NPE Stories

Becca's Story

30 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Becca Rothman, a comedian, activist, and mother shares the surprising story of discovering she was donor-conceived later in life. Aft...

Mark's Story

19 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Growing up with a "normal" Midwestern upbringing, Mark never felt different or disconnected from his family. However, after his father'...

Alex's Story

05 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Alex Frantz shares the life-altering discovery of being donor-conceived, a revelation triggered by a holiday DNA kit. They describe the shock of reali...

Dawn M's Story

20 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Dawn grew up feeling a quiet sense that something didn’t quite fit, but it wasn’t until a search for her family’s past that everything she thoug...

Molly's Story

27 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Lily sits down with Molly, who shares the complex layers of being both an adoptee and an NPE within a small-town dynamic where the ad...

Stephanie's Story

16 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

This episode follows Stephanie’s journey from a stable, loving childhood into a shocking DNA discovery after her dad’s death revealed he wasn’t ...

DJ's Story

15 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

DJ grew up believing he knew exactly where he came from—named after his father, raised in a working-class family shaped by absence, anger, and long ...

Stacy's Story

22 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this deeply personal conversation (and crossover episode), Stacy opens up about discovering she’s a double NPE, confronting painful family truths...

Constance's Story

15 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Constance grew up believing she shared the same father as her siblings, though she always sensed something was off. Decades later, an AncestryDNA test...

Krissy's Story

03 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Krissy shares her decades-long journey from an offhand comment in her teens to the life-changing discovery that she is an NPE, uncovering hidden famil...

Traci Grant's Story

28 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Traci Grant shares her profound NPE journey, uncovering a hidden truth about her biological father after a lifetime of painful family...

Amy W's Story

14 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Amy’s discovery about her origins reshaped everything she thought she knew about her life and family. This conversation stayed with me long after re...

William's Story

04 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After a tumultuous childhood, William built a happy life as a chef, husband, and father—until a DNA test revealed a hidden truth about his identity....

Pat's Story

19 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When Pat took a DNA test to ease her brother’s doubts, she never imagined it would upend everything she thought she knew about her family. What foll...

Gina H's Story

07 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After taking a DNA test to support her granddaughter’s school project, Gina discovered a life-changing truth: the man who raised her wasn’t her bi...

Lisa F's Story

22 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Lisa F. grew up in what seemed like the perfect family in a small Oklahoma town—until a DNA test revealed a shocking truth about her biological fath...

Lori's Story

12 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Lori shares her journey of discovering she was donor conceived after taking a DNA test meant to be a distraction during a difficult t...

Rebecca's Story

05 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Rebecca grew up without the steady presence of a father, carrying unanswered questions into adulthood. When a DNA test opened unexpected doors, she di...

Lizette's Story

28 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We kick off Season 7 with a warm welcome to new listeners and a bit of housekeeping before diving into this week’s story.Our guest, Liz, grew up sur...

Did Not Anticipate

16 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this powerful Season 6 finale, author J. Steven Osborne shares his remarkable DNA surprise journey—from a casual ancestry test to discovering he ...

Deb's Story

14 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Trigger warning: This episode contains discussions of child abuse, including physical, emotional, and sexual abuse.Deb recounts a sad childhood with a...

Rashanda's Story

04 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Rashanda opens up about growing up without a mom or dad and the emotional toll of navigating life without a traditional family structure. From childho...

Annette's Story: Living Into the Truth

21 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Raised in a devout Catholic family, Annette grew up believing her father had died before she was born. Decades later, a series of emotional discoverie...

Melanie Dawn's Story

11 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In Episode 216, Melanie recounts the emotional journey of reconnecting with the father who raised her, only to lose him and then learn he wasn’t her...

Devorah's Story about Taken From The Cradle

18 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Devorah Lee, author of Taken from the Cradle, shares her journey of discovering she was a late-discovery adoptee (LDA) from a Jacksonville, FL, black ...

