For Fred, learning he was adopted came with two earthshaking revelations. First, he had no idea how central his birth story was to his sense of identity. Second, he was unaware that there was actually a group of the population in his state and country that had diminished records access rights—adoptees. Together, the two revelations sent Fred on a journey to redefine himself and find new purpose. Today, Fred’s writing work focuses on family, identity, different DNA, and the craziness of living in the Intersection.

About Fred
At the age of 41, Fred Nicora’s foundation was swept away by the slip of a tongue at a family gathering of about 250 extended family members. He discovered he was adopted as an infant. It wasn’t until he contacted the State of Wisconsin the following week to find out his factual identity that the second swing of the wrecking ball completed the annihilation of self, and he discovered he was legally prohibited from knowing his own story, his truth. Today, Fred is committed to bringing truth and transparency to all those affected by altered and hidden identities as a result of legal and societal barriers. Fred’s work is based on and inspired by compilations of real-life stories about genetic surprises derived from DNA databases, adoptions, and donor conceptions and the impacts they have on those affected, with the intention of spotlighting the need for factual birth information access to all.

Fred holds a B.S. in Business Administration, an M.S. in Management Technology, a master’s in architecture, and a secondary lifetime Teaching license via a master’s program. Careers explored include health care administration, architecture, business consulting, teaching, human resource management, and his own entrepreneurial endeavors including a startup gluten free baking enterprise and authoring his story of being thrust into the adoption constellation as a late-discovery adoptee.

A father of three grown children, Fred currently lives and maintains a small hobby farm in Southeastern Wisconsin. He is the author of Forbidden Roots: A Memoir of Late Discovery Adoption.