In this episode of Finding Family DNA, we sit down with an author and adoptee who turned a decades-long search for her birth family into three deeply personal books. Adopted in Denver in the early 1960s, she spent years chasing fragments of her past before taking a daring, real-life risk to uncover her birth mother's identity. What followed was a reunion that didn't unfold the way she'd imagined, a startling twist involving the man she thought was her birth father, and a DNA confirmation that didn't arrive until decades later. Along the way, she discovered how trauma can freeze a birth parent in time, and how healing often means letting your story become your strength instead of your wound. Her journey took her from a broken lock and a library microfiche machine to a small-town diner phone call that changed everything. Now she's using her voice to help other adoptees find their own truth — and their own community.
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen — your support helps fund our pro bono DNA cases. Also, if you want to support our mission more directly, join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/findingfamilydna
Watch this podcast right now on YouTube!
https://youtu.be/1uaZ6wvlo0o
00:00 Intro
00:45 Case Update: A Birth Father Reconnects After Decades
01:35 Meet Linda Pevac, Author of Three Adoption Memoirs
02:45 Growing Up Knowing She Was Adopted
04:00 Deciding to Search for Her Birth Mother
04:45 Starting the Search in Secret, 1987
06:00 Non-Identifying Information from the Agency
07:00 Planning to Break Into the Adoption Agency
07:45 The Break-In
09:15 Racing the Library's Closing Time
10:20 Returning the Records Undetected
11:30 Her Brother's Very Different Reaction
12:45 No Two Adoption Stories Are the Same
14:00 A Blurry Signature and a Handwriting Analyst
15:20 Searching Before the Internet Existed
16:00 A Small-Town Diner Leads to Her Aunt
17:45 Mug Giveaway and Show Updates
18:30 Calling Her Birth Mother for the First Time
19:45 Flying to California to Meet Her
21:30 The Reality Behind Her Mother's Story
23:00 Chasing a Name on Her Birth Certificate
25:30 Meeting the Man Who Denied Being Her Father
27:00 A DNA Test Confirms the Truth, Years Later
28:45 Writing The Gathering Place
29:45 Writing A Fire is Coming
30:40 Writing Choosing to Breathe
31:50 Misty's Reflection on Linda's Journey
32:30 Quickfire Questions with Linda
33:55 A Message for Struggling Adoptees
34:45 Where to Find Linda's Books and Social Media
Follow the show here:
https://www.instagram.com/findingfamilydna/
https://www.instagram.com/lasleuth
https://www.instagram.com/birthparentfinder/
Are you looking to find your birth parents? Get in touch with Jay and his team!
https://www.birthparentfinder.com
https://www.instagram.com/birthparentfinder
This podcast was edited using PodShuttle, the fully-remote podcast editing and management service owned and operated by CHOBO Studios. For more info, visit podshuttle.io and follow us on Instagram to see more shows we've helped bring to life.
https://www.instagram.com/chobostudios
https://www.instagram.com/podshuttle
Adoption Reunion, Closed Adoption Search, Adoptee Story, Birth Mother Found, DNA Genealogy, Finding Birth Family, Adoption Podcast, Emotional Reunion, BirthParentFinder, Family Discovery
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
