Episodes – DNA Surprises

Joan’s DNA Surprise

DNA Surprises bring up a range of emotions, and if there’s one thing I hope I’ve made clear on this show, all those emotions are valid. In this week’s episode, Joan shares why her DNA surprise was more of an interesting adventure than a dramatic event. Her story is one of optimism, curiosity, and patience – it took her a decade to solve her mystery, and many questions remain unanswered. She discusses how she uncovered the truth and why she ultimately feels like her DNA surprise revealed that she had the best of both worlds. Thank you for sharing your story, Joan. Join the DNA Surprises Patreon community! Listen to ad-free episodes one week early, gain access to exclusive content, use merch discounts, and more. Episode Transcript Transcripts are AI-generated and may not reflect the final published episodes. [00:00:00] Joan: I feel like I got the best of both worlds because there’s some genetic things that my dad has passed on with an Alzheimer gene and things like that, that have made some difficulty and just some genetic things that have passed on from his side of the family, neurologic things that I don’t have any of and from what I have heard about my biological father, he had a really bad alcohol problem and uh, which interestingly enough, it looks like when I look at my genetics, I have the genetics for it, but I never did. [00:00:32] Joan: And I feel like I got the best of both

October 13, 2024

Yvette’s DNA Surprise (Update)

Welcome to the 100th episode of DNA surprises! OK, technically I’ve had more than 100 episodes already, but this is the 100th DNA Surprise story I’ve had the privilege of sharing with you all. So, in celebration of 100 episodes, I thought we’d take it allll the way back to the beginning. In this week’s episode, I’m joined once again by Yvette, my very first guest on the podcast. I am eternally grateful to those Season 1 guests. They responded to my call for guests with no guarantees on how their stories would be told or where. They trusted me with one of the most difficult experiences of their lives – and that’s where this all began. If you haven’t yet listened to Yvette’s story, I’ll give you a quick recap here, but I encourage you to pause this episode and go back to Season 1, episode one: Yvette’s DNA Surprise. In our first conversation, Yvette was coming fresh off of her DNA surprise. She’d figured out who her biological father was, and actually remembered meeting him one time in her life before he died. She had connected with her newfound siblings but hadn’t yet had the opportunity to meet them. Yvette had also gone no contact with her mother because of her anger and pain about the secret. One of the biggest sources of joy in her story was her ethnic shift, with the discovery of her Sicilian heritage. Yvette felt immediately connected to her ancestors when she learned

October 6, 2024

Ruby’s DNA Surprise

It’s your story. You have the right to tell it. This is something we hear a lot in the DNA surprise community – I say it a lot myself. In this week’s episode, Ruby shares a unique perspective on this philosophy. Ruby took her DNA test expecting to learn more about her Mexican heritage, and instead uncovers a half-sibling and learns her biological father is different from the man who raised her. Ruby reflects on her childhood suspicions, her complex relationships with her parents, and navigating the newfound truth. She discusses the impact on her mental health, the role of therapy, and how she plans to incorporate her experience into her work as an artist. Thank you for sharing your story, Ruby. Join the DNA Surprises Patreon community! Listen to ad-free episodes one week early, gain access to exclusive content, use merch discounts, and more. Episode Transcript Transcripts are AI-generated and may not reflect the final published episodes. [00:00:00] Ruby: We all have different ways to walk this journey, and I think if you’re, like for me, I’ve heard a lot of the stories, and I’ve really, they’ve been really, really helpful for me, but one of the things is what’s been said a lot in the NP community is like, you have the right to tell your story, which I agree with but what I also feel like is someone who’s kept it a secret for, I think it’s, I think I kept it a secret for just over

October 6, 2024

Beth’s DNA Surprise

What would you do if you found out that your biological father wasn’t the man who raised you, but someone you’d known in the periphery of much of your life? Someone who’d photographed weddings, even done your taxes? In this episode, Beth shares her journey after discovering her biological father was a long-time colleague of her mother. Beth talks about the strong connections she had with her birth certificate father and who she believed was her paternal grandmother, and the feelings she experienced after learning the truth. She reveals how she’s formed a close relationship with her biological father and maintains a lot of compassion for her mother. Thank you for sharing your story, Beth. Join the DNA Surprises Patreon community! Listen to ad-free episodes one week early, gain access to exclusive content, use merch discounts, and more. Episode Transcript Transcripts are AI-generated and may not reflect the final published episodes. [00:00:00] Beth: I was always into genealogy. I love tracking families. I have a family tree on the ancestry. com that obviously now has changed. I was very interested in the science. I’m in a scientific field and always looked up to him. You know, he wasn’t a dirtbag. He wasn’t a bad person. He was smart. All the things that I looked up to. [00:00:27] Beth: Photography I took in high school, just like him. I love to fly just like him. I’m outgoing. just like him. And my, he was actually at my high school graduation because

September 18, 2024

Doe’s DNA Surprise

What never fails to surprise me is how innocently DNA surprises begin. In this episode, we hear from Doe – yes, that’s a pseudonym – who uncovered her DNA surprise in 2021. A skillful genealogist, Doe bought a DNA test for her husband, who was curious about his family history. As it just so happened, she purchased the test during a buy one, get one free sale, so she decided to take a test herself. When she received her results, she learned that not only was her birth certificate father not her biological father, but that the story she’d always believed about her mother was false. In this episode, she shares how the discovery and the continued secrecy have affected her, and how she uses her experience to help others. Thank you for sharing your story, Doe. Thanks again to Doe for sharing her story and be on the lookout for her podcast, Decoded: Secrets of the Family. Join the DNA Surprises Patreon community! Listen to ad-free episodes one week early, gain access to exclusive content, use merch discounts, and more. Episode Transcript Transcripts are AI-generated and may not reflect the final published episodes. [00:00:00] Doe: I also was, I was scared for my mother because she, you know, told me, if your father finds this out, he will disown you and divorce me. [00:00:09] Doe: This is the reason they got married 50 years ago, was because she told him I was his child. So he married her because

September 10, 2024

Bonus Episode | Write to Heal

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!

March 16, 2023