Severance Magazine, the Beagle Has Landed Podcast, and Other Resources on the Topic of DNA Family Surprises

When a new resource becomes available that I think will help my clients and the readers of my blog, I try to highlight them. This week I have three to share - one a website, one a book, and one a podcast.

Severance Magazine is a new resource for the growing group of individuals who learn they have been separated by biological relatives. You can read articles, news, connect with other resources, and share your own story through print and video. Those who will benefit include those who are adopted, donor-conceived, NPE (“not the parent expected”), and the less-common situations of those who have been switched at birth, kidnapped, or abandoned as children.

Family members (on both the biological and social sides) and professionals who work with these individuals will also benefit from learning about the experience of discovering and adjusting to unexpected news about parentage.

Another recent resource is the memoir of award-winning author Dani Shapiro’s Inheritance. This book has relevance to the person in a family who is personally impacted by a misattributed parentage experience as well as other members who are impacted by a DNA surprise discoveries as well.

In a recent interview on The Beagle Has Landed podcast, Kif Augustine-Adams shares the perspective of the adult child who learns their mother has kept a secret about a child relinquished for adoption. Laura Hercher’s most recent pod for her podcast is a sensitive and insightful interview. Kif is a law professor passionate about family history who—like so many—found that the innocent act of spitting in a tube led to the discovery that turned her understanding of her family’s history on its head. Laura is a genetic counselor, writer, author, faculty member who trains genetic counselors, and podcaster who has interviewed a range of genetics folks. I’d recommend her other podcasts as well (and for the sake of full disclosure, I was on the show last year speaking on the DNA surprise topic as well).