Pick up where part one left off with Sana L. Cotten on her journey to find answers about her family history. In this episode, Sana, who has never met her father, goes on a 10-year search to locate her paternal family and find belonging. She reflects on how her unfulfilled need for family connection after entering foster care has impacted her through adulthood.
Show Notes
00:00:30 | S2 E3: In Search of Belonging with Sana L. Cotten, Part One is a prelude to the conversation that continues here.
00:02:09 | To learn her paternal history, Sana takes an Ancestry® DNA test which leads her to finding her birth certificate and her mother’s marriage certificate.
00:05:00 | TV personality and specialist in finding long-lost family members, Troy Dunn of “The Locator” (2008-2010) and his team agree to help Sana follow up on the information from her mother’s marriage certificate.
00:06:00 | Why do children in foster care want to know their family history?
00:07:19 | Sana applies to another TV show, “Relative Race” (2016-Present). The producers and their team take control of Sana’s Ancestry® account in search of clues to help Sana reconnect with her paternal family.
00:09:40 | Sana gets reconnected with her uncle and gets an opportunity to ask the burning question, “Do you know who my dad is?”Sana is able to share this name with the genealogist that was able to finally help her get closer to her father.
00:11:58 | After a 10-year journey of trying to find her father, Sana describes her internal experience before she contacts the family member the genealogist found in Sana’s family tree.
00:14:58 | Hear from Sana on the importance of finding family for youth in care and adoptees.
00:15:20 | Sana calls her family contact who she discovers is her father’s brother.
00:18:19 | On New Year’s Eve of 2020, Sana calls and meets her siblings, two older brothers, over the phone.
00:20:40 | Sana meets more of her family at the family reunion for her paternal family in April 2022.
00:23:56 | Sana reflects on a photo of her as a young girl when she sat on the stoop of her aunt’s trailer feeling like she didn’t belong and how it captured her feelings from childhood until now.
00:26:50 | Matt shares his final thoughts.
Resources
Meet Sana L. Cotten
Book: “Everyone will know it was God” by Sana L. Cotten
Creating and Maintaining Meaningful Connections | Child Welfare Information Gateway
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