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
220 episodes
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. ...
The Lie That Raised Me Part Three
Reunion is not always soft.In Part Three of this powerful late discovery adoptee story, Alicia Sharon Denise Williams steps into the aftermath of truth.After learning she was adopted, after uncovering sealed Michigan adoption reco...
The Lie That Raised Me Part Two
She logged back in.After months of denial, after accusing AncestryDNA of switching samples, after trying to shove the results back into the box, Alicia Sharon Denise Williams opened her DNA account again.The first cousin matches w...
The Lie That Raised Me Part One
She thought she knew her story.In 2021, a casual AncestryDNA test reopened questions Alicia had quietly carried her entire life. Why did she never see her original birth certificate? Why was her birthday often forgotten? Why did her brot...
From International Adoption to Reclaiming Citizenship
What happens when your story begins in one country, is rewritten in another, and then calls you back decades later?In this powerful episode of Family Twist, Corey and Kendall sit down with Sandi Morgan Caesar to explore a life shaped by...
“Our Father” Lit the Fuse
A Netflix documentary about fertility fraud lit the fuse.After watching Our Father, a question would not let go: how do you actually know donor conception was handled ethically, and how do you know the story you were told is tru...
I Lived a Lie and Called It Family
What happens when the truth about your origins arrives decades late and everyone else already knew?In this episode of Family Twist, Kendall talks with Keith Sciarillo, a late-discovery adoptee who learned later in life that neit...
I Was the Only One Who Didn’t Know
What happens when the truth doesn’t arrive as a single moment, but hides in plain sight for years?In this episode of Family Twist, Corey and Kendall sit down with Dr. Nicole Price, a DNAngels Board Advisor whose discovery...
“We’re Doing the Work”: A Father–Daughter Reunion Story
What happens when a father and daughter meet for the first time, in adulthood, and decide to build the relationship in public, in real time?In this episode of Family Twist, Corey sits down with Joseph McGill Jr. and his dau...
Do I Belong Here? Finding Home at Untangling Our Roots
Last March, Corey attended Untangling Our Roots Summit in Denver for the first time. He went alone, unsure what to expect, and quietly wondering if he belonged there at all.In this sol...
Finding My Birth Mother, Then Finding a Full Sibling for My Kids
What happens after the truth comes out, when the search begins and there is no DNA test, no internet, and no clear roadmap?In part two of this two-part episode, we continue our conversation with Marylee MacDonald as she takes us into the...
I Was Told My Birth Parents Died. That Wasn’t True.
What happens when the story you were told about your adoption turns out to be a lie, and you find out at the moment you need support the most?In part one of this two-part episode, we talk with Marylee MacDonald, an adoptee who always kne...
DNA Surprise Story: Discovering Jewish Ancestry and Surviving the Iran Missile Attacks in Israel
What do you do when a DNA test proves that everything you believed about your race, your ancestry, and your family history is not true, and at the same time the world becomes more dangerous for the people you have just learned you belong to?...
How a Nurse Practitioner Survived a Second DNA Discovery
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 ...
How a Nurse Practitioner Discovered Her Real Roots
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 t...
