Some stories start with a lie so big it takes 15 years to unravel.

Kelly’s mum was stolen as a baby — taken from her Aboriginal family, raised as someone else’s daughter, denied her own name. Generations later, that same theft found its way into Kelly’s life too: a secret kept from her until she was old enough to drive, a mother she lost before she ever really got to know her, and a second marriage that started like a fairy tale and ended with the locks drilled out of her own front door.

This is a story about what gets stolen — a childhood, a truth, a sense of safety. And it’s a story about what can’t be taken, because Kelly is still here, still fighting, still refusing to be the one who stays quiet.

Note: a couple of sections of this episode have rougher audio quality — thank you for bearing with us through those moments, the story is worth it.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 — Intro: a lie 15 years in the making

01:04 — Welcome, Kelly

01:28 — Finding out her mum was stolen from her Aboriginal family

02:35 — Growing up believing her nan was her mum

04:43 — Reconnecting with her Aboriginal family and culture

08:05 — The Coles car park: the moment the truth came out

10:36 — The DNA test that opened up a lifetime of secrets

11:21 — Piecing together how her mum was taken

12:43 — What she wishes she could ask her mum

17:03 — “We had the same hands, the same feet” — the unbreakable bond

19:12 — Second marriage: when the mask started to slip

20:10 — How it unravelled so fast

25:18 — Leaving, the women’s refuge, and where the system failed her

27:48 — Still standing at 44: where the strength comes from

33:06 — Kelly’s message to camera

Still Standing. Still Speaking. 🩷

#StolenGenerations #ParentalAlienation #DomesticViolenceAwareness #StillStandingStillSpeaking #AboriginalIdentity #DVSurvivor #TraumaToPurpose