S1E21 Unraveling Diana

S1 E21 - Unraveling Diana - Diana speaks candidly about identity, secrecy, and the emotional toll of discovering that official records cannot always be trusted. Her journey spans continents, generations, and legal gray zones. And yet, through genealogy work, writing her book Connected: Finding My Truth, and helping others uncover hidden histories, Diana has transformed her pain into purpose.

Diana grew up believing her origins were clear. Raised in a modern Orthodox Jewish home, she built her identity around faith, family, and tradition. Even when she didn’t quite look like her parents, there was always a photograph ready to explain it away. But a slip of the tongue from a family friend changed everything.

SHOW NOTES

What followed was not a simple adoption story. It was a layered, cross-border unraveling. In this powerful and complex conversation, Kara and Diana explore what it means to chase truth when the truth keeps shifting.

• Finding the truth in multiple different birth certificates, each with conflicting information
• The reality of baby brokers and the “baby scoop era”
• How coercion forced Diana to step back from her search and reunion for 15 years
• Wrestling with faith, conversion, and maternal lineage within Judaism
• Living with unanswered questions and choosing peace anyway

Her story reminds us that truth is not always neat. It does not always come with paperwork. And sometimes the unraveling is lifelong. But seeking it anyway? That is courage.

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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