Insight: May 17

This week SBS explores Identity across the network with an array of programming.

Tonight Insight asks “What happens when your identity is challenged by family secrets?”

Family plays a major role in determining who we are and how we evolve. They shape our values and perspective on life. But what happens when life throws you a curve ball and a long-hidden secret reveals you are not who you thought you were?

We speak to five women who learnt life-changing details about their true identities and where they came from. From discovering unexpected ancestors to uncovering their true ethnic origins, these women take us on their journey of self-discovery, against the odds.

Born to a Nigerian father and a German mother and growing up in foster care, Jennifer Teege knew she was adopted but it wasn’t until she was 38 that she discovered who her grandfather was: the infamous Nazi commander Amon Goeth, who wreaked terror on the Krakow-Plaszow concentration camp. Given her mixed ethnicity, it’s likely he would have shot her.

Lois Buch was adopted and grew up in a loving home but didn’t meet her biological mother until she was in her 20s. They formed a good relationship, but there was one terrible secret her mother was so determined to keep from her, she would take it to her grave. The truth, which came out a few years later, was unimaginable.

Maree Lawrence – Maree grew up knowing that her Anglo-Australian family had adopted her but after kids started making fun of her at school, she started asking where she was from. Her parents told she had a Spanish background. After she got married, her husband urged her to find out more. She eventually discovered she was one of the Stolen Generation. But the secrets didn’t end there. She also found out her mother had led a difficult life that ended in her murder.

This episode of Insight is part of ‘SBS Explores Identity’, which runs from Sunday 15 May until Sunday 5 June and offers a range of content across the network including flagship documentary DNA Nation.

Tuesdays at 8.30pm on SBS.