Elizabeth’s DNA Surprise (Part 3)

This transcript was generated automatically. Its accuracy may vary.

Intro

I had the opportunity to sit down with my dad alone and he was showing me some pictures of a photo album.

It was mostly of him in his younger years and then as a child.

And then there were some with his wife and some with his kids, but it was mostly like of him in his younger years.

And one of the pictures that just smacked me in the head, it was a picture of him and he had said where he was living, which was the same state where I was born.

And I said, what year was that?

And he told me the year.

And I knew that I had lived there until I was 4.

And so I knew I was still living there at the time that picture was taken.

And it just really hit me.

It's going to, I'm going to try not to get choked up about it.

He was close.

Of course, he didn't know about me.

And there was no way my mom would have known who he was, right?

But he was there, my dad, who should have been able to protect me from this evil person I was forced to live with from a mom who was completely checked out of life.

And my older sister and I have memories of her already trying to be hateful to me at the age of I'm 4, right?

He was there and he he couldn't save me.

He couldn't take me, you know, So that was that.

What if we're in the rabbit hole I got into?

I tried to stay out of that, but it that was really a a moment.

Speaker 2

Welcome to DNA Surprises, a podcast that delves into the world of unexpected DNA discoveries.

I'm your host, Alexis ourselves.

In July 2021, my life took a surprising turn when I found out that I'm an NPEA person who has experienced a non paternal event.

In other words, my biological father isn't who I thought he was.

Join me as we explore the stories of NP, ES, adoptees, and donor conceived people and their families.

Get ready to unravel the astonishing journeys that begin with a simple DNA test.

This is DNA surprises.

First there's the surprise.

Then maybe there's contact.

If that goes well, you hope there's a meeting.

Will it be like a Hallmark movie moment?

Will it be awkward?

Will they like me?

These are the questions people who have experienced DNA surprises ask themselves before meeting their biological families.

And we never know what the outcome will be because every outcome is different.

In Part 3 of Elizabeth's story, we find out what happened after she visited her family in Virginia and met her biological father for the first time ever.

She shares what those first moments felt like and where things stand after her whirlwind trip.

She also gives an update on her relationship with her raised family.

One of the things I have commented on more than once throughout this series is how much can change and how fast.

If you've just uncovered your DNA surprise, or even if you've been in this experience for a while, I hope that this series has given you hope that things can change, whether that change looks like making contact with new found family or simply coming to terms with and feeling better about where things are for you.

This is Part 3 of a three-part series.

If you haven't listened to parts one and two, be sure to go back and listen before starting this episode.

Thank you, Elizabeth, for sharing so much of your story.

All right, so Elizabeth, it has been seven months since we first spoke in September, and it has been three months since we spoke with your siblings in January.

Update on Elizabeth’s DNA

And I'm really excited to have you back to give us an update on where things are going.

Now.

I know the last time that we spoke you're about to meet your siblings, your biological father and his wife in person and I'm dying to know how did it go?

Speaker 1

Oh, it's a wonderful, yeah.

Lots happened.

I'm actually coming up on a year of getting my results and in some ways it feels like 10 years and other ways it feels like yesterday 'cause it's still, it's a fluid journey, right?

It just you never know what the day is going to bring.

Like Monday I was feeling really good and Tuesday I taint.

So it's just you just never know.

Things with my new found family are really good.

I will start with an update with my mom because I want to end with the good stuff.

OK, Start there.

Yeah.

So.

Well, first I want to I have to say thank you again for having me back.

This has been a wild ride.

I'm glad you're with me on it.

Even outside of these interviews.

Right.

Yeah, of course.

Thank you for including me.

Oh, you're amazing.

Well, and you know, this DNA surprise, my mom and I's relationship was always rocky and it just wasn't our relationship wasn't able to withstand this.

I'm not mad at my mom for not telling me.

I'm upset for some reasons why she didn't tell me.

But it's really how she's treated me that's made it difficult since not just since this came out, but my entire life.

And I think in that first episode, you would ask me if I have felt like I've been treated differently growing up.

And my answer was, you know, not the way you think, blah, blah, blah.

Well, I'm gaining more clarity over time.

And it kind of hit me like a ton of bricks that I actually, I think my mom looked at me one day and knew that I was not her first husband's child.

It made you come to that realization.

I'm just replaying a lot of scenarios in my head from growing up.

And then also the biggest 1 is this the picture that I had found of me when I was almost 8, it would have been in December.

