Because She's Adopted Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Episode 11 | Chris Williams

Host Kristal Parke welcomes fellow adoptee and comedian, Chris Williams to recap a week in The Big Apple where Kristal's film, Because She's Adopted, was the official selection for The Adoptee Film Festival and had its New York City Premiere at the Caveat Theatre in Manhattan. From Central Park to Broadway, hotdogs to hamburgers, they cover it all in this lighthearted episode.

Guest Bio

Chris Williams is a stand-up comedian and producer from Los Angeles, currently based in Santa Barbara. Audiences are drawn to his intelligent, relatable, and irreverent style of humor, which is anchored around his own life experiences, including his adoption story. Chris prefers the term "thrifted" rather than adopted.

Connect with Chris

Website: https://crwspeaks.com/aboutme

Email: chris@crwspeaks.com

Socials: https://www.instagram.com/crwspeaks/

Connect with Kristal

Website: https://kristalparke.net/

Merch | Voices Collection: https://kristalparke.net/merch/

Email: kristal@becauseshesadopted.com

Socials

@kristalparkeofficial

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristalparkeofficial/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@KristalParkeOfficial

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kristalparkeofficial

Support the Show
If this conversation resonated with you, please subscribe, rate, and share the podcast to help more people discover these powerful stories of healing and identity.

Episode 10 | Christy Gilvear

Host Kristal Parke welcomes fellow adoptee Christy Gilvear for a powerful conversation about adoption, faith, and growing up in a high-control religious environment. Together, they unpack how those experiences shaped their identity, relationships, and journey toward healing. This episode of Because She's Adopted offers an honest look at self-discovery, resilience, and finding freedom beyond the beliefs we were raised in.

Guest Bio

Christy Gilvear is the creator of The Rooted Petal and host of the upcoming Green Alchemy Podcast. Through plants, storytelling, and remembrance, she helps others reconnect to their roots and rediscover healing through nature. An adoptee and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Christy interweaves her personal healing journey with teachings on Earth wisdom, ritual, and conscious living. Her work invites others to see plant care as self-care — a living practice of balance, presence, and transformation.

She lives in Utah with her husband, four kids, dog Luna, and two cockatiels — in a home filled with light, love, and a thriving indoor jungle.

Connect with Christy

Email: christy@therootedpetal.com

Socials: 

@therootedpetal

@greenalchemypodcast 

@adopteealchemy

Connect with Kristal
Website: https://kristalparke.net/

Email: kristal@becauseshesadopted.com

YouTube | Instagram | TikTok

@kristalparkeofficial

Support the Show
If this conversation resonated with you, please subscribe, rate, and share the podcast to help more people discover these powerful stories of healing and identity.

Local Kelowna adoptees and hosts, Kristal and Chrystal share their adoption stories.

Episode 9 | Dr.Richard Wenzel

Dr. Richard Wenzel shares a riveting NPE journey that began with an at-home DNA test and unfolded into the discovery that his father was not his genetic father. The conversation traces childhood memories surrounding a sibling's secret adoption, a pediatrician who "knew and lied," and a later-in-life reckoning with identity, family history, and medical ethics. Richard explains why genetic secrets harm patients, how falsified family histories misdirect care, and why he advocates for clinician candor: "Just tell the truth."

Guest Bio

For three decades, Dr. Richard Wenzel, PharmD, CPPS, has been an accomplished educator, practitioner, researcher, and mentor in the realm of health care.  He has authored nearly 50 peer-reviewed publications in medical journals and given more than 100 presentations at national, state, or local-level professional meetings.  He received the American Pharmacists Association's One-to-One Patient Counseling award, given annually to five pharmacists nationally, and is a two-time nominee for the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy's Master Preceptor award.  

In 2020, an at-home DNA test revealed that his father was not his genetic father, a result that helped explain why Richard has always felt 'out of place' within his own family.  Unfortunately, both his mother and genetic father are long deceased, but available information substantiates that his conception was the result of a sexual assault of his at-the-time teenage mother.  Moreover, evidence indicates that Richard's pediatrician knew of, and lied about, the facts of his paternity.  Since his DNA discovery, Richard has published several articles in medical journals calling for health care professionals to improve their management of genetic secrets and has on-going projects aimed at improving public awareness about medical professionals' roles in propagating genetic secrets.    

