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Severance Magazine

NPEs/MPEs

    ArticlesNPEs/MPEs

    Should Health Care Professionals Tell the Truth About Paternity?

    by bkjax April 14, 2025

    By Jodi Girard, MS

    On September 28, 2018, at 3 p.m., I opened an email from Ancestry.com notifying me that my DNA results were ready. When I clicked on the ethnicity tab, I saw 52% England/Northwestern Europe and 46% West Coast of Africa. “That’s odd. How can that be?” I thought to myself. I know what my dad looks like, I know what my mom looks like. I called one of my best friends who had taken an ancestry test to see if she could help me understand what I was looking at. I went to her house and showed her my results and she got very quiet. 

    “How are you feeling?” she asked. 

    “About what?”

    “You’re half Black.” I had seen the results on the screen with my own two eyes, but it wasn’t until my friend said the words out loud, “you’re half Black” that it really hit me. I sat in stunned silence. This can’t be. Someone would have told me. My parents would never have hidden something this important. I couldn’t think, scenes from my entire life were swirling through my mind. Who else knew? I replayed every family event, every conversation, every look. I felt like someone was choking the very life out of me, pulling me apart. I didn’t know what to do next.

    While my story is unique in several significant ways, it also mirrors the experiences of many others who have encountered a misattributed paternity surprise. This is often referred to by acronyms such as NPE (non-paternal event) or MPE (misattributed parentage experience). Whatever the label, the outcome is the same: we believed we knew our biological parent(s), we took a DNA test, and then learned that a fundamental truth about our lives was false.

    The shock of receiving unexpected DNA results can be overwhelming. It disrupts your sense of self and everything you thought you knew about your identity. For me, despite the stark physical differences between me and my two white parents, I was flooded with a whirlwind of emotions—confusion, disbelief, curiosity, anger, bitterness, and even a sense of loss for the identity I had always believed was mine. This journey of self-discovery has fundamentally reshaped how I see myself and where I come from, leading to a profound shift in my understanding of who I am. Even the most grounded and rational individuals can find themselves searching for clarity in the midst of the chaos. Many people channel their anger, hurt, and confusion into helping others through podcasts, blogs, books, conferences, and Facebook support groups. It was at a conference that I first encountered, Richard Wenzel, a writer and speaker, about the NPE/MPE experience, who posed some difficult yet pivotal questions to me. 

    “Didn’t your pediatrician ever ask you or your mother about the obvious physical differences between you and your parents? There are important chronic diseases that disproportionately affect the Black community—were you ever tested or monitored for these? And when you had children, didn’t any of your doctors ask about your white only family history?” Stunned, I sat in silence before answering, “No. No one has ever asked me those questions. Ever.”

    It had never occurred to me that medical professionals, in order to treat me, and eventually my children, appropriately, might need to inquire about the physical anomalies that contradicted the family history I had always shared. After our discussion, Richard introduced me to other incredible women, each with their own NPE stories, offering unique perspectives on his questions. Our collective answers, combined with Richard’s own experience as an NPE, sparked his drive to write an article addressing a significant issue: erroneous family medical history (FMH).

    Alongside Richard, Eve Sturges, Gina Daniel, Lily Wood* and I set out to craft an article exploring how medical organizations recommend handling misattributed paternity discoveries. We examined whether and how this discovery should be disclosed to genetic or non-genetic parents or to the children in question. What is the responsibility of pediatricians and doctors when they uncover an a case of misattributed parentage? Does it matter whether this is discovered through genetic testing or by observing physical attributes that don’t align with the parents’? What does it look like to have compassionate, medically appropriate conversations when disclosing this information? And when is it appropriate to disclose, especially when the child is a minor?

    Our article delves into current practices, points out potential contradictions, and examines the clinical and legal risks associated with both disclosure and non-disclosure. We note that the consequences of inaccurate family medical histories are significant. Learning that our article had been accepted for publication in the American Journal of Human Genetics was an exhilarating moment. This milestone has led us down numerous paths to help others navigate similar revelations. Our hope is to educate others to continue this important conversation about a subject that grows in prevalence with each DNA kit that’s purchased. View the article here.

