Presentation Titles:

1. Redefining Family and Identity After a DNA Discovery, Panel Moderator
2. Ethics in Child Welfare, Adoption, and DNA Discoveries – A Panel Presentation, Panelist discussing “The Data Behind the Right to Know: Why Knowing Genetic Identity is Critical for Health, Identity, and Well-Being”
    

Bio: Kara is a mother, advocate, and storyteller whose life is marked by unexpected family twists, from the murder of her grandparents to a DNA surprise at age 43. In 2018, a DNA test she took to trace her African roots revealed she had none, upending her ethnic identity and confirming the man on her birth certificate wasn’t her genetic father. Kara discovered she was 50% Jewish. The DNA Pandora’s box she opened led to an identity crisis and inspired her to found Right to Know (https://righttoknow.us/), providing resources, support, and advocacy for anyone impacted by genetic identity discoveries or loss of genetic continuity. Kara is a leading advocate for genetic identity rights and people impacted by misattributed parentage. She wrote My Re-Birthday Book: This is My Story for adoptees, donor conceived, and people with an NPE, who are misattributed, or who've had a DNA surprise and Cinematic Roots: Explore Assisted Reproduction, Adoption, NPE, and DNA Surprise Terms Through Movies. A prominent advocate, she has appeared on many podcasts, in multiple television interviews and articles, and is a frequent speaker on her DNA surprise, the right to know, and the complex intersection of genetic information, identity, and family dynamics.