In Part One, Lisa shared her extraordinary adoption reunion story. A closed adoption, a lifetime of questions, a birth family who lived down the street, and the shocking discovery that she likely cared for her own biological grandfather in the ICU. It was a story about caregiving, identity, and the power of finally finding your roots.Part Two takes us into a very different kind of discovery.This episode explores the emotional fallout of her paternal DNA match. What begins with hopeful emails and a powerful moment of genetic mirroring turns into years of confusion, mixed narratives, addiction, emotional manipulation, and the painful truth adoptees often live with. Reunion does not guarantee safety. Sometimes it brings an entirely new wave of grief.Lisa walks us through the relationship with her biological father, the intense early connection, the unraveling that followed, the trauma she and her daughter endured, and the strength it took to reclaim her voice again. It is an honest, vulnerable look at what happens when the fantasy of family meets the reality of human complexity.And throughout it all, Lisa continues to ground herself in caregiving, advocacy, and her work as a nurse practitioner. As nursing faces new threats on the national stage, her story is a reminder of how much nurses carry for the rest of us and why their voices matter.This is Part Two of Lisa’s story. If you missed Part One, we recommend listening in order.Her book, The Adopted Nurse, expands on this journey with even more insight and compassion.How a Nurse Practitioner Survived a Second DNA DiscoveryWhat Listeners Will Hear• The first phone call with her biological father.• How hope and longing shaped her early trust.• The intense bond that formed during their first visit.• Signs that something was not right.• The unraveling of the relationship.• The impact on her daughter.• The yearslong cycle of addiction, apologies, and emotional confusion.• The night she and her daughter were kicked out with nowhere to go.• How therapy and reflection helped her make sense of the narrative she was given.• Why she will never know the full truth about her birth parents.• How this experience deepened her work as an adoptee advocate and nurse practitioner.• What she wants other adoptees to know before they take a DNA test.• Her message of healing, strength, and reclaiming your own story.Link to Lisa’s Book: The Adopted NurseIf Lisa’s story resonates with you, or if you have your own Family Twist, we would love to hear from you. Your story matters. Your truth matters. And your voice deserves to be heard.

With the Trump administration moving to reclassify nursing so it no longer counts as a professional degree for federal student aid, this episode couldn’t land at a more urgent moment. Nursing organizations warn that limiting access to funding threatens the very foundation of patient care, and in our household, where nurses are family, this news hits hard.Today’s guest, Lisa, is a nurse practitioner, an adoptee, and someone who has lived through more than one life-changing twist thanks to DNA testing. Her story blends caregiving, identity, trauma, reunion, and that beautiful mix of nature and nurture we explore so often on Family Twist.Lisa grew up in a loving adoptive home, always knowing she was adopted but never knowing the medical history she desperately needed. As a nurse practitioner and later a mother, the absence of that information became impossible to ignore. When she finally began searching for answers, she uncovered a story that feels like fate.If you want to go even deeper into Lisa’s story, you can find her book here:The Adopted Nurse (Amazon):https://www.amazon.com/s?k=the+adopted+nurseHow a Nurse Practitioner Discovered Her Real RootsHer journey includes:• A neighbor who recognizes her immediately• A grandfather she may have unknowingly cared for as an ICU nurse• A birth family who lived down the street from her adoptive parents• Birth aunts who welcome her with warmth, memory, and long-held truthsThis episode explores the way caregivers are shaped by their histories, how adoptees carry both gratitude and grief, and how discovering your roots can transform everything.Next week, Part Two goes even deeper with a second DNA discovery that completely reframes Lisa’s understanding of identity and safety. But first, this is where her story begins.

