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What happens when your story begins in one country, is rewritten in another, and then calls you back decades later?

In this powerful episode of Family Twist, Corey and Kendall sit down with Sandi Morgan Caesar to explore a life shaped by early loss, international adoption, racial identity, and an unrelenting search for truth.

Sandi was born in Panama to a 14-year-old mother and spent the first year of her life with her birth family before being placed with a Black U.S. Air Force family stationed there. At just four years old, she experienced another devastating loss when her adoptive father died by suicide shortly after the family relocated to the United States.

Growing up as the only Black student in her school, navigating trauma, and always knowing she was adopted, Sandi began searching long before DNA testing made it easier. She wrote letters. She reached out to strangers. She refused to give up.

In 2004, her persistence paid off. With the help of a Panamanian government employee who believed in her mission, Sandi found her birth mother. Within weeks, she was on a plane to Panama.

But reunion is not a finish line.

In this episode, Sandi shares:

• What she knows about the circumstances of her adoption
• The moment she found her birth mother after years of searching
• The emotional complexity of reunion across language, geography, and time
• Growing up Black and adopted in predominantly white spaces
• The grief of losing parents, both biological and adoptive
• Reclaiming her Panamanian citizenship decades later
• What it means to hold multiple identities at once

This conversation also touches on immigration, race, safety, and belonging in the current political climate. Adoption stories do not exist in isolation. They intersect with culture, power, and history.

There is grief in this episode. There is resilience. There is music. And there is reclamation.

If you are an adoptee, late discovery adoptee, NPE, donor conceived, or someone navigating complicated family truths, Sandi’s story will resonate.

Remember, family secrets are the ultimate plot twist.

About Sandi Morgan Caesar

Sandi Morgan Caesar is a transnational adoptee born in Panama and raised in the United States. Adopted at 11 months old by a Black U.S. Air Force family, Sandi grew up navigating loss, racial identity, and the lifelong questions many adoptees carry.

After years of searching prior to the rise of commercial DNA testing, she located and reunited with her birth mother in 2004. In 2024, she reclaimed her Panamanian citizenship, deepening her connection to her country of origin.

Sandi is active in adoptee and transnational adoptee communities and co-facilitates a support group through Adoption Network Cleveland. She is passionate about identity, advocacy, and creating space for honest conversations about adoption, race, and belonging.