Family Twist: A Podcast Exploring DNA Surprises and Family Secrets

What happens when you pair a woman searching for her birth family with an uncle who’s all-in for the ride? You get Team Red: Kayli and Dan, standouts from Season 15 of BYUtv’s Relative Race, and this episode of Family Twist dives into every twist, turn, and tearjerking reunion from their epic 10-day journey. Team Red and the Ultimate Family Plot Twist Kayli, adopted at birth, had lingering questio...

Peter’s story doesn’t end with a DNA test or a family reunion. It enters the courtroom. In this gripping conclusion to our two-part conversation with Australia-based adoptee and advocate Peter, we follow his six-year legal fight to have his biological father’s name added to his original birth certificate—a document that, like so many issued in the wake of forced adoption, was incomplete by design....

Imagine building out a detailed family tree… only to find out you’re not actually in it. That’s what happened to this guest from Australia, who took a casual DNA test at age 59—and uncovered a life-changing secret: he was adopted, and no one had ever told him. In Part One of this deeply personal two-part conversation, we follow his journey from Aussie amateur genealogist to late-discovery adoptee...

In this milestone episode, the hosts of Family Twist take a heartfelt, unfiltered look back on three years of storytelling, 150 episodes, and the ever-evolving journey of uncovering and healing from family secrets. Family Is Complicated And We’re Not Done Talking About It What began as a podcast to share one adoptee’s story has blossomed into a powerful platform amplifying voices from the adoption...

🩸 Episode Summary: In this hauntingly heartwarming bonus episode of Family Twist , Corey and Kendall open the crypt to their other podcast, Horror Heals —where trauma, grief, and found family intersect with creepy dolls, final girls, and haunted conventions. You’ll hear from six remarkable guests who’ve turned fear and pain into art, community, and healing. These are the stories of a horror icon...

In this powerful, first-time full release of our conversation with Wendy Kramer, co-founder of the Donor Sibling Registry (DSR), we explore the deeply personal and transformational story behind one of the most influential voices in the donor conception world. Originally thought to be partially lost due to a damaged audio file, this complete conversation captures every twist, turn, and truth. The B...

Listener Note: This episode contains sensitive content, including the death of a pet, home invasion, and terminal illness. In this powerful continuation of Kendall’s adoption journey, we dive deep into one of the most defining and devastating chapters of his life: the years following his adoptive mother Betty’s terminal diagnosis. Why I’m Not Angry They Didn’t Tell Me She Was Dying Corey and Kenda...

In this episode of Family Twist , Corey and Kendall sit down with Eve Sturges, therapist, writer, and host of the podcast Everything’s Relative , to share her powerful journey through the twists and turns of family discovery. After taking a DNA test, Eve uncovered life-changing truths about her origins — and embarked on a heartfelt road trip across the country to meet three newly discovered half-s...

This week on Family Twist , we’re celebrating a major milestone— three years of storytelling, surprise DNA discoveries, and untangling family secrets . And to mark the occasion, we’re bringing you a brand-new edit of one of our most meaningful conversations : a full, uncut interview with Brian Stanton , an acclaimed playwright and adoptee whose solo show, Blank, explores identity, origin, and the...

In the continuation of Jeremy’s deeply moving story, everything changes with one message: “We discovered we have a brother.” After a lifetime of being the family secret—unwanted by a mother who abused him, erased by a father who walked away—Jeremy took the risk of opening the door. And what came through was nothing short of transformational. The Day I Was No Longer a Ghost In Part 2 of this powerf...

When Jeremy first reached out to Family Twist, his email stopped us in our tracks. The pain, the longing, the strength—it was all there in his words. In this raw and unforgettable episode, Jeremy shares the first part of his life story: a childhood marked by instability, abuse, and the aching absence of family identity. "Brace for Impact": Surviving Trauma and Searching for Identity Born from an a...

In this powerful and timely episode, Corey and Kendall sit down with Alexis Hourse;t, the creator and host of the DNA Surprises podcast — a show dedicated to exploring the emotional complexity of unexpected DNA discoveries. Alexis shares her own deeply personal story of finding out through a consumer DNA test that she was not who she thought she was—and how that revelation sent her on a journey of...

