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societyFeb 13, 202026:59pending

How are at-home DNA tests reshaping our identities?

About this episode

Some of life's fundamental questions include, 'who am I?' and 'where do I come from?'. As at-home DNA test kits become more and more popular, those philosophical musings have become big business. But what happens when the results are more than you bargained for? On this episode of Next Question with Katie Couric, Katie sits down with podcast host and author Dani Shapiro, who shares her shocking story about finding out, in her 50s, that the beloved man who raised her was not her biological father. With direct-to-consumer DNA testing expected to reach 100 million people in just a few years, Dani’s experience is far from unique — millions of people are about to come face-to-face with some hard truths about their histories. So what are the hugely profitable companies behind these kits doing to support customers who receive life-altering news? Katie speaks to one woman who took matters into her own hands after the company who made her test wouldn’t even get on the phone with her, turning her DNA results into a global support network for people like her. 

For more about Dani’s book, Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love, click here or visit PenguinRandomHouse.com

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How are at-home DNA tests reshaping our identities?

Next Question with Katie Couric

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