What happens when you discover a whole set of siblings who grew up in the donor’s home, but you are not sure they even know you existIn part one, a simple birthday DNA kit rewrote everything Nick thought he knew about his identity. He learned he was donor conceived at thirty-six, discovered fourteen half siblings, and realized his parents had carried the truth for decades.But nothing prepared him for what came next.In this episode, Nick talks about the two siblings who were raised by the donor, and the complicated question that hangs over many donor conceived adults:Do they know about usAnd if they do not, should someone tell themPart Two explores the unsettling space between biological connection and total silence, and what it means to live with questions you cannot safely or ethically answer.Nick also shares how he transformed his experience into a book and a podcast, giving other donor conceived people a place to speak honestly, without shame or editing. His story is both deeply personal and universally familiar to anyone navigating DNA surprises.What We Talk About• What it feels like to discover donor raised siblings who may be unaware of you• The ethics of reaching out when the consequences are unknown• How donor conceived adults become detectives whether they want to or not• The ongoing challenges of incomplete medical histories• Writing as a way to process identity shifts• Why Nick created a podcast for donor conceived voices• How openness can protect mental and emotional health• The growing need for reform and transparency in the fertility industry• How music helped Nick work through identity questionsTakeaways• Donor conceived people often live with unanswered questions that affect identity, medical decisions, and relationships• The donor’s raised children may be unaware of their genetic siblings, creating an emotional and ethical dilemma• Stories and conversation help break isolation and build community• The fertility industry still offers little guidance to the adults created through these methods• Honesty and visibility remain the strongest tools for changeReflection Questions for Listeners• How would you feel if you learned you had siblings who did not know you existed• What responsibility, if any, do donor conceived people have toward the donor’s raised children• What part of your story have you been afraid to speak out loud• How might telling your truth change your relationships or your sense of self

What if a simple birthday gift revealed a secret your parents had been carrying for more than three decades?For his 36th birthday, Nick’s siblings gave him a 23andMe kit. It seemed like a fun way to learn more about his ancestry, until his parents sat him down with a truth that changed everything. Nick discovered that he was donor conceived, while his brother was not.In this first part of Nick’s story, he shares what it felt like to have the truth land without warning, why he chose compassion instead of anger, and how this discovery ultimately strengthened his relationship with the father who raised him.Nick also explains the fertility practices of the 1980s, including sperm washing and sperm mixing, and how secrecy became standard procedure for families like his.And when his test results came back, the surprises were just beginning.One Test. Two Brothers. Two Different Truths.What We Talk AboutHow a DNA test transformed a birthday gift into a life-changing discoveryThe moment Nick’s parents told him the truth about his conceptionHow secrecy was encouraged in fertility medicine during the 1980sThe emotional impact of realizing your family story is incompleteWhy Nick’s empathy toward his parents shaped their healingThe mix of gratitude and confusion that comes with learning you are donor conceivedThe unregulated side of the fertility industry and its lasting effectsDiscovering 14 half-siblings, including two raised by the donorFinding a new sense of identity and belonging after a DNA surpriseKey QuotesIt was the shock of my life. I did not see it coming whatsoever.I could see the fear in my parents’ eyes, and I just wanted to make sure they were okay.When I found out I was donor conceived, it didn’t break our relationship. It made it stronger.Doctors told them, ‘Don’t ever say anything. There’s no way this will ever come out.’TakeawaysDNA tests can reveal truths that change entire family narratives.Secrets meant to protect can create years of emotional weight.Empathy and openness can lead to unexpected healing.The fertility industry’s lack of oversight has left many families without answers.Understanding your origins can strengthen, not destroy, family connections.Reflection Questions for ListenersHow would you respond if you learned your family story wasn’t what you thought?What might honesty bring to a family that has held on to a secret for years?How do we redefine family when biology and identity diverge?What does compassion look like in moments of shock or betrayal?

What happens when a single email from a stranger confirms the secret you have been living with your whole life?In this episode, Rich Boerner returns to Family Twist to share the second half of his extraordinary story. In Part One, Rich discovered the truth about his father after finding a Polaroid tucked inside his mother’s old address book. That discovery shattered the story he had grown up believing and opened the door to an entirely new family.In Part Two, Rich picks up the story a decade later, when an unexpected email from a woman claiming to be his half-sister pulls him into the next chapter of his life. What follows is an emotional mix of disbelief, connection, and forgiveness.Rich talks about how he went from shock to understanding, how he built a new relationship with his sister, and why finally learning the truth changed the way he viewed both of his parents. He also shares how the process of telling his story became a healing experience, first for him and then for his children.The Not-So Only ChildIn this episodeHow one photo uncovered a lifetime of secretsThe decade between discovery and connectionWhat it feels like to finally meet a sibling who already knew the truthThe complicated emotions of forgiveness after decades of silenceHow Rich turned his discovery into his memoir and audiobook The Not-So Only ChildWhy storytelling can be one of the most powerful forms of healingAbout Rich BoernerRich Boerner is a veteran radio producer, audio storyteller, and the author of The Not-So Only Child: My True Story. His book began as an experiment in the recording booth, speaking his story aloud rather than writing it, and evolved into an audiobook and memoir that explores identity, loss, and reconnection.You can find The Not-So Only Child on Amazon in print, ebook, and audiobook formats.Why this episode mattersRich’s journey is about more than DNA surprises. It is about what happens after the truth surfaces, when you have to decide whether to open the door to the people and the pain that come with it. His story reminds us that healing often begins with honesty, and that our voices, even shaky ones, can help others feel less alone.Listen nowSubscribe to Family Twist wherever you get your podcasts and hear more stories that prove family secrets are the ultimate plot twist.