Lauren's Story - Five Years Later

07 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Lauren returns to the podcast five years after first sharing her story in Season 1, hoping others can learn from her journey as she reflects on what h...

DNA Speaks the Truth, But Your Doctor May Not

19 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 213: Challenging Medical Guidelines on Misattributed PaternityIn this special episode, host Richard Wenzel leads a compelling discussion with ...

Amy S's Story

06 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Amy S's story is a journey of identity, family deception, and self-discovery. A DNA test revealed her biological father was not the man she adore...

Jennifer Ruiz's Story

28 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Jennifer is a first generation Colombian-American who describes her family as warm, loving, and hard-working. She had the shock of her life when her D...

Julie S's Story

20 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Julie S is the result of a wife-swapping situation that turned into a love affair. She was conceived with intention, but no one was ever planning to t...

Bill's Story

08 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Bill grew up looking different than his brothers and was often asked if he was Italian or Spanish. Although he never suspected it as a child, turns ou...

Robin Schepper’s Story

22 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Robin was never told who her father was, only that he was in the airline industry with her mother. As she came of age, Robin started searching and wri...

David's Story

17 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

David started to question who his birth father was many years ago, and was never given a straight answer. He even went as far as getting his birth rec...

Heather Venceil's Story

19 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Growing up Heather was always given the confusing narrative that her dad didn’t want her. She recently changed her last name to her proper surname, ...

Gigi's Story

09 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Gina's (Gigi’s) parents were beloved and she didn’t understand a lot of her parents' behavior until later in life. Many secrets were kep...

Stella's Story

31 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Stella had to deal with her NPE revelation and a horrible death all while trying to keep it a secret from her biological father. Four years later Stel...

Caroline Sorg's Story

21 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Content Warning: This episode contains accounts of child abuse and violence.Caroline was essentially an orphan at a young age and always felt ostraciz...

Bertrice's Story

05 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Bertrice took a DNA test to help a family member, and ended up finding a close family friend in her DNA matches. Since finding out she was an NPE duri...

Nicole's Story

25 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Nicole lost both her parents in a short period of time, and then after getting into genealogy to honor her father's passing, she found out she wa...

Lauren LoGiudice's Story

17 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Lauren LoGiudice is a comedian that identifies as a misfit, and is also a donor-conceived person with a couple hundred estimated siblings. Lauren can ...

Shirley's Story

03 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Shirley discovered through DNA tests that her entire biological family was different from the one she had known all her life, leading her to become a ...

Shelly Lee's Story

24 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Shelly is part of a great little NPE community called the NoMi Girls who meet in Northern Michigan regularly.  She had a traumatic childhood and has ...

Kris's Story

11 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kris took a DNA test along with many of her family members and saw that she did not have DNA in common with her birth certificate father. She hid her ...

Lily and others at Untangling our Roots 2024

03 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This was a very long emotional episode that has been divided into 2 parts. This is part 2.This was part of a panel held at the Untangling Our Roots Su...

Eve and others at Untangling Our Roots 2024

03 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This was a very long emotional episode that has been divided into 2 parts. This is part 1.This was part of a panel held at the Untangling Our Roots Su...

Margo's Story

15 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Margo discovered her NPE status when she purchased an Ancestry kit to kill a lifelong curiosity. She learned her younger brother was not the only NPE ...

Terra's Story

05 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Terra was raised in Texas by her single father and asked for a 23andMe for Christmas to see how much Native American she had on her maternal side.  T...

Dorene's Story

30 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dorene’s NPE discovery in 2022 at the age of 60 inspired her to become a trauma recovery coach, specializing in helping NPEs. As she began to study ...

Laura H's Story

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Laura found out her half-siblings are her full siblings, and since finding out she was an NPE her family members have become distant. Resources Mentio...

KaSheena's Story

14 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

KaSheena took a DNA test to see what part of Africa her ancestors came from, but ended up finding a bunch of strangers show up in her DNA matches.KaSh...

