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The Girl Who Doesn't Exist

In today’s episode, we meet a young woman from Texas, born and raised, who can’t prove that she exists. Alecia Faith Pennington was born at home, homeschooled, and never visited a dentist or a hospital. By both chance and design she is completely invisible in the eyes of the state. We follow Faith as she struggles to free herself from one restrictive world only to find that she is trapped in another. In her journey to prove her American citizenship she attempts to answer the age-old question: who am I? Reported and produced by Alexandra Leigh Young. Produced by Andy Mills and Brenna Farrell. Special thanks to Savannah Escobar, Nick Reed, Chris Van Deusen, David Glenn, Zen Allegra, Russell Whelan, Rachel Coleman and Lake Travis Zipline Adventures. Correction: An earlier version of this episode's web copy incorrectly stated that Faith Pennington was born on a farm. Pennington was born at home in Houston, TX, then she and her family moved to a farm in Kerrville, TX, where she was raised.  Faith’s original Youtube video is posted here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPtpKNyaO0U For updates on Faith’s journey, visit her Facebook page Help Me Prove It: https://www.facebook.com/Help-Me-Prove-It-882732628415890/ Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at Radiolab.org/donate.    
Duration
36m
Broadcast on
29 Aug 2016
Audio Format
other

In today’s episode, we meet a young woman from Texas, born and raised, who can’t prove that she exists.

Alecia Faith Pennington was born at home, homeschooled, and never visited a dentist or a hospital. By both chance and design she is completely invisible in the eyes of the state. We follow Faith as she struggles to free herself from one restrictive world only to find that she is trapped in another. In her journey to prove her American citizenship she attempts to answer the age-old question: who am I?

Reported and produced by Alexandra Leigh Young. Produced by Andy Mills and Brenna Farrell. Special thanks to Savannah Escobar, Nick Reed, Chris Van Deusen, David Glenn, Zen Allegra, Russell Whelan, Rachel Coleman and Lake Travis Zipline Adventures.

Correction: An earlier version of this episode's web copy incorrectly stated that Faith Pennington was born on a farm. Pennington was born at home in Houston, TX, then she and her family moved to a farm in Kerrville, TX, where she was raised. 

Faith’s original Youtube video is posted here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPtpKNyaO0U

For updates on Faith’s journey, visit her Facebook page Help Me Prove It: https://www.facebook.com/Help-Me-Prove-It-882732628415890/

Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at Radiolab.org/donate.    


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RIDILEB is supported by AT&T. We all love to connect via video calls or texts. Right now, at AT&T, you can get the new iPhone 18 Pro for $0 with iPhone trade-in. Any condition. It has the ultimate pro camera system and big leap in battery life, so you can turn this deal into a long-lasting connection. Learn how you can trade in your iPhone for the new iPhone 18 Pro requires trade-in of iPhone 14 or higher, excluding iPhone 16E, an eligible plan. Terms and restrictions apply, subject to change, visit an AT&T store for details. Hey, I'm Jad Abumrah. I'm Robert Krollich. This is Radio Lab, and today my name is Alicia Faith Pennington, and I'm a US citizen by birth. We're going to start. I was home schooled my entire life. With a cry for help. I am now 19 years old, and I am unable to get a driver's license, get a job, go to college, get on a plane, get a bank account, or vote. This is the story of a woman who became sort of famous. I didn't pick this situation for myself, and I don't know how to fix it, I don't know how to get out of this. For being invisible. For having no identity whatsoever. If you've been through a similar situation or know anyone who can help, please contact me. The story comes to us from our reporter, Alexandria Young. And the young woman at the center of this story, I was born in Texas, is Alicia Faith Pennington. Goes by Faith. In Morning Houston, and then we moved to Curville when I was real little, like I don't even remember Houston at all. She grew up in a really small town, about 45 minutes outside of San Antonio, and it's kind of country. We lived right outside of Curville, actually. So it was even more in the country than Curville is. Faith's parents were very conservative, very religious, and they had created a place for their family that was separate from the rest of the world. Well, hi there. Welcome to The Pennington Point. I'm Lisa, and I just wanted to say a quick hello before we go. Faith's mom, Lisa, actually kept a video blog of life in the Pennington family. Right now, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, so peaceful out here in the country. So we had like maybe like five acres of land. This is our front porch. We bought this old farmhouse about 10 years ago, and started out. And we had a little home farm. We had goats, chickens. We had rabbits at one point, a cow that we would like raise, you know, we butcher it, and then freeze like all the meat, and then eat it over the year. So was this sort of approaching self-sufficiency, or was it, was it, were you, what my parents wanted to do was kind of reach that self-sufficient point, but they also really wanted to give

Transcription truncated.

In today’s episode, we meet a young woman from Texas, born and raised, who can’t prove that she exists. Alecia Faith Pennington was born at home, homeschooled, and never visited a dentist or a hospital. By both chance and design she is completely invisible in the eyes of the state. We follow Faith as she struggles to free herself from one restrictive world only to find that she is trapped in another. In her journey to prove her American citizenship she attempts to answer the age-old question: who am I? Reported and produced by Alexandra Leigh Young. Produced by Andy Mills and Brenna Farrell. Special thanks to Savannah Escobar, Nick Reed, Chris Van Deusen, David Glenn, Zen Allegra, Russell Whelan, Rachel Coleman and Lake Travis Zipline Adventures. Correction: An earlier version of this episode's web copy incorrectly stated that Faith Pennington was born on a farm. Pennington was born at home in Houston, TX, then she and her family moved to a farm in Kerrville, TX, where she was raised.  Faith’s original Youtube video is posted here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPtpKNyaO0U For updates on Faith’s journey, visit her Facebook page Help Me Prove It: https://www.facebook.com/Help-Me-Prove-It-882732628415890/ Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at Radiolab.org/donate.