I was adopted from RDH at 6 weeks old: Bec's story

Born and bred Territorian Rebecca Campart was just 6 weeks old when she was adopted from the Children’s Ward at Royal Darwin Hospital.

The year was 1988 and Rebecca had been named Sasha by her biological mum – a teenager from the Philippines who’d flown to Darwin to have her baby.

Today, on Mother’s Day, Rebecca, who is now married and mum to 5-year-old Luna, reflects on her poignant and heartwarming story with Her Territory.

Rebecca Campart tells Her Territory her story

Rebecca’s story:

My biological mum and dad were 17 years old and living in the Philippines when she fell pregnant.

They were not married and their families were Catholic and quite conservative.

It was considered a shame job.. embarrassing to have a child out of wedlock when you’re in College.

The country was not particularly pro-choice at the time. So my mum was sent to Darwin to have me, and my dad left the Philippines for America.

My biological mum named me Sasha. That is what I was called for the first few weeks of my life.

I was initially fostered out to a family, but at the time the adoption agency had been in contact with a Darwin couple who had been looking to adopt a child.

They were my adoptive parents – Ken and Jenny.

My mum Jenny got the phone call and they came to RDH to pick me up … and off we went to my first home in Bul Bul St in Ludmilla.

Beautiful baby Rebecca at Royal Darwin Hospital

I was raised in a beautifully loving home and had a wonderful childhood.

My (adoptive) dad was a lawyer and then a politician for some time, and my mum was a schoolteacher.

I have such beautiful memories as a child growing up in Darwin.

My family loved to travel, and I am so grateful to have had my Mum Jenny show me her insatiable love for travel and experiencing different cultures. And I feel like that has rubbed off on me today.

I don’t think there has ever been a time when I didn’t know I was adopted. I’m Filipino, born in Darwin and my parents are Anglo-Saxon.

I went to Nightcliff Primary School, and one thing I didn’t really understand or take notice of was that I was probably one of the only non-Anglo kids there.

I feel like I was brought up in a way that it wasn’t a thing – colour didn’t matter.

When I got to high school it was more of a multi-cultural environment.

I was very well versed at explaining I was adopted, even as a young child.

When we’d go for family trips to Bali people would always question the relationship between my parents and I, and how they came to adopt me.

People’s curiosity became such a normal thing for me.

***

With my culture I definitely feel I am Australian, but obviously my heritage is Filipino.

Being adopted you have to embrace this as you come across these questions all of your life.

There are times when I have often felt foreign from the Filipino culture.

I remember in year 8 in Darwin High School realising for the first time there was a big Filipino community in Darwin.

I was invited to this Filipino party in Parap and there was lots of Filipino food and I remember tasting it and thinking wow this is really weird food .. I’m not used to it.

I remember being introduced to cultural things like Barrio Fiesta (a festival showcasing Filipino cuisine and culture in Darwin) and going there and feeling out of place.

It was a whole new world.

It’s a beautiful culture but I don’t feel it’s one I was raised to know - even though my parents have been super transparent about my adoption and who my biological parents are.

***

When I was 19 and at University in Melbourne I googled my biological parents’ names. There were a couple of the same names as my birth mums, so I nonchalantly messaged these people going ‘hey have you adopted out anyone?’ .. not expecting anything.

The third person who responded said “Sasha?” and that is how I knew that person was my biological mum.

We talked for a little while and she told me she had two daughters, younger than me.

Ken and Jenny were extremely supportive of me getting in touch.

I only found my (biological) dad last year. He was really lovely and married to a nurse. He still lives in Chicago and has his own business.

I haven’t met either of them face to face .. one day I’d like to, but the urgency isn’t there anymore, as I know who they are now.

***

I met my husband Max in Darwin - at the Tap Bar actually! - and we had little Luna five years ago.

Of course being pregnant and having Luna made me reflect on my biological mum and what a heartbreaking experience it would have been to give up her baby.

Especially when you are faced with cultural and conservative values and have a situation like this .. it is heartbreaking.

I was always mindful of her situation, especially after having my baby.

It doesn’t consume me, but I do reflect on it from time to time.

Being a Mum and having the opportunity to share things that my mum instilled in me - such as travel and culture- and seeing Luna’s eyes full of curiosity is a special thing to share together.

It’s more than I ever expected as a mum.

I was adopted from RDH at 6 weeks old: Bec's story

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