Podcast Ep 5: With the increasing popularity of at-home consumer DNA testing through companies like Ancestry.com and 23andMe, more and more men are finding previously unknown offspring. For a man with a wife and family, this discovery presents unique challenges, particularly if that newfound "child" is a grown woman.

On today's episode, Glaser talks with DNA Clarity and Support host Brianne Kirkpatrick about the history of coerced adoption in the United States and the influence of culture and stigma on women who in other circumstances might have chosen to parent rather than surrender their to the adoption system.

In this episode, Brianne interviews author Diahan Southard, creator of Your DNA Guide, who brings a much-needed dose of enthusiasm to the talk about genealogy, a biological parent search, and DNA testing!

J.C. Kenney is the author a series of cozy mystery novels, one of which involves using DNA and genealogy to solve a murder cold case. You need not be a true crime fan or a DNA expert to learn from today's episode! The conversation with J.C. hones in on the highlights of DNA and crime investigation and is a great intro for those unfamiliar with investigative genetic genealogy, often shortened to IGG. 

Michael's search entered a new phase when a consumer DNA test connected him to paternal DNA relatives. The up-and-down journey, the people he came to know along the way, and the new understanding he has of his parents are all documented in his memoir, I Had My Underwear on the Entire Time.

The conversation between host Brianne Kirkpatrick and Boni swings back and forth, exploring the personal impacts of a misattributed parentage discovery on Boni and his awareness of the need for societal change. Boni shares how the new trauma of the NPE ('not parent expected') discovery rekindled some of the old trauma from his past, requiring hard work in the therapist's office to work through.

K.S. “Katie” Hopkins never guessed that a discovery about her sister's unexpected paternity would be just the start of a number of surprises in the family. What began as crumbs of information left in family documents led to DNA testing which confirmed a hidden family history.

In this episode, Laura Kieger talks about her family's experience with the hereditary cancer syndrome, FAP. Kieger relates how in just a few short decades, the progress of medical genetics and cancer diagnosis has had a profound impact on her own life and others in her family. If anyone needs an example to point to as support for the importance of sharing DNA medical surprises with family, this episode of DNA Clarity and Support offers it!

John’s story starts with a personal medical crisis leading to a decision to search for information about his biological parentage. It ends with him embracing the truth of his biological origins, a situation that many others in the same shoes have struggled to accept because of society’s stigma around conceptions between parents who are related to each other.

Maggy wrote a reflection for the Watershed DNA blog three years ago. She is back again to share more reflections on her misattributed parentage experience. “Each puzzle piece helps me put myself together a little more firmly. I’m so grateful that I took that DNA test in 2013. It changed me and who I think I am and gave me a stronger sense of self than I think I ever would have had otherwise.”