When I saw this picture of myself, I didn't look like me.

I didn't look like the kid I remembered growing up.

And I think that's part of that genetic mirroring because all of a sudden I'm like, I see my paternal family in my face and I'm standing next to my sister and we're supposed to share the same father and we look completely different.

And around that same time, I remember my mom had stopped telling me she loved me.

And I remember her having a nervous breakdown.

And so I feel like she would never admit it.

And so to me, I put those pieces together and it makes sense.

I don't remember having conversations with my mom growing up where she looked at me if I, when I was a teenager, if I wanted to talk to her about anything, I had to follow her around why she stayed busy and she never looked at me.

So I'm getting all this clarity and I'm seeing all this manipulation over the years and even before the surprise, like a couple years ago.

How?

And you know, when people lie, they can't maintain that lie.

And so my mom is giving me information about things that she lied to me about in the last couple years, but she doesn't know she's doing that.

And I'm going, aha, she was manipulating me to make my sisters happy.

Or as I'm calling them now, my mother's children because they're not sisters to me in any sense of the way.

They don't treat each other the way they treat me.

So yeah, in early January, I was on video, called my mom and she was visiting at my sister's and I was getting emotional and my mom started to gaslight me and I caught it.

So I'm getting better at catching the gaslighting I have in the last year or so, catching her in the moment.

And I just, I didn't yell or anything.

I said, mom, that's not what happened.

You said those things, you did those things.

It wasn't me and my sister's in the background and she starts screaming at me.

This is my youngest sister.

I was more of a mother to her than our mother was grown up.

And she's swearing and she's berating me.

And my mom says nothing.

She just stands there, says nothing.

Then I know my sister's apartment and my mom's standing in the middle of the living room.

She doesn't believe in any private conversations.

She just talks wherever she wants to talk.

So she moved into her the spare room and we continued talking and then my sister starts up again and I swear Alexis it seemed like she was moving the phone closer to my sister and I just hung up and I was like I'm done.

Was that the last time you spoke to her?

Exception of the text I sent her saying I didn't want to talk to her anymore.

I just waited till she got home and I just thought, you know, I, I've learned that my mom's a narcissist and it makes a lot of sense.

I've been trying for 25 years to have a relationship with her.

And I understand why she's not well.

She's had a lot of trauma.

I understand that.

But that doesn't mean I have to be her punching bag.

That doesn't mean I have to be her scapegoat and her bad guy to make herself think she's the good guy or to have other people perceive her as the good guy.

Was that last conversation related to your DNA surprise?

It was it Well, it was because I was really upset because I was going to try to go.

Unfortunately, my godmother's son had I didn't know him, but he had unexpectedly passed away.

And so I was going to try to go to the funeral and I was having a hard time thinking about going, knowing that my sister, who's so much her father and her father was a sadistic, evil man.

And I was having a hard time with the going there and worrying about what she would do to me.

My sister's mad at me because of upsetting my mom with the DNA surprise, but also the treatment.

My mom has told her I've treated her over the years, which I didn't know that my mom was saying every time I go to Elizabeth, it's bad.

And I fell over myself trying to please her when she was here.

And there would probably be like one instance where she would do something where I'd say something or right and that's what she would take away.

So I actually told her in my text that I was going to block her number as soon as I sent the text and I had our and I told her I had blocked her on social media and her e-mail that was mid January that I sent that text.

And over that time I started to think I was like, you know, my text had more anger in it than I would want my last words to my mom to have been.

And I really had to think about it a lot because I'm like, am I?

Is this the people pleaser coming out on me?

Because this has been ingrained on me since birth to please my mom.

I mean, even during my DNA surprise when I'm trying to figure everything out, I'm finding stuff on her family and sending it to her right, trying to make her happy.

Oh, look, granny actually has a cousin that's still alive.

And you know, it's like a cousin.

You could here's her phone number.

You know what I mean?

And even though I'm trying to navigate my own trauma, I'm trying to make her happy.

So I was like, no, really, honestly, I, I am trying to be OK when she does pass and have reconciled with that.

We had never talked and I again and I don't want my last words to her to have been angry.

So if you don't mind I will read you my text I sent her on Tuesday and her reply yes.

Please.

Mom, I hope you are doing well.

While I'm still committed to keeping no contact, I have reflected on my last message to you for my Peace of Mind.

I do not want my last words to you to be out of anger.

I want you to know that I forgive you.