    *For more information about the article coauthors, please see their previously published Severance articles:

    Richard Wenzel – PharmD – Too Bad, They’re Dead – Severance Magazine

    Gina Daniel, DSW, LCSW, therapist, owner of Graystone Mental Health and Wellness Group –  Q&A With Gina Daniel – Severance Magazine

    Lily Wood – host of NPE Stories – Q & A With Lily Wood, Host of NPE Stories – Severance Magazine

    Eve Sturges, LMFT, host of Everything’s Relative – Q&A: Podcast Host Eve Sturges – Severance Magazine

    Jodi Girard, MS,  grew up on a rural Iowa farm with two white parents and two white siblings and clearly looked different. Despite that, she never asked her parents why and no one ever talked about it. When the DNA test revealed that her ethnicity was 46% West Coast of Africa, her life was turned upside down. Discovering that the father who raised her, who loved her, was not her biological father was both devastating and freeing. For the first time in her life, the image in the mirror made sense ,and she had people she looked like. On the other hand, she had been telling a narrative her whole life that wasn’t true. She is still working on figuring out what it means to be a biracial woman, finding pride in both her white side and her black side. She has enjoyed getting to know her new siblings and cousins. She has found strength in the NPE community and in support groups like NPE Network and Right to Know. Her struggle has found meaning and purpose in sharing the truth now and she hopes to help others navigate a DNA discovery, especially when it involves a major ethnicity shift. She has appeared on The Bradley Hall Show, Show 029 (May 28, 2021), Missing Pieces NPE Life Podcast with Don Anderson Season 3, Episode 7 (July 27, 2023), NPE Stories podcast Episode 213 (with the other authors of the article) (February 19, 2025) and was a speaker on an Ethnicity Shift Panel, Untangling Our Roots Summit, April 2023, Louisville, KY. She lives in Kansas City and is the mother of five amazing children. She loves gardening, reading, cooking and fossil hunting. Find her on Instagram @fullyknown92818.

    April 14, 2025 0 comments
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  • ArticlesNPEs/MPEs

    Psychedelic Assisted Therapy

    by bkjax August 22, 2024
    August 22, 2024

    By Amy Ebbeson, LCSW Since the beginning of recorded history, people have been misled about their parentage and origins. This is a foundational story in Christianity. And even in a galaxy far, far away. In Star Wars, Darth Vader’s declaration, “Luke, I am your father,” is probably the most quoted line in science fiction history. In 2024, it’s not an epic battle that brings people this information, but rather a computer screen. People of all ages and stages of their life can now discover by spitting into a tube a hidden truth about who they are genetically. Being able to find out a long-held secret from an inexpensive and widely available commercial DNA test is a completely novel trauma. Never have we had the ability to find this truth without the consent, knowledge, or genetic material of both parents. When people find out that their genetic content is not what they thought it was, it can lead to a crisis of identity, fraught with confusion, disillusionment and the pain of disconnection. For people to recover from this trauma and emerge as healthy, well-adjusted individuals, they must take time to process the implications and make sense of their new origin story. Since 2020, I have been leading twice monthly therapeutic support groups for this population and have built my understanding from direct experience. Prior to my knowledge of my own misidentified parentage, I sought healing through many means and modalities, as I felt the internal conflict before understanding it. DNA journeys are often talked about as if they are puzzles: Where do I fit? Who am I connected to? In my own healing, I’ve been excited by the accelerated insight gained by psychedelic plant medicines. These substances can alter your sensory perceptions, giving you a new perspective. They allow you to see things from a different angle—like being able to flip the puzzle sideways. The new view allows for a reinterpretation of the events. This reassessment can bring greater peace in the knowledge that you are one piece in the much larger picture of the whole puzzle of humanity. Discovery is Often Traumatic NPE is a genealogical research acronym for non-paternity event that’s been expanded to mean not parent expected to be more inclusive in a modern context. The affordability of testing, and the marketing of it as entertainment, has led to an unexpected upending of family life. Discovering that one has no genetic connection to one or both parents is traumatic, it maps to the definition of trauma accepted by the American Psychiatric Association. The event is sudden or unexpected, as many people affected took the test for recreational purposes, not knowing it could reveal unknown relatives. The experience is perceived as overwhelming and/or uncontrollable. It can result in feelings of helplessness, a lack of a sense of safety, and a lack of control. Unknown paternity, for any reason, brings social judgment, distress, and shame. Individual situations may result in additional stigmas, such as those related to perceived illegitimacy, having a single parent, infidelity, rape, incest, adoption, infertility, donor insemination, and/ or being in the child welfare system. This judgment, distress, and stigma happens at all levels. The individual themselves may experience emergent mental health symptoms. Within families, the person making this discovery is typically blamed for causing the family shame and for their ensuing symptoms of anxiety and depression. Like every other trauma, it often generates secondary adversities, life changes, and distressing reminders. Click on image to read more.

