Woman Found Out Her Biological Mom Gave Her up for Adoption Because of Her Dark Skin

Sara-Jayne Makwala King always felt different from everyone around her because she was a mixed-race individual, and a white couple also adopted her. While she grew up in a loving family, Makwala King was curious about her biological family and knew that they were the key to her questions about her identity.

Her adoptive parents understood her agony, but they did not like to share the details of her birth parents or the circumstances surrounding her adoption. As a teenager, Makwala King carried a burden in her heart that she developed an eating disorder and indulged in self-harming behaviors.

However, one day, she went snooping in her mom and dad's room to discover a letter with her name on it. It was from her birth mother and was written a year after her birth. It detailed the reason why she gave her up for adoption, and Makwala King finally understood why her adoptive parents never wanted to tell her about it.

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An Affair with a Black Man

Makwala King was born in the '80s in South Africa, which was under apartheid at that time. The country had a policy that banned the non-white majority from having relationships with the white minority.

However, her mother had an affair with a Black man at the hotel where she worked. The affair resulted in Makwala King. Initially, her mother didn't give her up because her skin was white at birth. Her mother believed she was her husband's daughter. She was named Karoline by her biological family.

However, as she developed, it was becoming more and more evident that Makwala King had biracial features. So, her mother confessed to her husband, who got a doctor involved. They had to make it appear that the baby needed treatments in London for kidney disease. It was the only way to put her up for adoption and leave South Africa safely.

Back home, Makwala King's mom told people that Karoline died because of her "illness." If they discover the truth, many people will be in trouble with the law.

However, learning of the actual circumstances of her birth deepened Makwala King's depression. She told BBC that it hurt to realize that her mother gave her up for adoption because of her Black identity.

"The color of my skin was so abhorrent," she said. "What my biological parents had done was so disgusting, that I would have to be taken from my homeland and raised elsewhere."

Makwala King was able to contact her biological mother, who was willing to answer her questions but appeared uninterested. She also did not express any apology towards her daughter.

Despite this, Makwala King decided to move to South Africa to find herself again. She eventually wrote a book, "Killing Karoline," chronicling her life and identity growing up as a mixed-race person. She also became active on social media, where people helped her find her biological dad.

Finding Her Father

In the middle of promoting her book in 2017, Makwala King also shared that she has been looking for her biological dad. Her biological mother told her not to hope for it because all she knew of the man was his name.

But people on Twitter networked when she outed his name in the interviews. Within 36 hours, she had a few more clues about his identity. She also had his phone number.

Makwala King said her father welcomed her with open arms, and she described the reunion as the best day of her life. Today, as Makwala King has settled in Cape Town near her father and half-brother, she finally feels complete.

Related Article: Parents Angry at Young Mom Who Gives up 2-Year-old Son With Autism for Adoption