Podcast Episodes
Nothing Lit Up on Her Father’s Side
Send us Fan MailWhat if a family photo made your friends ask the question no one in your family had ever answered?Ashley grew up surrounded by fighting, police visits and what she came to call her family’s “quarterly crisis.” She learned to hide her emotions, protect the adults
Who Gets to Decide Where a Child Belongs?
Send us Fan MailDecades after Dixie went to live with relatives in Iowa, her biological sister Molly was still angry that they never grew up together. Another family member believed Dixie had been better off with the parents who raised her.In Part 2, Anita Johnson talks with Corey
She Let Them Keep Their Secret
Send us Fan MailWhat happens when you discover a family secret, but the people who kept it never know you found out?Anita Johnson’s mother, Dixie, grew up on a farm in Iowa. Her parents doted on her, and she carried that love into adulthood. During World War II,
Everyone Knew He Was Adopted Except Him
Send us Fan MailWant more Corey and Kendall? Join us on Patreon for Family Twist After Hours, our weekly unfiltered bonus show with personal stories, behind-the-scenes conversations, family chaos, and plenty we wouldn't normally share on Family Twist.Join us: https://www.patreon.com/c/FamilyTwistPodcastAfterHoursImagine learning at 52 that you were adopted because
The DNA Match She Almost Ignored
Send us Fan MailNicole Davis had already found her biological mother’s side of the family years earlier, but she had pretty much given up on finding her father. In fact, she had been led to believe he was dead.Then an Ancestry notification showed up while she was getting
Did George Wallace Help Arrange Her Adoption?
Send us Fan MailNicole Davis always knew she was adopted. What she didn’t know was how strange the story behind her adoption would look once she started examining it as an adult.Nicole was born in Alabama in 1974. Her adoptive parents had spent years trying to have a
The Indigenous Identity Adoption Couldn’t Erase
Send us Fan MailWhat does it mean to reclaim an Indigenous identity you didn’t have the opportunity to grow up with?In Part 2 of our conversation with Monica Hall and Kristal Parke, we explore one of the connections that first brought these two women together: they are both
The Genetic Sexual Attraction Nobody Talks About
Send us Fan MailGenetic sexual attraction is one of the most difficult and misunderstood possibilities that can emerge after biological family reunion. For decades, Monica Hall rarely spoke about her own experience with it.In part one of this special two-part Family Twist conversation, Monica returns alongside filmmaker and
When Adoptive Parents Stop Talking and Start Listening
Send us Fan MailWhat happens when adoptive parents enter adoptee spaces and hear things that are difficult, angry or painful?Charlyn Spiering doesn’t believe the answer is to get defensive. She believes it’s to listen.Charlyn is the host of Adoption Uncovered and the mother of five children, both biological
Little Mister Victory: Solving an 80-Year Family Mystery
Send us Fan MailA baby abandoned on one of America's most historic days. A mystery that lasted nearly eighty years. Could modern DNA finally reveal the truth?On August 15, 1945, while crowds filled Boston Common celebrating the end of World War II, a young woman handed her infant
The Film Every Adoptee Should Know About
Send us Fan MailMost movies treat adoption, donor conception, or DNA discoveries as a plot twist. Then the credits roll. But for the people living these stories, that's when life actually begins.Writer and director Jason Mullis wanted to tell a different kind of story. Before writing Myth of
When the Reporter Becomes the Story
Send us Fan MailFor years, Louise McLoughlin built her career telling other people's stories. Then she uncovered one she never expected: her own.After learning she was donor-conceived, Louise set out to understand not only her biological origins, but the larger world of donor conception, family secrets, and identity.
The Reunion No One Prepared Her For
Send us Fan MailFinding your birth family is often portrayed as the ending of the story. For many adoptees, it's actually the beginning.In this episode, Patricia Knight Meyer returns to talk about reunion with both of her birth parents, the remarkable relationship she built with her birth father,
The Lawyer Who Sold Babies
Send us Fan MailWhat if you discovered your adoption was never legal?This week, Corey and Kendall welcome adoptee, author, advocate, and National Association of Adoptees and Parents (NAAP) board member Patricia Knight Meyer for one of the most extraordinary stories we've ever featured on Family Twist.Patricia always knew
She Didn’t Tell Me We Were Jewish
Send us Fan MailShe didn't tell me we were Jewish.Those seven words changed everything.Author Joan Moran joins Corey and Kendall to discuss her remarkable memoir, Suddenly Jewish, a story that spans generations, continents, and one life-changing family secret.Joan grew up believing she knew her family's story. Then, just