The book No Stone Unturned follows the author’s 44-year search for her birth mother utilizing DNA technology and innovative detective skills. Find out more about this book below.
No Stone Unturned: A Remarkable Journey To Identity
I first wanted to read No Stone Unturned because I thought it sounded interesting. This book was absolutely amazing. It’s a riveting story that I simply couldn’t put down. This book made me laugh, cry, feel angry, and feel happy. No Stone Unturned was so much more than I expected and gave me a new sense of gratitude toward my own childhood and life. This is definitely a story that everyone should read.
You can find No Stone Unturned: A Remarkable Journey To Identity on Amazon and from your favorite bookseller.
About the Book
DNA Miracle from Nadean Stone, Coral Springs, Florida
Between 1945 and 1973, about 350,000 unmarried Canadian mothers were persuaded, coerced, or forced into giving their babies up for adoption. (Andrews, Valerie: White Unwed Mother: The Adoption Mandate in Postwar Canada, Demeter Press, Toronto 2018.)
Many babies were illegally given away, like a puppy at the pound, for a nominal donation to the church. On Christmas Eve, 1952 I became one of those babies. From the moment my grandmother shared the story of my adoption, my birthday wish every year was to find my mother.
The current law in Ontario Canada permits Legally adopted persons only to access their birth registration records. Persons who were simply given away like me or whose adoption records were not perfectly executed are denied access to those records.
In 2013, I increased my search efforts with an intense focus on DNA which became my only source of hope. I tested with 23 and Me and Ancestry but did not know how to proceed with a search. A DNA genetic genealogist, Olivia, found my post on a Canadian adoption website in February 2017 and offered to assist. Olivia downloaded my DNA info to Gedmatch, a website designed to assist adoptees. And off we went! Olivia provided a quick primer on centimorgans, DNA, SNP’s, and Haplogroups, and how to review and understand the connections with my new 3rd and 4th “cousins.”
As the months progressed, many of the 150 “cousins” became invested in my search. We exchanged personal email addresses and telephone numbers, creating a “Village of Cousins” desperate to help “the baby find her mother.”
While a significant portion of the book chronicles the use of DNA to find my birth parents, the story is much larger. In the intervening years, I faced numerous daunting personal challenges that include a harrowing escape from a Caribbean Island. The story is more Hollywood than Hollywood. One reviewer shared “No Stone Unturned is a real-life story that contains all the elements for a great movie: Real life drama, pain, suspense, romance, royalty, politics, and more. You will cry, laugh, and get angry. Thank you Nadean for being transparent and opening your soul to share such personal details.”
In sharing my journey, my goal is to inspire readers to find faith, hope, and the courage to persevere, despite the odds. To continue to dream. To never, ever give up! An additional goal is to transform the book into a movie or television series due to the power of film to alter lives and initiate change.
Taleflick, an LA-based production company has recommended No Stone Unturned for a film or TV series and selected it as a Taleflick Pick! Parklander Magazine says “If ever a cable series suggested its own sequel that promised to be just as or more captivating than the original, The Handmaid’s Tale, this would be it.”
Cinema buffs who like the movies Lion and Philomena will enjoy my story. I promise a never-ending roller-coaster ride. I created a Birth Search Directory on my website to assist adoptees in their search, www.nadeanstone.com.
November is National Adoption Month. Please join me in celebrating all our family members however, they have come into our lives!
About the Author
Nadean Stone is a legal management consultant and author. She works as an advocate for children and adoptees, with an interest in public policy and legislation.
She is currently exploring the transformation of No Stone Unturned into a film or television series and is also working on several children’s stories about her adventures on her grandmother’s farm.
She and her husband, Bill, divide their time between their home in South Florida and their cottage on Lake Champlain.
