What happens when the story of your life has been told by other people?

In the first episode of the Family Narratives podcast, researcher and communications strategist Annalisa Toccara-Jones speaks with Dr. Liz DeBetta, an interdisciplinary scholar, artist and activist whose work explores the stories societies tell about women, adoption and communities who are often spoken about rather than listened to.

The conversation explores narrative repair and what it means to find your own words for experiences that have often been explained, interpreted or defined by others. Liz reflects on growing up within stories that never fully fit, and the process of making sense of experiences that can be difficult to name out loud.

The episode discusses adoption, identity, grief and belonging, as well as the colonial histories woven through adoption systems and the buying and selling of children. It also considers how loss can be carried in the body, and how storytelling can create space for experiences that have remained unspoken.

"I didn't think I had a story to tell. The story that had always lived in my bones and in my cells had never been spoken out loud before."

A thoughtful and honest conversation about adoption, memory, identity, and finding the language for stories that have long gone unheard.

Family Narratives explores how stories shape our understanding of family, identity and belonging. Through podcasts, writing and research, it creates space for conversations about adoption, care experience, memory and narrative change.

Find more episodes and resources at familynarratives.co.uk.