IN THIS EPISODE: Kara’s first guest is her “opposite twin” in the DNA surprise world, Jodi. Raised in a tiny Midwestern farm town as the only person of color in her community, Jodi spent her childhood trying to be perfect so no one would notice how different she looked. At 45, a half-price DNA test confirmed what her mirror had been whispering for decades—and upended everything she thought she knew about her family, her past, and herself. This is a story about identity, secrecy, faith, and the unexpected gifts of an unraveling— including the found family that helps you survive it.

SHOW NOTES

In this conversation, Kara and Jodi talk about:

• Growing up as “the only one” in an all-white town
• Perfectionism, people-pleasing, and staying silent to survive
• The moment a DNA test revealed she is a different ethnicity
• Grieving a beloved dad while learning he wasn’t her genetic father
• Meeting her genetic siblings and navigating a new culture at midlife
• What it takes to rebuild belonging after misattributed parentage

Everyone has the right to know the truth about where they come from. Unraveling Me speaks to those people impacted by DNA surprises, NPEs (non-paternal event), adoption, assisted reproduction, and other revelations that their parentage isn't entirely what they thought. Having experienced an NPE herself, Kara (through Right To Know and this podcast) seeks to highlight those moments when we learn the most unsettling of secret—who we really are.

At Right To Know, we encourage engagement to facilitate and create real change. As an organization, we are inclusive. We assist adoptees, the donor-conceived community, people with an NPE, birth parents, gamete providers, new genetic family, recipient parents, raising families, and significant others. In learning and growing from each other, we must put the voices of adoptees, donor conceived, and people with an NPE first.

For more information about Right To Know - or if you have a story you want to tell - please visit us at https://righttoknow.us/.

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