Without us realising, an enormous DNA database has been created online. It holds the secrets of your true identity and promises to reveal untold family connections. But what happens when online ancestry tests reveal more than you had bargained for?
Across two series, Jenny Kleeman meets the men and women whose lives changed forever after they opened a box that contained a DNA test. Exposing scandals, upending identities, solving mysteries and delivering life-changing news - Jenny investigates what happens when genealogy, technology and identity collide.
In a brand new bonus episode, Searching – available on BBC Sounds from 22 February, 2025 – Jenny meets a family who are in a race against time to find the baby they believe was switched at birth.
Without us realising, an enormous DNA database has been created online. It holds the secrets of your true identity and promises to reveal untold family connections. But what happens when online ancestry tests reveal more than you had bargained for?
Across two series, Jenny Kleeman meets the men and women whose lives changed forever after they opened a box that contained a DNA test. Exposing scandals, upending identities, solving mysteries and delivering life-changing news - Jenny investigates what happens when genealogy, technology and identity collide.
In a brand new bonus episode, Searching – available on BBC Sounds from 22 February, 2025 – Jenny meets a family who are in a race against time to find the baby they believe was switched at birth.
A family's race against time to find the baby they believe DNA testing proves was switched at birth.
It’s the perfect gift for the person who already has everything. It promises to tell you who you really are, and how you’re connected to the world. A present that will reveal your genetic past – but could also disrupt your future.
In the second series of The Gift, Jenny Kleeman looked deeper into the unintended consequences - the aftershocks - set in motion when people take at-home DNA tests like Ancestry and 23andMe.
This included "Switched"; the stories of two women who discovered they had been accidentally swapped at birth in a West Midlands hospital in 1967– all due to an Ancestry DNA test, received as a Christmas gift.
As soon as the episode aired, people began to contact Jenny with tales of other incidences of accidental baby swaps - and one in particular stood out.
Presenter: Jenny Kleeman Producer: Becca Bryers Executive Producer: Joe Kent Production Coordinator: Gill Huggett Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
The Gift is a BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4