Family Twist: A Podcast Exploring DNA Surprises and Family Secrets
Family Twist shares real-life stories of DNA surprises, adoption, donor conception, NPE discoveries, and the secrets that reshape families.
Hosted by Corey and Kendall Stulce, each episode explores what happens when the truth about identity, parentage, or family history comes to light. These revelations sometimes happen by choice, often by accident, and always with life-changing impact.
Through candid conversations with adoptees, donor-conceived people, late-discovery NPEs, birth parents, and family members who are navigating unexpected truths, Family Twist looks beyond the initial shock. We explore what comes next. We talk about the relationships that grow or break, the boundaries that help or hurt, the grief that surfaces, and the unexpected connections that can heal.
Kendall's personal journey plays an important role in the heart of the show. He was adopted at birth, searched for decades, and eventually discovered his biological family through a DNA test. His experience brings empathy, humor, and honesty to every conversation. Corey brings warmth and insight as the couple creates space for guests to share the real, complicated, hopeful, and often surprising moments behind their family twists.
If you are searching for your people, untangling a difficult discovery, or simply fascinated by the truth behind modern families, this podcast will remind you that you are not alone and that your story matters.
New episodes arrive every week, including in-depth interviews and shorter Story Snapshots that highlight powerful moments from our guests.
Have a Family Twist of your own? Share it with us.
Episodes
234 episodes
When Adoptive Parents Stop Talking and Start Listening
What happens when adoptive parents enter adoptee spaces and hear things that are difficult, angry or painful?Charlyn Spiering doesn’t believe the answer is to get defensive. She believes it’s to listen.Charlyn is the host of
Little Mister Victory: Solving an 80-Year Family Mystery
A baby abandoned on one of America's most historic days. A mystery that lasted nearly eighty years. Could modern DNA finally reveal the truth?On August 15, 1945, while crowds filled Boston Common celebrating the end of World War II, a yo...
The Film Every Adoptee Should Know About
Most movies treat adoption, donor conception, or DNA discoveries as a plot twist. Then the credits roll. But for the people living these stories, that's when life actually begins.Writer and director Jason Mullis wanted to tell a differen...
When the Reporter Becomes the Story
For years, Louise McLoughlin built her career telling other people's stories. Then she uncovered one she never expected: her own.After learning she was donor-conceived, Louise set out to understand not only her biological origins,...
The Reunion No One Prepared Her For
Finding your birth family is often portrayed as the ending of the story. For many adoptees, it's actually the beginning.In this episode, Patricia Knight Meyer returns to talk about reunion with both of her birth parents, the remarkable r...
The Lawyer Who Sold Babies
What if you discovered your adoption was never legal?This week, Corey and Kendall welcome adoptee, author, advocate, and National Association of Adoptees and Parents (NAAP) board member Patricia Knight Meyer for one of the most extraordi...
She Didn't Tell Me We Were Jewish
She didn't tell me we were Jewish.Those seven words changed everything.Author Joan Moran joins Corey and Kendall to discuss her remarkable memoir, Suddenly Jewish, a story that spans generations, continents, and on...
What Horror Fans Understand About Trauma and Healing
Can horror movies actually help us heal?In this special crossover episode with Horror Heals, Corey sits down for a conversation that might surprise Family Twist listeners. While one podcast explores DNA surprises, adoptio...
What Happens When You Finally Look Like Someone?
Julie Ann Brumley expected a DNA test to answer a few questions.She didn't expect to find a sister, a 100% Italian biological father, or an entire family where she could finally see herself reflected in someone else's face.In part...
A Therapist Faces Her Own DNA Surprise in Real Time
What happens when a mental health professional finds herself navigating a DNA surprise of her own?In this deeply personal episode of Family Twist, Corey and Kendall sit down with Angie Miller, licensed mental health therapist, wellness c...
“There’s No Way You’re Half White” and Other Things TikTok Got Right
Nicole thought TikTok was being ridiculous. After posting wedding videos online, strangers flooded the comments insisting there was “no way” she was half white like she’d always believed. Some people were curious. Others were cruel. But the com...
“You Don’t Get to Tell Adoptees How to Feel”
What happens when you spend more than 40 years sensing something about your life doesn’t add up… only to discover you were right all along?In this deeply emotional and unforgettable episode of Family Twist, Corey and Kendall sit down wit...
The Search for His Mother’s Past Led to a Shocking Discovery
What happens when your search for family stretches across decades, dead ends, sealed records, and fading hope?In part two of this deeply personal conversation, Corey and Kendall continue their discussion with author and journalist Paul T...
He Opened the Envelope His Mother Told Him to Destroy
What would you do if, on the day you buried your mother, you discovered a hidden bundle of records labeled with one clear instruction: Please destroy these?In this gripping first part of Corey and Kendall’s conversation with ret...
The Reality of Donor Conception in the Age of DNA Testing
What happens when a sperm donor from the 1990s suddenly discovers he has children decades later?This is one of those stories that could only happen right now.A decision made in the early ’90s, when anonymity was expected and prote...
He Donated Sperm in 1994. Decades Later, His Kids Found Him
What happens when a sperm donor from the 1990s suddenly discovers he has children decades later? This is one of those stories that could only happen right now.A decision made in the early ’90s, when anonymity was expect...
From Forced Adoption to DNA Discovery: Zara’s Story of Finding Family | Episode 200
What happens when your story starts with secrecy… and ends with a global family?In this milestone Episode 200 of Family Twist, Kendall sits down with author, musician, and adoptee Zara, whose life began in England during th...
Her DNA Discovery Became a Movie. The Real Story Is Even Bigger.
What happens when a life-altering DNA discovery becomes a feature film… and then gets unpacked in a room full of people who truly understand it?In this special live episode of Family Twist, Corey sits down with filmmaker, actor,...
From Only Child to One of Twelve
What happens when you go from being an only child… to one of twelve overnight?In this episode of Family Twist, and Kendall sits down with Elizabeth Barbour, an adoptee, adoptive mom, and reunion expert who has spen...
She Placed Two Sons for Adoption. Then Spent a Lifetime Helping Families Heal.
What does adoption feel like for the person who never had a choice?In this episode of Family Twist, Corey and Kendall talk with Leslie Pate Mackinnon, LCSW, a birth mother, therapist, and one of the most respected voices in the adoption ...
A DNA Test, a Family Secret, and the Birth of DNAngels
What would you do if a simple DNA test revealed that the man you believed was your father wasn’t your biological parent?In this episode of Family Twist, Corey and Kendall sit down with Laura Olmsted, founder of DNAngel...
Her Mother Passed as White. The Truth Stayed Hidden for Decades
What happens when a family secret rewrites your identity?In this episode of Family Twist, Corey and Kendall welcome author Gail Lukasik, whose work explores the powerful impact of hidden family histories and DNA discoveries...
The Questions Adopted Kids Are Afraid to Ask
What happens when a child asks a question the adults in the room aren’t ready to answer?In this episode of Family Twist, Corey sits down with Dr. Vicki Sanders, a psychologist who has spent decades working with adopted and foste...
She Didn’t Choose Adoption. It Was Chosen for Her.
What does adoption feel like for the person who never had a choice?In this episode of Family Twist, Corey and Kendall talk with Leslie Pate Mackinnon, LCSW, a birth mother, therapist, and one of the most respected voices in the adoption ...
Don’t Ever Ask About Your Father Again
What if your father’s childhood was a handful of strange fragments, a “castle,” a room with 25 beds, hunger, silence, and a single forbidden question.Filmmaker David Quint grew up sensing his dad was different, but nobody explained why. ...