JEHOVAH’S

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More than 11 years revealing secrets because there is no excuse for secrecy in God’s true religion – The Watchtower, June 1st 1997; Dan 2:47; Matt 10:26; Mark 4:22; Luke 12:2; Acts 4:19, 20.

Sorayis Narez: From Norway to Surviving the Jehovah’s Witnesses

Behind the Scenes photo of Sorayis Narez on Documentary: ‘Surviving Jehovah’s Witnesses’ streaming on HBO MAX

Written and Published by: Miss Usato, March 2nd, 2026

For Sorayis Narez, – Former Jehovahs Witness and advocate, doubt did not arrive in a single dramatic moment, It accumulated quietly.

This article is an Interview with Sorayis on her upbringing, advocacy, her trip to Norway for the Supreme Court Hearing and her recent public advocacy face in the documentary ‘Surviving Jehovah’s Witnesses’

To follow Sorayis’s journey: Twitter, Youtube, Book

Planting the Seed of Doubt: Sorayis Narez on Leaving “The Truth” and Speaking Out

“What I had always been told was ‘the truth’ wasn’t presenting all sides of an issue. It was a carefully constructed viewpoint that supported the organisation’s position, rather than an objective exploration of facts.” -Sorayis

For Sorayis Narez, leaving Jehovah’s Witnesses was not a sudden rebellion. It was, as she describes it, “a very long journey, really an accumulation of experiences over time.” Born and raised in the organization, she grew up believing she had access to absolute truth.

“I had grown up believing that I had all the information and was therefore choosing freely,” she explains. “But I gradually realized that my choices were based on selective, filtered information.” The shift began at university, when she met her first boyfriend, someone she fully expected to convert.

“At the time, I was completely convinced that I would convert him,” she says. “Instead, the opposite happened.” They began reading The Watchtower and Awake! together. “I was determined to show him ‘the truth,’” she recalls. But he approached the material differently. “He encouraged me to read them from a neutral perspective, to analyse the arguments rather than simply accept them.” For the first time, she noticed something unsettling. “What I had always been told was ‘the truth’ wasn’t presenting all sides of an issue. It was a carefully constructed viewpoint that supported the organisation’s position, rather than an objective exploration of facts.”

That realization planted the first real doubts. As tension grew, so did her desire to experience life beyond the organization’s boundaries. She went through judicial committees. She was publicly reproved. Eventually, she was disfellowshipped.

When she began reading what she had always been warned against “apostate material”, she encountered footage from the Australian Royal Commission. Watching members of the Governing Body testify in court was trans-formative.

“I heard one of them say that it would be ‘presumptuous’ to claim they were God’s sole channel of truth,” she says. “That struck me deeply, because in our meetings we were taught that they were the channel Jehovah used to communicate with us.” Seeing leaders describe teachings as interpretations rather than absolutes became a breaking point. “That was the moment I realized that what I had always believed to be ‘the truth’ might not, in fact, be the truth.”

“What About Our Honour?”

Her move into advocacy was sparked not by ideology, but by outrage. After her father cut off contact because he was triggered by a photo of her celebrating Christmas, Sorayis said she spiraled emotionally. “I couldn’t imagine living the happy, fulfilled life I live now,” she says. Moving from Madrid to London “felt like the only way to survive emotionally.”

At the time, activism was not on her radar. “I was creating comedy content on social media,” she explains. That changed when she saw a television program discussing a lawsuit filed by Jehovah’s Witnesses in Spain against an association of former members. “At first I assumed it would expose people who were lying about the organisation,” she admits. Instead, she saw former members speaking openly about disfellowshipping, blood transfusion pressures, sexism, discrimination against LGBTQ people, and what she describes as “the wider culture of control.” What hurt her most was hearing representatives describe shunning as merely a “personal decision.”

“I was furious,” she says plainly. “When I heard the phrase ‘damage to the organisation’s honor,’ I remember thinking: what about our honor? Where was our dignity when we were subjected to judicial committees that are now denied? When we were separated from our families and told it was loving discipline?” For the first time, she set comedy aside and recorded a serious video. She spoke about her own disfellowshipping and the pain of losing family. The video went viral. “I couldn’t sleep peacefully knowing I had a platform and wasn’t using it to speak up.”