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  • ArticlesDNA SurprisesNPEs/MPEs

    Autonomy, DNA Surprises, and Barbie: What’s the Connection?

    by bkjax July 31, 2023
    July 31, 2023

    By Kara Rubinstein Deyerin Without having your whole story, you cannot have autonomy. Autonomy and decision-making go hand-in-hand. Autonomy, the ability to act independently and make choices based on one’s own judgment, relies on having a comprehensive understanding of the context and factors at play. If you do not know your true origin story, your ability to exercise true autonomy becomes limited or compromised. A fragmented or partial view of who you are may lead to misinterpretations, ill-informed decisions, and potential consequences that could have been avoided if you’d had the truth. Barbie is a perfect example of how lack of information about the fundamental building blocks of your life and who you are can lead to an identity crisis when you discover the truth. Note to the reader: if you haven’t seen the movie, know that there are spoilers here. I highly recommend you see the movie and then read this article. Even if you don’t come back to read this, go see the movie. Barbie lives in a world based on a fundamental lie—the belief that the Barbies have solved women’s equality problems in the real world. Because Barbie is a female president, doctor, physicist, and more, she believes women in the real world have this level of power too. How Barbie sees her world and herself and how she interacts with her friends and Ken is based on this being true. When she learns the real world is very different, it throws her relationships and her sense of identity into disarray. People often have a difficult time understanding what the big deal is when someone has a DNA surprise and they discover that one or both of their parents aren’t genetically related to them. “What’s the big deal? You’re still you?” they’re often asked. The Barbie movie is a perfect example of “what’s the big deal.” Once Barbie’s fundamental truth about who she is toppled, she has an existential crisis. She’s forced to confront the fundamental purpose, meaning, and essence of her life and her own existence. Perhaps through Barbie you can understand the aftershocks caused by a DNA surprise: how one sees oneself and their place in the world is no longer the same. Five years ago, after spitting in a tube, I learned I wasn’t genetically related to the man I thought was my father. I’d wanted to learn where in Africa his family came from. What I discovered was I had zero African DNA and was half Jewish instead. Everything about my life and who I was had been based on a lie. Enter an existential crisis that at times I still revisit. Click on image to read more.

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    Meet Your Peers at the Untangling Our Roots Summit

    by bkjax February 6, 2023
    February 6, 2023

    By Kara Rubinstein Deyerin People with misattributed parentage, DNA surprises, and unknown origins have a lot in common. Many of us learn about being misattributed because we are byproducts of the direct-to-consumer DNA testing phenomenon. We bought into the commercial enticing us to learn more about our roots, or perhaps we were gifted a test, and then we received the shock of our lives—we are not genetically related to one or both of our parents. Some of us grow up knowing we have a different genetic parent(s) out there, somewhere, but aren’t interested in knowing them. However we get there, when we start the process of reunion, we all end up in a very similar emotional space. One thing I continue to hear as I speak with people experiencing these new discoveries is “I felt all alone.” I can completely identify with this sentiment. While each of our stories is unique,  many common themes flow through them. We are not alone. United we can help each other heal. We can educate others about how deeply we are impacted. And we can elevate each other’s voices to change societal perceptions and laws to reflect our most basic right to know who we are. Untangling Our Roots is the first-ever summit to promote these principles and bring together adoptees, the donor-conceived, people with an NPE, their significant others, raising and genetic family, and the professionals who assist our communities–an event sponsored by Right to Know and the National Association of Adoptees and Parents. Click image to read more.