What if the father you spent your life wondering about turned out to be someone you already knew?As a kid growing up on Long Island in the 1970s, Rich Boerner learned not to ask too many questions. His mother had her version of the truth and repeated it word for word whenever he asked. His father was a man from Milwaukee who left when he found out she was pregnant. That was all she would say.It was a story that sounded just plausible enough to stop the conversation. For years, Rich focused on his own life instead. He went to college, built a career in radio, started a family, and kept that mystery locked away in a quiet corner of his mind.But after his mother passed away, everything changed. While cleaning out her apartment, Rich opened an old address book. Inside was a Polaroid photo and a note that would unravel decades of silence. His father wasn’t a stranger from another state. He was someone who had always been there.In this first half of our two-part conversation, Rich joins Corey and Kendall to talk about growing up with half-truths, the cost of protecting a parent’s secret, and what it feels like when the life you’ve built suddenly shifts under your feet. His story reminds us how deeply love and deception can intertwine and how the search for truth can begin long after we think the story is over.In this episodeLife as an only child raised by a single mother in a working-class New York neighborhoodThe “three-sentence story” his mother told and why he believed it for so longWhat he found among her letters after her deathThe Polaroid that rewrote everything he thought he knew about his fatherHow grief can become the moment of truthGuestRich Boerner is a longtime radio executive and the author of The Not-So Only Child: My True Story. The memoir chronicles the discovery of his hidden family and his path toward forgiveness, recorded and produced in his own home studio.Coming in Part TwoRich reconnects with the sister who knew the secret all along and learns how his father’s final wish tied their two families together. He also shares the late-night creative process that turned his story into an audiobook for his children and for anyone who has ever had to rebuild their sense of self from the truth.

What happens when the podcast that’s helping you make sense of your DNA surprise starts to sound a little too familiar?For many listeners, Family Twist is more than a podcast, it’s a lifeline. That’s exactly how it felt for Jai, whose own DNA discovery journey unfolded side by side with the stories she was hearing from Corey and Kendall. As an adoptee navigating identity, belonging, and the shock of hidden truths, Jai found comfort and courage in Kendall’s openness about rejection, reconnection, and redefining family.This episode is for anyone who has listened to a story that suddenly felt like their own. Jai reminds us that healing doesn’t just happen through discovery, it happens through connection.What Listeners Will Gain1. A mirror for your own journey.Jai’s story echoes the emotions so many of us face: curiosity, grief, hope, and the courage to seek truth even when it hurts.2. A lesson in empathy and resilience.She talks candidly about how Kendall’s story gave her language for emotions she didn’t yet know how to name and how compassion builds bridges even between strangers.3. A reminder that you’re not alone.Through podcasts, online communities, and real-life connections, Jai found strength in realizing that others have walked this road and survived it.

This episode feels like the heart of Family Twist. It’s about what happens when we stop hiding, start talking, and realize we’re all part of a much bigger family than we thought.Right to Know: Healing in Real TimeCorey shares the mic with other board members from Right to Know, the organization making sure everyone has access to their own origin story. These conversations aren’t polished or easy, but they’re full of heart, honesty, and hope.Debbie Olson talks about the strange beauty of finding family while also finding your purpose. She turned her DNA discovery into a mission to make sure no one goes through it alone.Kara Rubinstein Deyerin and Brad Ewell share the story behind the name Right to Know and how they built a space for people who are still reeling from the shock of new truths. Their message is simple: healing doesn’t come from pretending it didn’t happen. It comes from community.And Steven Osborne reminds us what real courage sounds like when he tells the story of confronting his mother after decades of secrets. It’s raw, it’s human, and it’s a reminder that honesty doesn’t always heal overnight, but it’s always the first step.This episode also celebrates the Untangling Our Roots Summit, where adoptees, donor-conceived folks, NPEs, and their families come together to laugh, cry, and find connection in the chaos. It’s proof that healing can be loud, messy, and even joyful.Family secrets might be the hardest stories to tell, but when we tell them together, they turn into something bigger, understanding, compassion, and sometimes even a little karaoke.