Sue's Story

29 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sue is an NPE that has a full sibling from her mother's affair with her birth father. Her research has uncovered other NPEs from her family as we...

Devin's Story

22 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Devin shares his NPE story of finding out he is the youngest of 23 children spanned over many decades. He believes he may still have siblings out ther...

AJ's Story

04 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

After being abandoned by his mother at 6 months old, AJ moved to a rural area with the man everyone thought was his father.  His whole life, he never...

Bob M's Story

28 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Raised just outside of Detroit, Bob had a vastly different upbringing than his biological father's children. Bob has found out, after taking a DN...

Sharilyn's Story

13 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sharilyn figured out she was an NPE when she found her birth certificate. She met her birth father before his passing but needed time to process meeti...

Jess's Story

31 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jess is taller than her brothers and never had a relationship with her BCF after he was sent to prison when she was a child. She found out she was an ...

Aly's Story

17 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

My fellow millenial NPE shares her story. She was the product of a work affair between her mom and birth father. She had a shocking parent-child match...

Jacoba Ballard's Story from Netflix's Our Father

07 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jacoba Ballard from Netflix’s Our Father comes on to share her full NPE/DCP story, including details that were not put into her documentary. She is ...

Reggie's Story

13 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Reggie (NPE) grew up one of five children on public assistance by a loving single mother. He is now a lawyer and civil rights activist, just like his ...

Caroline's Story

06 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Content Warning: This episode contains accounts of child sexual abuse and violence.Caroline has a very important message regarding accurate her medica...

Kim M's Story

30 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Kim was a daddy's girl and raised as an only child until she found out she was an NPE. Turns out her DNA test shows she has a significant amount ...

Alexis's Story

24 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Meet Alexis Hourselt, host of DNA Surprises podcast, and listen to her share her own personal NPE story with a major ethnicity surprise. Alexis Hourse...

Ridg's Story

15 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ridg received a letter from the State Social Services Office in 2005 that changed his life forever. Ridghaus can be reached through Instagram @Ridghau...

Marcie Keithley's Adoption Story

07 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Marcie Keithley, co-founder of The National Association of Adoptees and Parents, comes on to share her personal adoption story and provides some educa...

Kellie's Story

23 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Kellie identifies as a double NPE.  Kellie's 2nd father told her unexpectedly that he should have asked her mother for a paternity test.  Kelli...

Dr. Price's Story

10 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Nicole Price is a love child from a 10-year-long relationship, and now uses her NPE in her leadership work. Most of her family and close community...

Paul/Jack's Story

28 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This is a whirlwind of a story, and one not to be missed. From kidnapping, foundling, foster child, to being raised by an adopted family Jack has been...

Joan's Story

22 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

I sat with my anger long enough until she told me her real name was grief. -C.S. LewisJoan is a late-discovery donor-conceived individual. She never h...

Mike's Story

14 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Mike wasn’t ready to find out he had a sister through 23andMe. He hasn’t told anyone in his raising family except for one conversation he had face...

Amy's Story

07 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Season 5 of NPE StoriesAmy has a double NPE story. She has just connected with her biological family in the last of couple years and has found that he...

Christy's Story

25 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Christy was unable to tell anyone she was an NPE the first year after discovery, even her own siblings, because she feared for her mother's physi...

Carlyn's Story

12 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

 Carlyn found out through a DNA test that she was adopted. She shares her remarkable story and experiences of her journey in learning about her past ...

Nikee's Story

02 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Nikee is a Gold Star Mother who found her relinquished adopted sister through a DNA test. She has had 2 legal birth certificates and neither of those ...

Shardae's Story

29 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Shardae had a startling parent/child match of 57.28% on her 23andMe DNA results.  It turns out her family is much more entangled than expected.Resour...

