Parents of children followed by the youth protection services are little heard actors, both by the youth protection system and in general, in studies that concern them. Research on these parents mainly presents their characteristics, their behaviors involved in the maltreatment situation and the difficulties experienced, but gives them very little voice. Thus, we observe that the experience of these parents in connection with the protection system turns out to be very poorly documented. The purpose of this article is to explain how the use of the life story in research makes it possible to understand the reality lived by parents of children followed in youth protection from their own perspectives. This privileged methodology reflects, according to the authors, the concern of highlighting the participant-expert of his story. The article’s argument is based mainly on the methodological paradigms that emerge from three studies in social work that highlight the voice of parents in youth protection.