Family Twist: A Podcast Exploring DNA Surprises and Family Secrets

The Questions Adopted Kids Are Afraid to Ask

Send a textWhat happens when a child asks a question the adults in the room aren’t ready to answer?In this episode of Family Twist, Corey sits down with Dr. Vicki Sanders, a psychologist who has spent decades working with adopted and foster children, and the families raising them. Her work lives in the spaces most people avoid, the pauses, the deflections, the “we don’t need to talk about that right now” moments that shape identity in ways we don’t always see.This conversation focuses on what children carry.Dr. Vicki shares what she has witnessed again and again in therapy rooms:• The questions adopted and foster children want to ask but are afraid to • How silence, even well-intentioned silence, shapes identity • The difference between protecting a child and protecting adult comfort • What ambiguous loss looks like in children and teens • How shame and secrecy can quietly impact attachment • What it sounds like when a child tests whether it’s safe to be curiousWe also talk about how adoptive and foster parents can respond differently, not perfectly, but openly. Dr. Vicki challenges the idea that love alone resolves identity tension. Instead, she offers practical ways to stay present when uncomfortable questions arise.This is a conversation about courage, on both sides.Catch Dr. Vicki at Untangling Our RootsDr. Vicki will be speaking at the upcoming Untangling Our Roots conference, where she’ll go deeper into:• How to create emotional safety around hard conversations • Supporting adopted and foster youth through identity exploration • Recognizing trauma responses tied to secrecy and silence • Practical language parents can use when biological family questions surfaceIf you’re attending UTOR, her session will offer tools you can take home immediately, whether you’re an adoptee, parent, clinician, or advocate.If you’ve ever sensed there were things you weren’t allowed to ask, or if you’re raising a child who is beginning to ask them now, this episode is for you.Family secrets are the ultimate plot twist.About Dr. VickiDr. Vicki is a licensed psychologist with decades of clinical experience working with adopted and foster children, adoptive families, and youth navigating attachment disruption and trauma. Her work centers on identity development, ambiguous loss, family systems, and helping children find language for experiences that often go unspoken.She has supported foster youth transitioning into permanency, trained parents in trauma-informed care, and helped families move from silence and defensiveness to openness and emotional safety.Through her clinical practice and public speaking, Dr. Vicki advocates for honest conversations that allow children to explore their origins without fear, shame, or secrecy.

Don’t Ever Ask About Your Father Again

Send a textWhat if your father’s childhood was a handful of strange fragments, a “castle,” a room with 25 beds, hunger, silence, and a single forbidden question.Filmmaker David Quint grew up sensing his dad was different, but nobody explained why. His father, Urban, had been raised in a 700-year-old Swiss castle that served as an orphanage, then at age 12 received a letter that changed everything: “You’re not an orphan. I’m your mother. You’re coming to America.”He arrived in Philadelphia alone, not speaking English, looking for a woman in a pink scarf, and learning in real time what a mother even was. When he asked about his “real father,” his mother shut it down, and the subject became off limits for life.Decades later, David made one decision that changed his relationship with his father forever. He emailed the castle.What came back was proof, records, a name, and a path that led David and his dad back to Switzerland, with an old iPhone recording every moment. The trip brought long-buried memories to the surface, reunited his father with the boy who slept in the bed next to his, and ultimately uncovered answers that no one saw coming.David’s documentary, Father Unknown, will be screened at Untangling Our Roots, and in this conversation, he shares the real story behind the film, what it meant to watch his father become fully human in front of him, and how discovery can heal what decades of silence could not.Also, full transparency, we recorded this episode during an emotional week at home. Our beloved 11-year-old mini Dachshund Frankie was hospitalized and undergoing two surgeries, he is deeply bonded with Corey, and you’ll hear how tender this moment was. David met that reality with kindness and grace, and we’re grateful.In this episode, we talk aboutGrowing up with “fragments” of a parent’s past, and no contextA Swiss orphanage inside a 700-year-old castleThe letter that sent a 12-year-old alone to AmericaThe forbidden question, who is my fatherReturning to the place it all began, and what it unlockedReunion, revelation, and the relationship shift that followedWhy stories like these land so hard, even when you know the endingIf this episode hits home Please share it with someone who’s navigating adoption, donor conception, NPE discovery, or any kind of identity rupture. And if you’ll be at Untangling Our Roots, add David’s screening to your must see list.Guest Bio: David QuintDavid Quint has worked in the film industry for 30 years as a director, cinematographer, and aerial cameraman, filming projects for Netflix, MTV, NBC, ABC, CBS, and other networks, along with feature films, documentaries, and commercials. He discovered his passion for storytelling as a boy growing up in Western Colorado, and after decades of working with state-of-the-art motion picture cameras, he never imagined he would unintentionally capture his most personal film on an iPhone 3. That film became Father Unknown, a deeply human story of family, identity, reunion, and the questions that echo across generations.