Shawn's Story

18 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Shawn grew up in a blended family where all the children looked different, so he never suspected he was an NPE. Completely out of the blue an unexpect...

Cody's Story

14 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Cody was raised in a family where he was not allowed to show any emotion. After discovery, his life hit rock bottom and he had to make his mental heal...

Paige's Story

03 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Paige was raised in poverty in Louisiana with a very rough childhood. She had heard rumors that her late father was not her dad, but this was never co...

Brittani's Story

27 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Brittani is healing not broken, she shares her story of healing through depression and creating a healing cycle for herself and for others. Finding ou...

LDA Fred Nicora's Story

22 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Fred is a late discovery adoptee, and realized life was never going to return back to normal after the "swing of the wrecking ball" He has w...

Stacey G's Story

13 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Stacey found out through a DNA test and subsequent conversation with her mother, that she was an NPE. She has started a relationship with her HS and B...

Heather S's Story

08 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Heather knew she was conceived at Quantico. An unknown mystery uncle appeared on her Ancestry. After speaking with his family Heather was able to figu...

Josie's Story

01 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A month before her dad is coming to visit her, Josie re-logs back into 23andMe after many years and notices something strange in her family tree.Josie...

Crystal's Story

21 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Crystal found out she was an NPE in 2021.   She spent some time messaging her family before they all figured out who her biological father was. She h...

Beth B's Story

08 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Beth chooses to share her NPE story anonymously because her birth certificate father does not know the truth. Her sister found out they were half-sist...

Nancy's Story

28 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Nancy wondered why her Mom picked a cousin to be her godfather rather than one of her beloved brothers...she later found out they were closer than she...

Bobbi's Story

20 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Bobbi says her NPE story is a rare one, and she hasn't heard one quite like it. Many of her family members end up being NPEs. Bobbi can be reache...

Sydney's Story

08 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Sydney always felt that something was off in her family of origin, and everyone around her acted extremely strange when she started to talk about her ...

Jeff's Story

01 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jeff says his NPE story has a happy ending. He had a normal upbringing as a child and was completely surprised when a HS reached out to him after taki...

Pam Z's Story

24 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Although Pam Z forgave her birth certificate father on his deathbed she kept her distance from him throughout her childhood for her own protection. Pa...

Liann's Story

17 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Liann is an NPE and no longer wants to be the family secret. She made sure she was in the right mindset for rejection before reaching out to certain f...

Kelly's DNAngels Story

09 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Kelly Grace Hickey is such an important volunteer in our NPE community. She has solved endless cases through the non-profit founded by Laura Olmsted, ...

Kimberly's Story

29 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Kimberly has gone through a lot of healing to get where she is currently at in her NPE story. Although initially she had contact with her biological f...

Izola's Story

19 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Izola is 90 years old, and has not been able to find out a lot about her biological father, since most of the people that would know information are n...

Traci's Story

06 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Traci's sister thought she was the NPE in the family after finding out her mother had a brief secret marriage to a man they didn't know. Aft...

Leeanne's NPE Story Guide

28 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Leeanne is an NPE and the author of NPE* A story guide for unexpected DNA discoveries.   Leeanne comes on the podcast in Episode 144 and shares some...

Melissa G's Story

18 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Melissa never knew who her father was, and was never given much information as her mother had her out of wedlock, and her family carried a lot of sham...

Eric's Story

10 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Eric found out he was a donor conceived when a sibling messaged him through a DNA testing site. After processing his shock for several years he is now...

Kara and Alesia's Story

06 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Kara Rubinstein Deyerin and Alesia Weiss come on Episode 141 to share their NPE stories, talk about their service work at Right to Know, and also shar...

Liz's Story

31 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Liz got a shocking message from an unknown half sister, who then deactivated her account before Liz could get more information. Liz shares the rest of...

Geoff's Story

24 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Geoff found out he was an NPE after all his parents had passed.  He now is beginning to understand why his mother worked on a women's right to c...