Extraordinary first-person stories from around the world. An archive of Outlook podcasts from 2016-2022. For new episodes from the team, subscribe to Lives Less Ordinary.
Extraordinary first-person stories from around the world. An archive of Outlook podcasts from 2016-2022. For new episodes from the team, subscribe to Lives Less Ordinary.
Dianne O'Brien was born in the 1940s and grew up in an Irish-Australian family near Sydney. But when she was just 14, her world was torn apart: her beloved mother died, her father abandoned her and she discovered she was adopted. She was sent to a notorious children's home, where she gave birth to her first child, the result of a sexual assault. Years later, she went in search of her birth family and discovered she was Indigenous, part of the Stolen Generation and a descendant of celebrated Indigenous Australian politicians. Dianne eventually went on to become a leader in her own right in the community she was taken from so many decades before. Dianne has written a book about her life, Daughter of the River Country. A warning that this episode contains descriptions of physical and sexual violence.
Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Zoe Gelber
Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com
(Photo: Dianne O'Brien with her mother, aged two. Credit: Courtesy of Dianne O'Brien)