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    Q&A with Daniel Groll

    by bkjax April 11, 2022
    April 11, 2022

    Conceiving People: Genetic Knowledge and the Ethics of Sperm and Egg Donation, by Daniel Groll, is a fascinating exploration of attitudes about whether donor offspring are entitled to knowledge of their donors, but the issues and questions it raises are pertinent to adoptees and NPEs/MPEs as well. Comprehensive and academic in approach, it may be challenging to readers not well-versed in philosophical discourse, but it’s key reading for anyone with a stake in the debate over access to genetic knowledge. And although Groll ultimately stands against anonymity in donor conception, some NPEs and MPEs may take exception to some of the arguments that lead him there. Therefore, we asked him to address some of those arguments, and he readily agreed. Severance was the target of a critical article last year in a publication called Real Life that accused it of numerous transgressions, including promoting bionormativity. It insisted that the magazine’s content poses genetic family as measured by DNA as “the norm against which all forms of family should be judged.” It further states that if we view the genetic family as something from which one can be severed, non-genetic family “will inevitably be understood as secondary, extraneous, and even pathological.” Additionally, it charges that those of us looking for genetic information are indicating that “biogenetic kinship is the most true, essential, and valid form of family” and that such a belief places queer families in “legally precarious positions but undermines the larger value of ‘love makes a family’ for all families.” The argument rejects the idea that there can be a desire to know one’s genetic history that is apolitical. Clearly, I don’t believe Severance makes any such assertions, and based on having heard hundreds of stories and experiences, it’s obvious that most of us grew up with non-genetic families. I, for example, was raised by a man who was not my father. He was my family. I didn’t wish to have another father, but I did wish to know who my by biological father was. I didn’t imagine my biological family would be a better family, or a more real family. I simply wished, as I believe most people who lack this information do, to know from whom I got my genes. My question is, how does simply wanting that information valorize traditional families or diminish nontraditional families? Before I answer this, I just want to explain my connection to the issue of donor conception since people inevitably wonder about it. I am a known donor to close friends who have two children. The children know both who and what I am in relation to them. Our families are in regular contact. From the get-go, everyone agreed there would be no secrets and that we all need to be open to how their children understand their experience and let that guide us. Maybe the fact that I’m a donor will cause some of your readers to stop reading, but I hope not.

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    I Just Found Out I’m Jewish, But Am I Jewish?

    by bkjax March 10, 2022
    March 10, 2022

    First, if you feel called to read this essay, then you belong here. Welcome. Do you belong in the Jewish community? Are you a part of this religion, culture, and peoplehood? Are you actually technically Jewish at all? To give a very Jewish answer: yes, no, maybe. It depends. But this journey of exploration and curiosity—of questioning and wrestling—is absolutely yours for the taking. So welcome. Welcome, welcome, welcome. Not everyone along the way will greet you with such open arms, so I want to make sure that mine are stretched extra wide. An NPE* discovery is complicated enough, but when compounded by an ethnicity discovery—a Jewish ethnicity discovery especially—the complications are magnified. And Jewish identity is complicated enough, even for people who were raised Jewish. DNA testing may be new, but the question of “who counts as a Jew” is as old as Judaism itself. Judaism is an ethnicity, as you may have just learned unexpectedly, but it’s also a culture, a spiritual practice, a community, a set of laws, a set of holy days, and unendingly more. How many of those boxes must a person tick in order to be counted among the tribe? The answer remains: it depends. There’s a beloved aphorism: for every two Jews, you get three opinions. Judaism is far more concerned with asking questions than it is with answering them. So if you came to this article asking “Am I Jewish?” be forewarned: you won’t get a clear answer. But you will, I hope, get a solid footing for the start of your journey, should you choose to embark. The Rabbinic Answer Let’s start with the answer you’d be most likely to get if you googled “Am I Jewish?” Or, let’s say you told a rabbi: “I just found out that I’m biologically half Jewish because the dad that I thought was my dad isn’t my dad and my DNA isn’t what I thought it was—what does that mean?” First, the rabbi would probably respond the same way most people do: a polite “please slow down because I don’t believe what I’m hearing,” or something of that ilk. Then, the rabbi would likely say that, according to halakha (Jewish law), you must be born to a Jewish mother or have entered the faith through conversion. For an NPE, then, this sounds like a resounding no: you are not, by law, a Jew. A reform or reconstructionist rabbi (these are the more socially progressive and halakhically creative of the four main Jewish denominations: learn more here) would tell you that patrilineal Jews count, but only if they’re raised Jewish—so you’re still out of luck.