This doesn't take my pain away, but I truly don't want to 'cause you pain.

I hold a lot of compassion for you and I know you tried your best.

After 25 years of trying to have a healthy relationship with you, I have given up hope.

I'm grieving what I couldn't achieve.

I'm struggling, but there isn't a scenario where we reconnect and things will be good between us.

This is extremely difficult for me, but I know it's the best path for my well-being.

I also think it was unfair of me to not let you say goodbye if you wanted to.

I'll keep this text open for a few days.

You will always be my mom.

I wish you nothing but happiness.

Love Elizabeth.

So that was me to her and this was her.

And then I see the little bubbles come up right away.

So I waited and this was her response.

I love you too, but I agree that our relationship is beyond repair.

That was it.

How did that feel?

It was.

It still bothers me.

It was her fault.

There is no reciprocating compassion towards me, right?

None.

And that one or two sentences, however you want to look at it, is the epitome of what our relationship has been like all my life, absolutely no care about my well-being.

And it's always been about her.

And if that doesn't smack as a narcissist, I don't know what does you know?

I know that the decision to go no contact with your mom was hard for you and something you went back and forth on.

How I feel about going no contact with my mom

How are you feeling about it now?

The farther I get from having no contact with her, the better I was feeling until this one.

But the farther I've got without contact, the more I realized how much control and power she had over me that I didn't realize she had and I just feel more free.

And that's what her message did for me was because I've been trying to tell my little inner child, no, this is what's best for us.

We are not going to be hurt by her anymore, right?

My inner child is tough because she's the reason why I spent 25 years trying to make things right with my mom.

And I'm like, Nope, I wouldn't let my kids be treated this way.

Why am I letting myself be treated this way?

So I'm trying like I'm having conversations with myself, my adult self and my child self.

And so I still had a little seed of hope that maybe someday we could reconnect or maybe she really cared, or maybe I made a mistake by doing this right.

And that just showed me that I did not make a mistake.

I put myself 1st and it didn't go over well.

Also, what it does is it frees me up to do some things that I have wanted to do but I didn't want to do because I felt like it would upset her life and I didn't want to do that.

And I'm not trying to get back at her by saying I'm going to start doing some things that she's will probably upset her life.

It's like, well, why am I holding myself back for a person that doesn't care about me?

I can't imagine my kids ever being so mad at me and not wanting to talk to me.

But if they did, not saying OK, I'm I'm sorry.

I will always be here if you change your mind or something, right?

But she just, she slammed the door and locked it.

So that was that.

And I think that I needed that, even though it kind of hurt.

I needed that closure.

There's no question about the decision I made now.

So that's the icky part.

And now that's over and we can talk about all the good stuff.

Yeah, so the last time we spoke, it was during the 3rd Thursday support group.

Meeting a Biological Parent

And I was so surprised to see you because you had just met your biological father and literally just gotten back to your hotel when you joined the call.

Who gets to have a support group minutes after meeting a biological parent?

I was like, Oh my gosh, I should go buy a lottery ticket.

This is like amazing.

We started out my dad as I'm calling him now.

We were, we started emailing back and forth after he got his results back, confirming that he was my biological father and it was between me and him and his wife.

And then I don't think he expected me to be so chatty and has so many questions.

I didn't do a trauma dump or anything like that.

I just explained to them why I did the test.

You know what I had been told growing up and that I hadn't expected that that this would happen, a contact with them or anything.

They just like, did you have any inclinate, any idea that you know, your dad wasn't your dad?

I said I had none other than I didn't feel like I belonged in my family and I was different than my sisters.

And they're like, how so?

So I just kind of gave them a synopsis of how who they are and how they grew up and stuff to be these people.

And I said I don't have contact with two of my sisters.

I chose not to have contact with them and my youngest sister cut me out after this came out because I upset our mother and my dad said you have not done anything wrong.

You are not a part of any choice or decisions that were made.

And I'm paraphrasing some words, but it was that that was the gist right?

And that's the first time anybody in this in the equate in the tree had said I hadn't done anything.

My mom blamed me as one of her reasons for not telling me about my question mark of attorney, Right.

And so here are this complete stranger saying this isn't your fault.

You haven't done anything wrong.

And then the other profound moment in the conversation was my step mom said if he had known about me, he'd wanted me.

And I try not to go down the rabbit hole of the what ifs.

I tried really hard.

I did go into some what ifs.

I did go into some what ifs over the weekend of visiting in my head, not out loud.