What if your biological family—siblings, a mother, even potential fathers—had been living just a few towns away your entire life, and you never knew? My Family Was Right Next Door In this emotionally charged episode of Family Twist , we meet a mother-daughter duo who peel back the layers of a decades-old secret. The mother was adopted in the 1950s under a veil of societal shame. Decades later, her...

What happens when the country of your birth refuses to acknowledge where you really come from? For adoptees, proving their origins can be a legal nightmare—especially when official documents don’t tell the whole truth. In this two-part Family Twist special, our guest shares his astonishing journey to uncover his heritage, navigate international red tape, and fight for his rightful place as an Iris...

In this intimate and reflective solo-hosted episode, Kendall dives deep into a powerful conversation with guest John Portmann, exploring themes of family, identity, adoption secrecy, and the life-changing power of DNA discoveries. Uncovering My Secret Irish Heritage Through DNA Key Highlights: Growing Up Adopted: John shares parallels with Kendall in their early experiences of adoption, highlighti...

In this episode of Family Twist , Corey and Kendall sit down with Connor, who is in the process of writing a memoir about his experience with open adoption. Connor pulls back the curtain on the often-glossed-over complexities of open adoption, sharing how the promises made to birth parents, adoptive families, and adoptees themselves are often more marketing than reality. When Open Adoption Isn’t S...

What happens when the life you’ve always known changes in an instant? For Natalie, a single conversation just before her 18th birthday unraveled everything she thought she knew about herself. She grew up believing she was the biological child of her Filipino immigrant parents—until they sat her and her triplet siblings down and revealed a shocking truth: they were conceived using an egg donor. In...

What would you do if a DNA test revealed a biological parent you never knew existed—who also happened to be serving a life sentence in a maximum-security prison? That’s exactly what happened to our guest, Brad Ewell. In this powerful three-part series, Brad shares his incredible journey from uncovering a decades-old family secret to standing face-to-face with his biological father inside Angola St...

In part one , we learned how Brad Ewell’s entire world changed with a single DNA test. What he thought was just a fun ancestry experiment unraveled a family secret buried for 49 years. A message from a stranger. A birth certificate with missing details. A phone call that ended in stunned silence. And finally, the words that changed everything: "Bradley, you're adopted. And we’ve been trying to fig...

Some stories are so unbelievable, they sound like they belong in a movie. But this isn’t fiction—this is Family Twist. And for this special crossover episode, we’re also bringing our Horror Heals audience along for the ride. Brad Ewell thought he knew who he was. That changed in an instant. What started as a simple curiosity—one of those “Hey, let’s do a DNA test for fun” moments—turned into a slo...

In this episode of Family Twist , we sit down with Jon Baime, the writer, producer, and director of the powerful NPE documentary, Filling in the Blanks . Now streaming for free on Amazon Prime, Tubi, and the Roku Channel, the film explores Jon’s personal journey as a donor-conceived individual and the emotional discoveries that unfolded after taking a DNA test. Jon shares candid insights into how...

Corey and Kendall take a trip down memory lane, revisiting Kendall’s incredible adoption story—the inspiration behind Family Twist . For new listeners who may have missed the beginning, and loyal fans who want to hear more, Kendall shares untold details about his journey from being adopted as a baby to discovering his birth family at age 47 through a DNA kit. Listener Anne’s touching letter prompt...

In this unforgettable continuation of Karen’s journey, we dive deeper into the raw, real, and often messy world of family relationships. Karen opens up about the bold choices she’s made to protect her well-being, the bittersweet beauty of reconnection, and the courage it takes to set boundaries—even with the people we love most. Why Saying No to Family Can Be the Healthiest Choice Here’s what you’...

What if the worst day of someone else’s life was also the beginning of your greatest revelation? In this jaw-dropping episode of Family Twist, we explore an adoptee’s extraordinary journey, starting with a mysterious medical episode and culminating in an emotional family reunion. But it’s the uncanny connection to her half-sister—a woman she never met—that will leave you questioning fate itself. A...

We reflect on our wonderful guests from 2024, and tease what's to come in 2025!