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What 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 was adopted. But at 13, she learned she had no original birth certificate. At 18, she discovered there had never been a legal adoption. The attorney who arranged her placement had orchestrated an illegal black-market adoption, leaving Patricia to spend decades searching for answers about her identity, her family, and even her true birthday.

In this deeply personal conversation, Patricia shares what it was like growing up with unanswered questions, why she always feared someone might come to take her away, and how years of searching eventually led her to the truth.

We also discuss her powerful upcoming memoir, Wonderland: A Black-Market Baby's Rise from Adoption's Rabbit Hole, a story of identity, resilience, and the lifelong search for where we belong.

This conversation is unforgettable. And somehow, it's only the beginning.

Next week, Patricia returns to share what happened after the reunion with both of her birth parents, the remarkable relationship she built with her birth father, and a surprise ending that neither she nor Corey saw coming.

Pre-order Wonderland now wherever books are sold.

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She 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 before marrying into a Jewish family, her mother revealed something she had kept hidden for decades. Their family was Jewish.

The secret was not rooted in shame. It was rooted in survival.

Joan shares her mother's journey from Odesa to London, Montreal, New York, and San Francisco, explaining how antisemitism shaped the choices her family made. Along the way, Corey and Kendall discover something familiar. Even though Joan's story is different from a DNA surprise, the emotional questions are remarkably similar.

How does a family secret shape your identity?

Can you understand the people who believed silence was the safest option?

What happens when the truth finally comes out?

The conversation also explores Kendall's own DNA discovery, the importance of identity beyond genetics, and why understanding history can sometimes lead to compassion, even when it cannot erase the pain.

In this episode:

• Why Joan's mother hid her Jewish identity

• The historical events that made secrecy feel necessary

• How hidden ancestry affects future generations

• The surprising connections between hidden heritage and DNA discoveries

• Why family secrets rarely stay buried forever

Whether your story involves adoption, donor conception, a DNA surprise, hidden ancestry, or another family secret, this episode is a reminder that understanding where we come from can change how we see ourselves.

Joan Moran's memoir, Suddenly Jewish, is available wherever books are sold.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who loves true stories about family, identity, and discovery.

Remember, family secrets are the ultimate plot twist.

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Can horror movies actually help us heal?

In this special crossover episode with Horror Heals, Corey sits down for a conversation that might surprise Family Twist listeners. While one podcast explores DNA surprises, adoption, and identity, and the other celebrates horror, both are ultimately about the same thing: how people make sense of difficult experiences and find connection through storytelling.

Whether you've never watched a horror movie in your life or you're a lifelong fan, this episode explores why scary stories resonate so deeply with so many people. From grief and trauma to anxiety and resilience, horror can offer something unexpected: comfort, catharsis, and community.

If you've ever found healing in an unlikely place, this conversation is for you.

And if you enjoy what you hear, check out Horror Heals, where Corey and Kendall welcome actors, filmmakers, authors, therapists, and fellow horror fans every Friday to explore why horror is good for our mental wellness.

About Horror Heals

Hosted by Corey and Kendall Stulce, Horror Heals explores the surprising connection between horror and mental wellness. Through conversations with guests from inside and outside the horror world, the show examines how fear, grief, trauma, and resilience are reflected in the stories we love—and why so many people find comfort in the macabre.