And then I just explained to him I was like, I have a wonderful husband and children, and if anything had changed differently, I wouldn't probably have this life.

I might not have six siblings, you know?

And we talked about that.

And so it was really wonderful.

That was early December.

And then unexpectedly on Christmas Eve, my dad started sending me pictures of their festivities for the day.

And he's just all day long, he's just sending me the end.

He ended with all of the his grandkids and their PJS.

I did not expect that to be included.

It was just wonderful.

So I think in the first time ever, I allowed myself to have a Hallmark scenario play in my head when I met my dad for the first time.

And as you know, that's not what happened.

They did not do anything wrong.

It was all me.

It was my unrealistic expectation, honestly.

I mean, I knew that they were a hugging family, so I expected that hug, right?

Well, and it's easy to get your hopes up in these situations, especially when your family is being so welcoming to you.

So take us through what happened.

So they knew I was coming.

I texted them I was on my way and they flipped the porch light on.

My dad opens the door and he says right on time and invites me in.

And I'm standing in there entryway and all of a sudden I feel like I'm the elephant in the room.

I was like, this is so awkward.

And I'm just kind of, I'm stare.

I'm looking at my stepmom and we're just looking at each other.

And I finally just said this is weird, huh?

Like, I don't know what else to say.

She's like, yeah.

And we visited for about an hour and a half and it was fine.

They, you know, didn't say anything mean they didn't give me.

Any idea that I shouldn't have come or anything like that, but just my own inner critic was like, did I push myself on them it because it didn't happen the way my mind allowed me to think, right.

So I got in the car to go back to the hotel and called Aaron right away.

I was like time make a mistake.

Should I be here?

Do you think anybody's upset?

And they gave me a lot of encouraging words.

And by this point, even Emily had texted me, welcomed me to the town.

And then I was like, oh, yeah, Alexis.

Alexis has already any surprise support group.

So I hurry back to the hotel.

And you know how we just talked?

And the next day, I had half a day with my sisters.

That's a contraction of sister and sibling.

And that was wonderful.

I felt comfortable.

We're so similar in personalities.

We don't take ourselves seriously.

We're inappropriately goofy when we shouldn't be goofy at times.

Emily had just closed down her house.

We got to go see her house and had lunch and went to a museum and ended up back over at my dad and stepmom's house later that afternoon.

And I had the opportunity to sit down with my dad alone and he was showing me some pictures of a photo album.

And one of the pictures that just smacked me in the head, it was a picture of him.

And he had said where he was living, which was the same state where I was born.

Of course he didn't know about me and there was no way my mom would have known who he was, right?

But he was there.

My dad who should have been able to protect me from this evil person I was forced to live with from a mom who was completely checked out of life and my older sister and I have memories of her already trying to be hateful to me at the age of I'm 4, right?

He was there and he, he couldn't save me, he couldn't take me, you know?

I tried to stay out of that, but it, that was really a, a moment.

We had a wonderful evening.

It was just Aaron and Julie and Aaron's son.

Oh my gosh, he's amazing. 9 year old cutie pie.

And we played a game that was a lot of fun.

And then Saturday we did some sightseeing.

I got to meet my youngest brother and his wife and their adorable children.

Aaron's partner and I had that little bit of alone time as we were sightseeing, just chatting with my dad.

And then they had the family dinner, which I was kind of nervous about because there was one brother I hadn't connected with yet.

All the siblings were there except for one because he lives in another state.

And so I was kind of nervous because I was like, I haven't talked to him at all.

I broke the ice with him by showing him how I could moonwalk on the floor.

Actually, that was the second time I had moonwalked on their floor.

Not really a moonwalk, more of a slide with my socks.

But you know, it was good for me personally.

It just felt normal to me because we're we're similar personalities.

It took a while, a little bit I think felt like for me, for my stepmother to get comfortable.

She's introverted too, but I knew going into this meeting that it was important to me that she knew I cared about her too, that this wasn't just about getting to know my dad and my siblings, that she's very much a part of my new found family.

And I mean, I'm not blood related to my husband and he's my family, right?

So blood, you know, blood doesn't make family.

I've know that because my blood doesn't, you know, that I was raised with doesn't treat me right, you know, So she was very important to me.

We did a lot of pictures at the end and that was the first time I'm like, I actually look like these people.

We have the same foreheads, we have the same mouths, we have the same WAVY hair.

It never dawned on me that I'm the only one in my raised family has WAVY hair.

