In 2018, a woman received a strange Facebook message and a call from a man claiming to be her father.

This phone call tilted the world of Eve Sturges, a podcaster, therapist, filmmaker, and mother from Los Angeles, California. After undergoing DNA testing, Sturges confirmed that the man who contacted her, Peter, was indeed her father.

Shocked, Sturges realized that the man who had raised her was not her biological father.

“It revealed a whole part of my life and family history that I didn’t know about and that my parents thought would stay hidden,” Sturges told The Dallas Express. “It’s very bizarre to have at least 50% of your story, heritage, narrative, and ties get taken away.”

During this time, direct-to-consumer DNA tests were all the rage, but many people don’t realize how these tests can quickly reveal secrets about one’s identity and heritage. In fact, 3 -10% of test-takers discover that they weren’t who they thought they were.

“I immediately felt really compelled to help people understand,“ Sturges shared. “I just felt like so much of what was happening was because of secrets… secrets were happening because of societal norms.”

That’s when Sturges decided to launch her podcast, Everything’s Relative with Eve Sturges, where she shares stories about DNA tests that lead to shocking discoveries. Sturges told DX, “I’m always looking for people to share a little advice or insight about their experience in case it could help someone else.”

When asked why she chose to pursue podcasting, Sturges said she wanted to “bring some levity to the experience and our community because I think that’s helpful and important too, depending on where people are in their journey.”

Sturges started her podcast in 2019. She has since recorded over 100 episodes and has more than 250,000 plays.

The podcast was an outlet for Sturges and sparked key questions that remained concerning her identity and discovering more about family members she never knew existed.

“All these half-siblings have a belief and a narrative about what it means to be from this family,” Sturges explained. “I’d love to know what they think it means for me, [and] if it changes anything.”

With this in mind, Sturges decided it was time to get answers and meet her half-siblings.

Sturges will embark on a road trip this summer with her family to meet her half-siblings for the first time. Along the way, she will be stopping in several major cities across the U.S. to talk to some of her listeners and others about their collective DNA discovery experiences.

“I talk about [my experience] a lot, and everywhere I go when I talk about it, someone in the conversation goes ‘That happened to me’ or ‘That happened to my brother,’ there’s always somebody,” Sturges shared.

An upcoming documentary will share her travels and conversations and uncover the hidden truths in the stories of those who have experienced similar scenarios. Sturges hopes the documentary will spark conversations about secrets, family, and shame.

Sturges wants to convey to those who have experienced a similar world-tilting phenomenon that they are not alone and that it does get better. “Some people aren’t traumatized by it, but if your world is rocked, it does stabilize eventually.”

During her summer travels, Sturges will visit Dallas from August 8 to 11 and encourage those interested in meeting her to contact her.

While in Dallas, Sturges will meet with Brad Ewell, a police officer who discovered he was adopted and that his biological father was in prison. Ewell had done a podcast episode with Sturges and will be one of several individuals featured in her upcoming documentary.

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