Doni is the creator of Culturs Magazine which celebrates people with cross-cultural identities; she has seen how the experience of ‘third culture’ people overlaps often with the NPE world.

Check out the episode to hear our discussion and understand more about the work I do through my writing and private practice, Watershed DNA. We talked about my book The DNA Guide for Adoptees and a little about my upcoming book on the topic of genetic identity. In our discussion, Doni also shared about her role in helping NPEs through the non-profit organization NPE Network. 

NPE has become the term for a person who has discovered one or both parents is not genetically related to them, popularized by the first wide-spread NPE support organization, NPE Friends Fellowship. Many people introduce themselves or describe themselves as “I am an NPE” — this serves to connect NPEs and can be a way to help non-NPEs understand how disruptive the late discovery of misattributed parentage can be to someone’s identity.

Research into the experiences of people receiving unexpected results from DNA testing continues.

A new study based at Long Island University aims to explore parental identity experiences in greater depth, from a small number of adults who have taken a DNA test and received an unexpected discovery related to their own parentage.

Research into the experiences of people getting unexpected results from a home DNA test is still in infancy. A new study based at McGill University aims to explore the experiences of consumer DNA testers who receive an unexpected result with implications to their own parentage.

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.

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.”

The first book of its genre to cover the pressing topic of DNA tests and the end of family secrets, Copeland’s The Lost Family provides an overview of the current DNA test landscape and a short history of how it came to be this way.

"NPE" is an acronym with a history originating in the term “non-paternity event” — a term used in the medical setting when parent/child mismatches were uncovered as a result of clinical genetic testing. NPE has also become the term for a person who has discovered one or both parents is not genetically related to them.

Cory's memoir, Folksong, touches on the pain and hope she felt through her journey at the end of her mother's life and through the discovery soon after that her mother had been keeping a secret about Cory's paternity for decades.

Doubt is a common reaction in unexpected DNA family discoveries. It’s not only common, it’s also normal and important.

Podcast Ep: 4 Libby Copeland discusses with Brianne the complex themes she explores in her timely book The Lost Family: How DNA Testing Is Upending Who We Are.

Stephen Anderson never expected that his decades of family research using traditional methods--genealogical records and oral histories--would be turned into a years-long journey to unravel the truth around his paternity and that of his many siblings.

Watershed DNA has expanded into a full-spectrum source of information and support for people with unexpected DNA results.

Podcast Ep: 1 Unexpected DNA discoveries made from mail-in test kits change lives and redefine the meaning of family. Join genetic counselor and founder of Watershed DNA Brianne Kirkpatrick as she chats with authors and leaders in the DNA world on the new podcast DNA Clarity and Support.

This article provides information on how to find and connect with biological family and is a great place to start for anyone who is just starting their DNA journey.

Watershed DNA’s founder Brianne Kirkpatrick shares on the blog of 23andMe some tips for healthcare providers about what to do with a patient’s unexpected DNA family discovery.

I was adopted as a child and my birth mother never told my father about me—she only knew his first name, so there really wasn’t a way to find him anyhow. I was able to identify him through DNA testing and reached out.

Many “reunions” between biological relatives that have taken place after a DNA test discovery have led to disappointment on one, many, or all sides. Contact is refused. Contact goes great and then one party begins ghosting the other. Communications end, on a sour note or unexpectedly. Why is this?

Therese reached out to share her story about discovering she had a different biological father than she was told, and in her story is both struggle and growth.