Everybody else has straight hair.

Then Sunday my stepmom and dad invited me to go to church with them and I did not have any dress clothes.

And I said, well, probably not.

I said I don't know.

I said I didn't bring anything to wear, you know, nice clothes.

And I was like, it's fine, it's OK.

And by this point he had already mentioned he wanted to come visit.

He was his turn to their turn to come visit me.

And I was I had graduated from knocking to walking in the door.

By Sunday.

Wow, that's amazing.

I know, right?

So I agreed, sure, why not, you know, give us a little more time together because I was leaving later that afternoon.

I was thinking how what's going to happen if he introduces me to somebody and I'm just going to go with, I'm not a go with the flow kind of person.

I want to know what's around the corner.

But I'm like, Nope, I'm not even going to ask.

I'm going to let him lead on this and whatever him and his wife are comfortable with.

I I'm not going to judge, right.

And as my stepmom is driving and my dad turns around and he said, is it OK if I introduce you to my friends as my daughter?

And I was like, well, yeah, I would really like that.

That would be wonderful.

And then I immediately asked my stepmom.

I said, are you OK with that?

And I think I threw her off asking because she like kind of, you know, and then she's like, yeah, yeah, that's fine.

And because it's important to me that she feels OK with this.

This is, you know, I've, I've come through her family life that she's built and like a Wrecking Ball, you know.

And so I got introduced to like 3 or 4 people as his daughter.

And we did the church service.

We went outside, took some more pictures.

My stepmom stayed back.

She had other things she did at church.

And then my dad and I went back to the house and that's when I asked him.

I said, well, I wasn't sure if I was ready to call him dad.

It still sounds weird to call him dad, but I also didn't, I feel right at calling him by his first name.

So I was like, well, he introduced me as his daughter and I said, can I just call you dad?

And he's like, sure, that's fine.

And he visited for a while.

Then my stepmom came home and we visited some more.

And I said that, you know, as my family has life events, you know, weddings and things like that going forward, I would like them to be a part of it.

And just so you know, I've got no contact with my mom, so she would not be at any of these events.

And I said, you know, that wouldn't work to invite you and have her there.

And my stepmom's like, no.

And I'm like, I would never, I wouldn't do that to them and I wouldn't do that to my mom, you know.

And so then my dad said, yeah, I'd like to come meet my granddaughters.

And my stepmom goes only if they're ready, you know, like, of course, you know, thinking about my girls and I thought that they would be ready.

But I've talked to all of them.

And my 2 youngest just are still, they're still wanting to stay back from this.

They're just, I'm hoping they'll change their mind.

It makes me a little sad, but I'm trying to give everybody the space.

And why is that?

I think because I don't, you know, my raised family hasn't been a part of their lives.

My mom, but very guarded, you know, like I didn't trust my mom to watch my kids when she would come to visit until I until my oldest was old enough to be the voice of reason.

And I think they're just my middle one has a hard time meeting new people a little bit on the social side there.

And my youngest is just completely like, she actually went no contact with my mom before I did.

And it isn't even as much about my DNA surprise.

As she's gotten older, she realized that some of the things that my mom was doing wasn't right with her.

And then my oldest is curious.

We are actually tentatively planning on sometime on this month having a Zoom chat with my dad and step mom.

And then my oldest will join in.

And that's how she wants to have her first meeting with them.

I think the conception story bothers them a little bit.

And I've explained I was like, he didn't, you know, it was just normal.

That was just normal at that time.

And he was 20.

And you know, I mean, I just, but I think it like my youngest is 18 and just not able to understand that as much.

And we've really distanced ourselves from people that aren't good.

And I think she just has a hard time with that story, even though he wasn't.

He's not bad.

He's a wonderful man.

And I just feel like if they actually were to meet him and his wife, they would feel more comfortable.

So they don't right now don't have an interest in being in on the Zoom call, but I hope they might change their minds.

And but for me, you know, we've only been talking, communicating since November, so that's not much time.

It's not much time at all, and like you said, if they didn't grow up having close relationships with your extended family members, it makes sense that they don't feel like they are missing out on something right now.

Yeah, it does.

And and it's just different for me.

You know, they didn't miss out on a sisterhood.

They have a sisterhood.

And it's kind of interesting because I get down the what if rabbit hole more on what my kids have missed out on than me because seeing my dad with his grandkids and how loving he is and my my now my father-in-law was a wonderful grandfather.