The Lie That Raised Me Part Three

Send a textReunion is not always soft.In Part Three of this powerful late discovery adoptee story, Alicia Sharon Denise Williams steps into the aftermath of truth.After learning she was adopted, after uncovering sealed Michigan adoption records, after discovering both biological parents had passed away, she begins reaching out to siblings.The first response is rejection.A phone call to a biological half brother’s mother ends with harsh words and a door firmly shut. But that is not the end of the story. It is only the first chapter of reunion.Soon, another connection appears. A name that had shown up repeatedly in her DNA research suddenly becomes a real voice. A nephew. A sister. A family that had known about her all along and never stopped searching.Within hours, Alicia finds herself walking into a townhouse filled with siblings, nieces, nephews, a stepfather, and decades of stories about her. They knew her birthday. They celebrated her existence. They had promised their mother they would find her one day.This episode explores:• DNA sibling rejection and acceptance• Discovering biological half siblings through AncestryDNA• The emotional complexity of adoption reunion• Faith, forgiveness, and generational secrecy• Medical history revelations for late discovery adoptees• What healing looks like after decades of silenceAlicia speaks openly about secrecy in adoptive families, the cost of silence, and the difference between adopting to give a child a life versus adopting to complete an image.She also shares how her own late discovery changed the way she parents her adopted children today.This is not just a DNA surprise story.This is a story about identity being rebuilt. About faith being tested. About whether truth can redeem what was hidden.And Alicia’s answer is yes.About Alicia Sharon Denise WilliamsAlicia is a NAAP Board Member, speaker, storyteller, and adoption truth advocate. As the founder of From Hidden to Healed, she shares her late-discovery adoptee journey marked by silence, spiritual awakening, DNA revelation, and the sacred work of untangling identity after truth emerges.Her message is not about blame, but about belonging. Not about shame, but about healing. She reminds us that what was hidden can be healed and what was silenced can be spoken.Hear Alicia Live at Untangling Our RootsAlicia will be speaking at Untangling Our Roots, the national conference for adoptees, NPEs, donor-conceived individuals, and families navigating identity discovery.After hearing this three-part series, experiencing her story in person will land differently.Learn more at untanglingourroots.org.This concludes the three-part Raised on a Lie series.If Alicia’s story resonated with you, share it with someone navigating a DNA discovery, misattributed parentage, or adoption reunion.Truth changes everything.

The Lie That Raised Me Part Two

Send a textShe logged back in.After months of denial, after accusing AncestryDNA of switching samples, after trying to shove the results back into the box, Alicia Sharon Denise Williams opened her DNA account again.The first cousin matches were still there.This time, she did not look away.In Part Two of this three-part late discovery adoptee story, Alicia takes us into the moment curiosity turns into confirmation. What starts as online research becomes a drive to Detroit. What feels like suspicion becomes documentation. What felt like a joke her whole life becomes a yellow card inside a government office that changes everything.She was not who she thought she was.This episode walks through:• Reopening AncestryDNA results with new eyes• Searching Michigan adoption and vital records• Navigating Wayne County post-adoption services• Discovering she was born under a different name• Learning she had been placed in foster care• Finding out her adoption records were sealed• Calling her husband from the parking lot in shockBy the time Alicia leaves that building, she does not know how to get home. Not because she lost her car. Because she lost her identity.She describes going home and staying in bed for three weeks.Part Two is the emotional collapse. The unraveling. The moment when suspicion becomes documented truth.And this is still not the end of the story.In Part Three, Alicia begins the search for her biological parents and siblings. What she finds includes rejection, unexpected acceptance, and a family that had been waiting for her.About Alicia Sharon Denise WilliamsAlicia is a NAAP Board Member, speaker, storyteller, and adoption-truth advocate. As the founder of From Hidden to Healed, she shares her late-discovery adoptee journey, one marked by silence, spiritual awakening, DNA revelation, and the sacred work of untangling identity after truth emerges.With compassion and faith at the center of her message, Alicia speaks to adoptees, NPEs, and anyone navigating misattributed parentage, reunion, and the lifelong impact of secrecy.Her message is clear: what was hidden can be healed.See Alicia at Untangling Our RootsAlicia will be sharing her story live at Untangling Our Roots, the national conference for adoptees, NPEs, donor-conceived individuals, and families navigating DNA discoveries.After hearing Part Two, you will understand why experiencing her story in person carries weight.Learn more at untanglingourroots.org.This is Part Two of a three-part series.If you are a late discovery adoptee, questioning your identity, or sitting with unexplained childhood clues, this conversation will resonate.Part Three drops next.

The Lie That Raised Me Part One

Send a textShe thought she knew her story.In 2021, a casual AncestryDNA test reopened questions Alicia had quietly carried her entire life. Why did she never see her original birth certificate? Why was her birthday often forgotten? Why did her brother feel like he belonged in a different way?Then a first cousin match appeared.And everything started to unravel.In Part One of this three-part series, Alicia Sharon Denise Williams shares the early clues that something was off long before DNA confirmed it. From childhood inconsistencies to reopening her DNA results with new eyes, she walks us through the moment suspicion turned into action.This episode ends at the turning point, when Alicia decides she has to start at the beginning and find out where she was really born.What she discovers next will change her life.Part Two takes us inside a government building in Detroit and the yellow card that confirmed the lie.In This Episode• Subtle childhood signs of secrecy• Revisiting a DNA test with new perspective• Birth certificate inconsistencies• Spiritual wrestling and awakening• The decision to search for the truth• What late discovery adoptees often feel before they knowAbout Alicia Sharon Denise WilliamsAlicia is a NAAP Board Member, speaker, storyteller, and adoption-truth advocate whose voice carries both compassion and courage. As the founder of From Hidden to Healed, she shares her late-discovery adoptee journey, one marked by silence, spiritual awakening, DNA revelation, and the sacred work of untangling identity after truth emerges.With grace and faith as her compass, Alicia speaks to those navigating hidden histories, misattributed parentage, reunion, loss, and the lifelong impact of secrecy. Her message is not about blame, but about belonging. Not about shame, but about healing.She reminds us that healing does not erase the past. It redeems it.See Alicia Live at Untangling Our RootsAlicia will be appearing at Untangling Our Roots, the national conference for adoptees, NPEs, donor-conceived individuals, and anyone navigating DNA surprises and identity discovery.If this episode resonates, hearing her story in person will hit even deeper.Learn more about Untangling Our Roots and how to attend at untanglingourroots.org.This is Part One of a powerful three-part journey.Part Two drops next.If you have ever questioned your origin story, this conversation is for you.