• Conversations that go deep, fast
• Real-life plot twists and reconnection
• Honest dialogue about family trauma and growth

🔗 Mentioned in this episode:

• Brian Stanton’s solo show Blank
• Previous Family Twist episodes about Kendall’s story (for new listeners!)
• Our anniversary shoutout to the Family Twist community

In the continuation of Jeremy’s deeply moving story, everything changes with one message: “We discovered we have a brother.” After a lifetime of being the family secret—unwanted by a mother who abused him, erased by a father who walked away—Jeremy took the risk of opening the door. And what came through was nothing short of transformational.

In Part 2 of this powerful two-part episode, Jeremy walks us through:

• Reaching out to the man who abandoned him—and the cold reply he didn’t expect
• The email from his siblings that knocked him to his knees
• Holding a cousin’s hand for the first time and realizing, this is my family
• The lifelong wounds of rejection—and how healing begins with being seen
• The joy, awkwardness, and grace of building real relationships with newfound siblings
• Why a “Gotcha Day” means more when you’ve never been claimed before
• How love, when it’s real, doesn’t flinch

This is not a fairy tale. It’s better. Because it’s earned.

Through tears, therapy, and unflinching vulnerability, Jeremy built something stronger than a reunion—he built a family.

If you’ve ever wondered what it would feel like to finally belong, this episode is for you.

When Jeremy first reached out to Family Twist, his email stopped us in our tracks. The pain, the longing, the strength—it was all there in his words. In this raw and unforgettable episode, Jeremy shares the first part of his life story: a childhood marked by instability, abuse, and the aching absence of family identity.

Born from an affair, Jeremy was raised by a mother struggling with addiction and severe mental health issues. He endured emotional and physical abuse, neglect, and an ever-changing last name as men cycled in and out of their lives. With no father in sight, and a mother who viewed him more as a weapon than a son, Jeremy’s early years were filled with fear and confusion.

But even in the darkest corners, Jeremy found light. Music became his refuge. His innate charm became a survival tool. And while he spent his teenage years couch-hopping and navigating life without consistent love or safety, the dream of finding his real family—the people who looked like him, sounded like him, belonged to him—never truly disappeared.

In this first part of Jeremy’s journey, we explore:

The lifelong effects of in utero and childhood trauma

How music and performance became lifelines

Surviving parental neglect and emotional abandonment

The deep yearning to know where—and who—you come from

How internalized fear of rejection shapes adult relationships

Jeremy’s story is heartbreaking, brave, and deeply human. It’s also just the beginning.

Stay tuned for Part 2, where a chance encounter at a wedding leads to a stunning discovery—and the beginning of a love story no one saw coming.

In this powerful and timely episode, Corey and Kendall sit down with Alexis Hourse;t, the creator and host of the DNA Surprises podcast — a show dedicated to exploring the emotional complexity of unexpected DNA discoveries. Alexis shares her own deeply personal story of finding out through a consumer DNA test that she was not who she thought she was—and how that revelation sent her on a journey of identity, belonging, and healing.

Alexis opens up about:

• Navigating the shock of discovering her African American heritage after being raised with a different understanding of her identity
• The emotional impact of losing connection to a culture she never got to fully claim growing up
• How starting DNA Surprises just months after her discovery became a crucial tool for healing
• The importance of community when family and identity are thrown into question
• How recent political efforts to erase history and the unexpected bankruptcy of 23andMe complicate DNA journeys today

This episode goes beyond the personal and dives into how larger societal forces—racism, history erasure, and privacy concerns—affect individuals finding their roots through DNA.

Whether you are part of the DNA surprise, adoption, NPE (Not Parent Expected), or donor-conceived communities, or simply someone interested in the power of personal storytelling and resilience, this episode will resonate.

Alexis Hourset is the creator and host of DNA Surprises, a podcast that shares the journeys of people who experience unexpected DNA discoveries, also known as DNA surprises. Since launching in 2021, Alexis has built a strong community, providing a platform for others navigating identity shifts, family complexities, and the emotional impact of uncovering hidden histories. She is also a writer, speaker, and advocate for those processing the often-complicated realities of DNA testing.

Alexis lives in Arizona with her family and is passionate about building spaces where people feel less alone on their journey to understanding themselves.

🎧 Listen to DNA Surprises: https://www.dnasurprises.com

📸 Instagram: @dnasurprises

✔ What it's like to discover you’ve been living with a hidden identity

✔ The healing power of community and podcasting

✔ Why history and identity matter more than ever right now

✔ Coping with the emotional weight of family secrets

✔ The unexpected ripple effect of 23andMe’s bankruptcy on DNA discovery journeys

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What if your biological family—siblings, a mother, even potential fathers—had been living just a few towns away your entire life, and you never knew?

In this emotionally charged episode of Family Twist, we meet a mother-daughter duo who peel back the layers of a decades-old secret. The mother was adopted in the 1950s under a veil of societal shame. Decades later, her daughter took on the role of family detective, determined to uncover the truth about her mother’s origins—and what she discovered would shock even the most seasoned genealogy sleuth.

From anonymous letters and DNA testing to surprise wedding encounters and jaw-dropping family resemblances, this story unfolds like a mystery novel with real-life stakes: identity, legacy, and longing.

You’ll hear how:

• A chance obituary led to a massive family discovery
• A doppelgänger sister was hiding in plain sight—on Facebook
• A private investigator cracked open the story with information from an unexpected source
• Coincidences piled up: haunted mansions, sandwich shop sightings, even a Panera encounter
• The power of persistence brought long-lost relatives face to face

This is a tale of secrets kept, lives intertwined, and a daughter's relentless drive to give her mother the one thing she deserved all along: acknowledgment.

Whether you’re part of the adoption, NPE, or DNA surprise community—or simply love a gripping human story—you do not want to miss this episode.

Trigger warning: This episode includes discussions around adoption, familial rejection, and grief.