He passed away 11 years ago and my 2 youngest hardly remember him.

And So what if my mom had told me a long time ago and as soon as home DNA test came out, I took a test and we figured this out a long time ago when my kids were younger and less jaded by the world, you know, and open to more experiences and things like that.

What if they'd had gotten to know their aunts and uncles who are good people then?

So just those what ifs.

And they have a wonderful father.

And it's kind of interesting for me because the sisterhood, that's a void that has never been filled for me.

And even though my best friend is my sister and we've been together since we were 10, there's something different about being with people.

You look like and act like and have a lot of the same interests and dislikes that it just has a different feeling to that.

Whereas I don't have a void in me of not having a father because I came to peace with that a long time ago and I taught myself the things a dad would teach their child how to ride a bike, how to swim, and he didn't walk me down the aisle.

I didn't have a father daughter dance.

I didn't have those things.

And I was at peace with those because I was like, well, of course at the time I thought my birth certificate father was my dad.

And so that void isn't there for me.

I do like that my dad cares about me and he wants to get to know me.

And I don't know how much of A bond we'll be able to create being over 1700 miles apart and communicating through text most of the time.

I would like to be able to set up regular Zoom chats, but I don't know if how they would feel about that.

But they're just really good people.

And I'm want, I hope that my kids will want to at least meet them at some point.

But they have reservations.

And so just letting them decide what they want to do and when they want to do it.

And I just tell them that it would mean a lot to me if, you know, I would like them to do this, to meet, but they should do what they're comfortable with.

And that's for everybody in this situation, that interact is what they're comfortable with.

What's next for you as you continue to navigate your experience?

What’s next for you?

I feel like after this chapter with my I shouldn't say chapter cause no it's not a chapter but a book.

This whole life with my mom has been closed.

I'm just focusing on getting to know my new found family when possible.

You know having those interactions with them.

I did get my Hallmark hug when I was leaving because I got on there on Thursday.

That was our initial meeting.

And when I left Friday night, everybody walked me to the door and started hugging, giving me my sister started hugging me.

My nephew hugged me.

We I came full circle.

I looked at my stepmom.

I said we've come full circle.

We're standing in the entryway.

And this time she gave me a big smile.

She gave me the biggest hug.

And my dad was standing kind of off to the side just right out of my vision.

But then I saw him move, and with her arms still around me, she pulled me away from him and kept hugging me like she wasn't going to let me go.

And so I was like, OK, I made a good choice.

I didn't pressure them, I didn't mess up.

I didn't mess up.

And so, yeah, that was good.

And so I just felt like just getting to know them as, you know, when the opportunities arise, trying to come back to some sense of normalcy in my everyday I'm writing a book.

I've been trying to do that since fall, just kind of hit or miss on that.

Joining the support groups, keep doing that.

I've actually started gravitating more towards, you know, trying to help back because I had so much help in the beginning.

And I'm actually hosting for the right to know their support group and, you know, just trying to reach out to people when they're new in their journey and doing that kind of stuff.

I mean, I I went to, you know, I got my masters in Human Services to help people.

Did I ever in a million years think it would be in ADNA surprise community?

Not at all, but here I am.

Now that you're almost a year out from your DNA surprise and so much has changed since we initially spoke, what advice do you have for someone who has just experienced ADNA surprise?

Advice for someone who has just experienced ADNA surprise

I probably have said this in my other interviews, but it, I can't say this enough I guess is take time to process before you react because I did not do that.

I was very reactive with my mom and I apologize to her for that and the choices that I made to move forward.

I don't regret those choices.

I just wish that I had given myself more time to process what was happening and not to give up.

You know?

Don't give up even if it gets hard.

Don't give up on finding your truth because we all deserve the truth and even if the truth is hard for me, the truth is better than a lie.

Elizabeth, thank you so much for sharing so much of your journey with me and the rest of our community.

I'm so happy for you that things have progressed this way for you, and you really are a testament to the fact that things can absolutely change and evolve and you never really know what's going to happen.

So thank you.

Thank you for having me.

And that's where things stand for now.

Thanks again to Elizabeth for sharing her story.

If you have Adna Surprise that you'd like to share, submit your story at dnasurprises.com.

For early add free access to episodes, join me on patreon@patreon.com/DNA Surprises.

Until next time.

This episode of DNA Surprises was hosted, produced and edited by ME Alexis Ourselt.

It was mixed and mastered by Josh Auerseltz of Siren Recording Studios.