Journalists across Spain and Latin America contacted her. The story gained momentum. “Many people had already been speaking out for years,” she says. “Now, thanks to social media, those voices could finally reach a much wider audience.”

Norway: “Different Congregations, Same Message”

Her advocacy eventually led her to Norway, where she attended the major Supreme Court hearing involving Jehovah’s Witnesses in February, 2026. “It was a very emotional trip,” she says. “Meeting Jan and standing together at that moment felt more important than anything else.” What struck her most was how similar their experiences were despite growing up in different countries. “Jan and I even shared the same memory of being told that 9/11 was a sign the end was near. Different congregations, same message.”

In the early cold morning of Oslo, they arrived first in line to secure seats. When Jehovah’s Witnesses entered the room, her body reacted before her mind did. “My heart raced, even though mentally I felt calm.” Still, she is careful not to frame individuals as enemies. “I remind myself that they are also shaped by the system. I hold nothing against them personally.”

As arguments minimizing shunning unfolded, she relied on translations and live updates. She believes public denials reveal something significant. “If the organisation minimizes or denies shunning, I think it’s because they understand that openly admitting the full extent of it would be socially unacceptable,” she says. “The psychological harm is too significant.” At one point, she locked eyes with a senior Watchtower representative. “I didn’t look away,” she says. “I wanted him to recognize my face. I wanted him to know that we will continue speaking publicly about what happens inside the organisation.”

Her thought in that moment was simple and unwavering: “This is my face and you will see it in newspapers, in documentaries, wherever it needs to be seen.”

Surviving the Paradise: Beyond Jehovah’s Witnesses Documentary

That determination carries into the documentary, Surviving the Paradise: Beyond Jehovah’s Witnesses Where Sorayis is interviewed. The Documentary started airing on HBO MAX, February 28th, 2026 in certain countries. In Spain, the Documentary is titled “Surviving Paradise: Beyond Jehovah’s Witnesses.” In the United States and other countries it was renamed: “Surviving the Jehovah’s Witnesses”

“We’re genuinely very pleased with how it has turned out,” she says. “The most important thing is that people truly understand what happens inside the organisation, without sensationalism.”

She is clear that these are not isolated tragedies. “These are the predictable outcomes of a system, of rules, policies and a hierarchy that can, and does, produce victims.” The documentary includes footage from the Spanish court case. Viewers see spokesperson Aníbal Matos offer statements that many former members dispute.

“For Witnesses who may already have doubts, moments like that could plant an important seed of reflection,” she says. The mission is twofold: “to reach people who have never had contact with Jehovah’s Witnesses” and to show that “there are powerful structures at play.”

The response has been immediate. “In a single weekend, forty new members joined the Spanish Association of Victims,” she notes. Healthcare professionals and lawyers also reached out offering support. “It hasn’t just raised awareness,” she says. “It has connected us with people who can help bring this issue to legislators and push for meaningful change.”

“Protect Your Mental Health”

More than ten years have passed since she stopped attending meetings, but only in the last three has she spoken publicly.

“It was through advocacy that I began to understand the real psychological impact of my upbringing,” she says. Therapy became part of that process. She is intentional about balance. “Being a former Jehovah’s Witness shouldn’t become another rigid collective where we all think the same.”

Her advice is steady and grounded: “Protect your mental health. Speak out if you feel strong enough and supported, but don’t let it take over your life.”

Sorayis explained how she avoids doctrinal debates. “My concern is with institutional structures, not individuals. I don’t see people as the enemy.” Her goal is not revenge, it is dignity.

“I believe it’s possible to challenge harmful systems while still choosing to live with dignity, balance and respect.” And somewhere, she hopes, each public statement plants a quiet seed, one that may grow long after the courtroom empties and the cameras stop recording.

AvoidJW is eager to see the final episode on “Surviving Paradise: Beyond Jehovah’s Witnesses” coming March 6th, 2026. We love hearing these stories about fellow Former Jehovah’s Witness advocates whose drive and passion is not to cause ill will, but to cause critical thinking and transparency. Thank you Sorayis Narez, and all of our fellow advocate friends who use their passions to help others.