A message to LDA/NPE/DCP's
"I just found out I'm my parent(s) aren't my parents."
Chances are, if you've found your way here you are an adoptee, or someone who has experienced a misattributed parentage event. Here, you will find some basic information.
For more on this topic, please see my website:
latediscoveryadoptees.com
What does MPE/LDA/NPE/DCP mean?
MPE - Misattributed parentage event.
LDA - Late-discovery adoptee.
NPE - Non-paternity event or Not Parent Expected.
DCP - Donor conceived person.
All experience similar processes of grief and loss, and face issues related to search and reunion. All learn of their true parentage later in life. Most have been deceived or lied to for large portions of their life. This deception and delayed processing adds layers of trauma, loss, betrayal, identity confusion, and disorganization upon learning the truth.
Every adoption story is unique
Every story is unique. Adoptees and LDA/NPE's may have been raised by one birth parent, some were adopted by members of their extended birth family, and some were adopted by both parents in a traditional "stranger adoption." Others may have lost their birth parents in death. Still others may have spent years in foster care.
What is unique about the LDA/NPE experience?
While both adoptees and LDA's share many of the same issues such as: betrayal, loss, grief, identity, attachment, and reunion issues. There are some factors that are unique to LDA/NPE's - this site will offer support that is specific to their needs also.
What binds LDA/NPE's together is the deception regarding their origins, and the consequences of that deception. Some have asked me to specify an age would one need to be at time of "discovery" for them to be considered an LDA/NPE. I don't believe there is a specific age, and probably every LDA/NPE would answer differently.