Connect with Richard
Email: lone.tree.npe@gmail.com

Links:

Misattributed paternity discovery: A critique of medical organizations' recommendations - PubMed

Buying my existence. Just $49, free shipping included - Wenzel - 2023 - Journal of Genetic Counseling - Wiley Online Library

To be or not to be (honest): The persistent problem of misattributed paternity - Hercher - 2023 - Journal of Genetic Counseling - Wiley Online Library

Connect with Kristal
Website: https://kristalparke.net/

Email: kristal@becauseshesadopted.com

YouTube | Instagram | TikTok

@kristalparkeofficial

Support the Show
If this conversation resonated with you, please subscribe, rate, and share the podcast to help more people discover these powerful stories of healing and identity.

Episode 8 | Erin

In this heartfelt conversation, host Kristal Parke sits down with Erin, co-founder of Hiraeth Hope and Healing, Inc., to explore what it means to discover you're an NPE (Not Parent Expected) and how she turned that revelation into one of purpose by creating community spaces for NPE's, adoptees, and donor-conceived individuals.

Guest Bio

In 2017, Erin unexpectedly discovered that she is an NPE (Not Parent Expected) while delving into her family history. Since then, she has devoted much of her time to assisting others in their quests to find family connections, serving as a search angel.

Her dedication to service extends beyond her academic pursuits. Erin has established a supportive online community for NPEs on Facebook and facilitates Zoom meetings and a weekly book club tailored to adoptees, donor-conceived individuals, late discovery adoptees, and fellow NPEs.

At Hiraeth Hope and Healing, Inc., a 501(c)(3), she helps host three annual retreats across the U.S. Erin also serves as the Board President for the Toms River Education Foundation and volunteers at a local food pantry.

A passionate advocate for social justice, Erin is a high school special educator focused on supporting students through trauma-informed approaches and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) in schools. She's a certified Reiki practitioner, a 500 RYT yoga teacher through Breathe for Change, and is currently pursuing her MSW at Rutgers School of Social Work.

Residing at the Jersey Shore with her husband, three sons, and their beloved pup, Cooper, Erin enjoys reading, yoga, meditation, and a good binge of crime TV.

Connect with Erin
Website: www.hiraethhopeandhealing.com

Email: info@hiraethhopeandhealing.com

Facebook: Hiraeth Hope and Healing

Instagram: @hiraethhopeandhealing

Connect with Kristal
Website: https://kristalparke.net/

Email: kristal@becauseshesadopted.com

YouTube | Instagram | TikTok

@kristalparkeofficial

Support the Show
If this conversation resonated with you, please subscribe, rate, and share the podcast to help more people discover these powerful stories of healing and identity.

Episode 7: Sydney Curtin

In this heartwrenching conversation, host Kristal Parke sits down with Sydney Curtin, as she opens up about relinquishment and open adoption. 

Guest Bio

Sydney Curtin is a dynamic speaker, author, multi-business owner, consultant, life coach, and serial entrepreneur. With over ten years of professional experience and an impressive résumé, Sydney extends her knowledge to empower others to change their lives, too.

Overcoming a dark and haunting past, Coach Curtin found herself at a crossroads — her story could either make her or break her. Choosing strength over victimhood, she stood up to make a difference. Sydney now invites others to walk a mile in her shoes so they don't spend a lifetime in regret.

Connect with Sydney
Email: sydneycurtin@curtincallllc.com

Connect with Kristal

Website: kristalparke.net

Email: kristal@becauseshesadopted.com

YouTube | Instagram | TikTok 

@kristalparkeofficial

Support the Show
If this conversation inspired you, please subscribe, rate, and share the podcast to help more people discover these powerful stories of hope.

Kelowna adoptees Kristal and Chrystal welcome 60's scoop survivors Tina Taphouse and Nadine McSpaddan as they courageously share their journey back to their roots and inform us on one of Canada's darker times in history.

Kelowna adoptees Kristal and Chrystal welcome 60's scoop survivors Tina Taphouse and Nadine McSpaddan as they courageously share their journey back to their roots and inform us on one of Canada's darker times in history.

Because She's Adopted Podcast host, Kristal welcomes her husband Stewart Parke as they discuss the ups and downs of relinquishment trauma within a marriage.

Local Kelowna trauma therapist, Cherise Lowe meets with Kristal and Chrystal to help lend a deeper understanding of relinquishment in the context of attachment and trauma.