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    RTK Offers New Continuing Education Courses

    by bkjax March 1, 2022
    March 1, 2022

    It’s what those of us with misattributed parentage like to call “sibling season”—the time when people who received an over-the-counter DNA test for Christmas are getting the results. When you have a DNA surprise and learn the person who raised you is not your genetic parent, you are plummeted into a world of confusion, doubt, and shock. You feel all alone in your experience. You are likely thinking it is impossible that anyone else could possibly have such a crazy thing happened to them. And so when you turn to a professional—a licensed therapist—for help, the last thing you want to hear after explaining your situation during your first session is “Wow. That’s incredible. I’ve never heard of that before!” We estimate that 1 in 20 people have misattributed parentage—that’s 16.6 million Americans who may innocently spit into a tube and discover they’re not who they thought they were. People have a misattributed parentage experience (MPE) from a variety of reasons: they discover they’re adopted, conceived through assisted reproduction or as a result of an extra-marital affair, rape, or other sexual encounter. Regardless of why someone has an MPE, the news is traumatic. “After I told my therapist about my MPE, she said she had no idea how a person should respond to being told such a story.” Lisa In Right to Know’s 2021 Survey of MPEs[1], 39% of those surveyed responded they’d sought help from a licensed therapist. Of those who saw a therapist, only 18% felt their therapists had sufficient training in misattributed parentage issues to assist them. This needs to change. “Today I had a therapy session with yet another new therapist. Every time I have to educate my therapist on what an MPE is, how we feel, how our situation is life altering, how we have an identity crisis, and how we search for family…..” Michelle Right to Know is a nonprofit dedicated to advocating for people with a DNA surprise and misattributed parentage and promoting understanding of the complex intersection of genetic information, identity, and family dynamics. To promote this goal, we now offer the first misattributed parentage education platform providing educational information on MPEs and the impacts of DNA surprises to professionals and the public. With this initiative, we aim to tackle one of the most important aspects of the MPE discovery—the need for training for licensed therapists and information for those affected by an MPE and the public at large. “During my first visit to a therapist, she admitted this was all so new to everyone and she had no experience with this specific trauma, that there was no handbook on how to handle my feelings. She told me my mother had every right to lie to me, that it was her body.” Dan

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http://www.reckoningwiththeprimalwound.com

What’s New on Severance

  • There Was a Secret
  • Should Health Care Professionals Tell the Truth About Paternity?
  • 20 Questions and a World of Stories
  • The Wizard and I
  • Rabbit Holes and Hobbits
  • We Three

After a DNA Surprise: 10 Things No One Wants to Hear

https://www.righttoknow.us

Call Right To Know’s resource hotline to talk with another MPE be paired with a mentor, get resources, or just talk.

Original Birth Certificates to California Born Adoptees

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erHylYLHqXg&t=4s

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abandonment adoptee adoptees adoptee stories adoption advocacy biological family birthmother books DNA DNA surprise DNA surprises DNA test DNA tests donor conceived donor conception essay Essays family secrets genetic genealogy genetic identity genetics grief heredity Late Discovery Adoptee late discovery adoptees Late Discovery Adoption meditation memoir MPE MPEs NPE NPEs podcasts psychology Q&A rejection research reunion search and reunion secrets and lies self care therapy transracial adoption trauma

Recommended Reading

The Lost Family: How DNA is Upending Who We Are, by Libby Copeland. Check our News & Reviews section for a review of this excellent book about the impact on the culture of direct-to-consumer DNA testing.

What Happens When Parents Wait to Tell a Child He’s Adopted

“A new study suggests that learning about one’s adoption after a certain age could lead to lower life satisfaction in the future.”

Janine Vance Searches for the Truth About Korean Adoptees

“Imagine for a minute that you don’t know who your mother is. Now imagine that you are that mother, and you don’t know what became of your daughter.”

Who’s Your Daddy? The Twisty History of Paternity Testing

“Salon talks to author Nara B. Milanich about why in the politics of paternity and science, context is everything.”

What Separation from Parents Does to Children: ‘The Effect is Catastrophic”

“This is what happens inside children when they are forcibly separated from their parents.”

Truth: A Love Story

“A scientist discovers his own family’s secret.”

Dear Therapist: The Child My Daughter Put Up for Adoption is Now Rejecting Her

“She thought that her daughter would want to meet her one day. Twenty-five years later, that’s not true.”

I’m Adopted and Pro-Choice. Stop Using My Story for the Anti-Abortion Agenda. Stephanie Drenka’s essay for the Huffington Post looks at the way adoptees have made unwilling participants in conversations about abortion.

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Severance Magazine
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Severance Magazine
  • About
    • About Severance
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    • Submission Guidelines: How to Contribute
    • Contact Us
  • Articles
    • abandonment
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@2019 - Severance Magazine