The Gift

BBC Radio 4

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 three 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.

Series 3 of The Gift is available on BBC Sounds from 2 May, 2026.

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23 episodes
Updated May 2

Episodes23

Newest first

May 2 · 28 min
6. Deleted
Jenny decides if she wants to continue to belong to the global DNA database.
May 2 · 28 min
5. Forbidden
Audrey and Arthur must break the law to unlock the truths hidden in their genes.
May 2 · 28 min
4. Puzzles
Kathy is confronted by a shocking true crime story that helps explain who she is.
May 2 · 28 min
3. Fathers
Technology catches up with sperm donors in ways they could never have imagined.
May 2 · 28 min
2. Twins - Part 2
Michelle digs deeper into Lavinia’s test results – but Lavinia doesn’t want to know.
May 2 · 28 min
1. Twins - Part 1
The special bond between two twin sisters is tested in an almost inconceivable way.
April 28 · 2 min
Trailer
Jenny Kleeman is back with more stories of lives changed after taking at-home DNA tests.
Feb 22, 2025 · 28 min
Bonus: Searching
A family's race against time to find the baby they believe was switched at birth.
Nov 4, 2024 · 28 min
6. Superdonor
The donor conceived people turning to at-home DNA tests for answers.
Nov 4, 2024 · 28 min
5. Donor
When testing your DNA becomes an obsession.
Nov 4, 2024 · 28 min
4. Taboo
One man’s determination to find his mother reveals an unbearable secret.
Nov 4, 2024 · 28 min
3. Sold
A breast cancer survivor investigates her genes and uncovers a black market in human life.
Nov 2, 2024 · 28 min
2. Switched - Part 2
After discovering who she really is, Claire has decided to tell her side of the story.
Nov 2, 2024 · 28 min
1. Switched - Part 1
One man and three women are forced to reassess everything they knew about their families
Oct 28, 2024 · 2 min
Trailer
Jenny Kleeman meets more people whose lives have been changed forever by home DNA tests.
Feb 8, 2024 · 28 min
Bonus: Hacked
Jenny Kleeman asks if an unprecedented theft of DNA data was a racially motivated attack.
Oct 16, 2023 · 28 min
6. Secrets
When home DNA tests bring family secrets - once thought long buried - into the light.
Oct 9, 2023 · 28 min
5. Health
When a home DNA test reveals you may be predisposed to serious illness.
Oct 2, 2023 · 28 min
4. Race
The anxieties of navigating a newfound racial identity.
Sep 25, 2023 · 28 min
3. Mistakes
A family must turn detective to find the couple who had IVF at the same time as them.