Daughter Dee’s DNA Surprise
Sometimes, DNA surprises happen more than once. NPEs, adoptees, and donor-conceived people might have their worlds shaken, only to have it happen again months, years, or even decades later. In this week’s episode, Daughter Dee shares her late discovery adoptee experience, which was followed decades later by an NPE. She shares how she learned that she was adopted, how she uncovered the truth about her biological father, and how she’s turned her experiences into helping others.
Lawrence’s DNA Surprise
In this week’s episode, Lawrence shares his surprise at learning that he is a late discovery adoptee. After he took a DNA test, Lawrence discovered that the mom who raised him is not his biological mother. He describes his search for his biological family, as well as the truth about his birth story, and how his newfound relationships are blossoming. Thank you for sharing your story, Lawrence.
Patrice’s DNA Surprise
Not many of us experience our DNA surprises on television, but this week’s guest did exactly that. Patrice is a foundling adoptee, adopted at just a few months old after being abandoned in a garbage bin. She always knew she was adopted, but as an adult, she decided she wanted to look for her biological family.
The TLC show Long Lost Family shows her finding her biological sister, but much more happened behind the scenes. She shares what happened when she reunited with her biological mother and how it changed her perspective on her story.
She also discusses how she’s used her experiences to advocate and provide support for her community.
Gerard’s DNA Surprise
This week’s DNA surprise story is told from a side we haven’t heard from yet – a found father. When Gerard received an email from a man claiming to be his son, he wasn’t sure what to think. He soon discovered that unbeknownst to him, he was the father of a 30-something-year-old man who had been adopted as an infant.
Gerard shares how he pieced together who the mother of his son was and how he reconnected with her. He also discusses how supportive his wife and daughters have been as he builds a relationship with his son.
Gerard’s story is one that many in the DNA surprise community hope for – he’s accepting, open, and seeks to understand how to best fit into his son’s life.
Rikki, Jules, and Kendall’s DNA Surprise
Welcome to Season 6 of DNA Surprises. We’re kicking off this season with a quadruple DNA surprise story as told by triplets.
Rikki, Julianne, and Kendall are donor-conceived triplets who were separated at birth. Rikki was raised by her biological mother and who she believed was her biological father. Jules and Kendall were raised together by their adoptive parents.
Rikki knew about her sisters but didn’t know she was donor-conceived until after her dad died. Meanwhile, Juliann and Kendall knew they were donor-conceived, but didn’t know about Rikki until they were older.
Mark M’s DNA Surprise
In many cultures, kinship adoption is commonplace. Sometimes children grow up knowing they were adopted by a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or other extended family members. For people like Mark, this information comes as a surprise. In this week’s episode, Mark shares how he discovered that his mother is actually his grandmother and his sister is actually his mother. While he doesn’t describe his surprise as traumatic, he discusses how it felt to learn that many of his family members kept this secret. He also shares how he’s connecting to his newfound Italian heritage.
Kim’s DNA Surprise
One of the things we talk about often within the DNA Surprise community is the ripple effect. Surprises don’t only affect NPEs, donor-conceived people, and adoptees – they affect their parents, their children, friends, spouses, and other family members. In this week’s episode, Kim shares how she helped uncover the complicated story of her Granda Mary, who had several NPE children. She discusses what steps she took to put the pieces together and how her work has affected her relationship with her dad.
Debbie’s DNA Surprise (+ A Special Announcement!)
DNA Surprises aren’t limited to NPEs. In this week’s episode, Debbie shares how she always knew she was adopted, and later learned her biological father was dead. Little did she know that a consumer DNA test would change everything. Debbie shares what’s been helpful to her throughout her journey and how she’s used her own experience to help others.
Layla’s DNA Surprise
Layla always knew that she was adopted by family. She also knew both of her birth parents, or so she thought. In this week’s episode, Layla shares how she discovered she is an NPE and what she had to do to identify her biological father. Layla also discusses the many nuances of discovering a new ethnicity.
Charlotte’s DNA Surprise
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.