This episode nearly vanished. Literally. When Corey bumped into fellow podcaster Jeremy Bryant at a New England podcast event, he recognized his voice before placing his face. Then it hit him, they had already recorded an episode of Family Twist with Jeremy, but somehow, that recording got lost.So here it is. Jeremy’s story is about learning he was donor-conceived, discovering a growing list of half-siblings, and reconciling that truth after the father who raised him had already passed. It’s also about navigating what happens when the story you’ve always been told turns out to be wrong. Also, Jeremy hosts a paranormal podcast, so yes, you may hear something strange in the background.The second half of the episode features an update with Jeremy’s half-sister Amber. Her discovery led to a national media moment. Amber is the creator of Biohacked, both a podcast and a documentary project about donor conception, secrecy, and the need for reform in the fertility industry. She also created a welcome packet for new half-siblings, because when your biological father helped conceive dozens of people, there is some onboarding involved.Together, Jeremy and Amber offer two very different reactions to the same truth. One chose peace. One chose action. Both are unforgettable.The Fertility Industry’s Dark Secret, Told by Two of Its KidsTopics CoveredJeremy’s discovery story and the moment his mom told him the truthGrieving a lost parent while uncovering a second oneWhat happens when you meet your biological father after a DNA surpriseAmber’s origin story, and how it unraveled completelyFrom being called a “miracle baby” to finding out the truthCreating a welcome packet for incoming half-siblingsHow donor-conceived people are fighting for regulation, recognition, and rightsThe emotional fallout of secrecy in the fertility industryResources MentionedJeremy’s podcast, Paranormal the New NormalAmber’s podcast and documentary project, BiohackedDonor Conceived Community (donorconceivedcommunity.org)NPR and other national media coverage of Amber’s storyShare Your StoryHave you uncovered a secret through a DNA test or a forgotten conversation?Contact us at [email protected]. We’re always looking for the next twist.

What if the first clue to your DNA surprise was hidden in your parents’ wedding video — and years later, the search pointed to identical twins?Episode OverviewIn this episode of the Family Twist podcast, Corey and Kendall talk with Emily, a fellow New England podcaster who uncovered her DNA surprise in an unforgettable way. As a child, she noticed she was in her parents’ wedding video, and that observation launched decades of questions about her identity.Emily’s journey stretched from childhood curiosity to a paternity test at Dunkin Donuts, to the unique complication of identical twins in DNA testing, and the heartbreak of a mother who could not talk about the past. Along the way, she faced silence, secrecy, and the reality that reunion is rarely the fantasy we imagine.This is a story of identity, resilience, and what happens when nature and nurture collide in unexpected ways.My Birth Father Is Either One of Two Twins… or Their DadWhat You’ll LearnHow a wedding video sparked Emily’s search for her biological fatherWhy secrecy and shame around conception left lasting scarsHow identical twins complicate DNA test results in family discoveryWhy a parent’s lack of curiosity can be as painful as rejectionHow adoptees and NPEs balance gratitude for their raising families with the right to know their originsEpisode Chapters00:00 – Welcome and introduction to Emily01:00 – Discovering she was in her parents’ wedding video02:00 – Learning she was adopted by her raising father03:00 – Secrecy and shame around her conception04:00 – Tracking down her first possible father05:00 – Paternity test at Dunkin Donuts06:00 – DNA testing with 23andMe, Ancestry, and GEDmatch08:00 – The identical twins twist10:00 – Meeting her biological father for the first time12:00 – Family synchronicities and high school connections14:00 – Building a relationship with her biological father and siblings16:00 – Navigating her mother’s silence18:00 – The weight of “you should be grateful” in adoptee experiences20:00 – Kendall’s parallels in adoption reunion24:00 – Managing reunion expectations versus reality26:00 – Finding connection through music28:00 – Closing reflections and resourcesResources and MentionsNew England Podcasters Group: Join hereRight to Know: righttoknow.usNPE Friends Fellowship: npefellowship.orgDonor Sibling Registry: donorsiblingregistry.comIf Emily’s DNA surprise story resonated with you, share this episode with someone navigating adoption, donor conception, or an NPE discovery. Subscribe to Family Twist on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Leaving a review helps more people discover stories of adoption reunions, family secrets, and DNA testing.Family Twist is a podcast about DNA surprises, NPE experiences, adoption journeys, and donor conception stories. Hosted by Corey and Kendall Stulce, the show features real conversations about identity, family, and belonging. In this episode, Emily shares how she uncovered her DNA surprise through a wedding video, the unique challenge of identical twin DNA results, and the impact of family secrecy on her search for truth.