Adopted Woman Finally Uncovers The Truth About Her Birth Family

Growing up as one of the few Black people in a white, middle-class town in Surrey, England, Sarah-Jayne struggled to feel at home. The otherness she naturally felt was made worse by how people around her treated her, never letting her forget she was different.

Some would stare from afar and judge, while others would invade her privacy, touching her hair without her permission. All these daily attacks led the young girl to the unfortunate philosophy that being Black was a bad thing to be. She withdrew and began to fantasize about the life she could have had.

Sarah-Jayne’s parents, Malcolm and Angela, meant to create a great life for her and her adoptive brother, who was also black. Without any experience or help from someone who understood, they couldn’t help either of their children with the problems they faced. They couldn’t protect them from harm.

Sarah-Jayne fell into a deep depression. Aside from her adopted family doing what they could, there was one other silver lining that kept her going: learning the truth of her biological parents. It was an unspoken secret she had to discover herself.

Her adoptive parents wouldn’t tell her anything about her real parents beyond the fact that they thought she came from South Africa, and Sarah-Jayne had to know why. When no one was around, she looked through her adoptive parents’ belongings, hoping to find a clue. What she did find, she wasn’t ready for.

Sarah-Jayne uncovered a letter that was addressed to her from a year after she was born. The lost and confused Sarah-Jayne was so eager to understand who she was, but the words written in the letter didn’t bring her any peace.

It was written by her biological mother, who explained the whole story of where Sarah-Jayne came from and why she was adopted. Her story began not too far from where Sarah-Jayne was living — in a University in England.

Sarah-Jayne’s birth mother was attending University when she met the love of her life, a white man from South Africa. She fell deeply in love with him, to the point that she took a big leap and moved to South Africa when he had to leave the UK. She thought she’d be happy. She was wrong.

The English woman found that her life with her new husband was not what she hoped it would be, but she found comfort in the embrace of another man — one who was Black. Besides threatening her marriage, the affair was also illegal. The government would never allow them to have a future together.

At this time in history, South Africa was under apartheid, enforcing segregationist policies that were racist against any non-white citizens. Sarah-Jayne’s mother and her husband were fine since they were both white, but the man she had an affair with was black.

The interracial lovers knew what they were doing would only get them into more trouble, but that didn’t end stop them from meeting. if she wasn’t in hot enough water already, Sarah-Jayne’s mother soon found out that she was pregnant. The question was, who was the father?

She desperately hoped her baby would be white to avoid persecution that ran rampant in South Africa. When the infant was born, she was named not Sarah-Jayne, but Karoline. Her skin was the more acceptable ivory tone, but that would soon change.

The newborn’s skin began to darken, revealing the truth about her parentage. Her mother’s husband was furious, of course, but the couple and their doctor devised a plan to give away the baby to a family far from South Africa. Luckily, they found a couple right away back in England.

Sarah-Jayne was distraught to learn about the tragic story. The girl felt more rejected than ever before, hurt that her own mother wanted to be rid of her. Apparently, the callous woman even told her friends and family that her baby had died. The truth was too much for Sarah-Jayne to bear, and she spiraled into an even worse state.

At the age of 13, Sarah-Jayne overdosed, and for the next 13 years continued to struggle with her mental health issues. She recalled, “I felt this feeling of how dreadful must one be as a person that the one person on Earth who is supposed to love you, and care for you, and nurture you no matter what, was able to do what my biological mother had done, which was to give away her child.”

In spite of that pain, she soldiered on. Sarah-Jayne made it to University, studying law. Around this time, she took the dive and reached out to her birth mom. She wasn’t trying to build a relationship, but did want to know as much as she could.

Her head was filled with little questions like “Where do I get my smile from?” and “Why do my interests lead here?” More importantly, she wanted to know who her real father was. She reached out to her biological mother, but the response was less than inspiring.

A letter was sent back to Sarah-Jayne from her mom, stating, “You’re the worst mistake I ever made. Do not contact me again.” It was another heartbreaking moment, but Sarah-Jayne would not back down and wanted answers. Who was her real father?

Her birth mother responded back again, saying she’d answer any questions, but that would be it. That’s all that Sarah-Jayne wanted, and when she received information on her medical history and her father, the pieces of her life started to gradually fall into place.

Finding her father would be no easy feat, but she was out to reclaim her identity. She had the courts erase “Karoline” from her birth certificate and changed her name to Sara-Jayne for good. When she traveled to her original home country of South Africa, she felt reborn. It hit her: “I’ve been here before, and I belong.”

One step off the plane and it became clear this was her home. Soon she connected with her birth father, who in sharp contrast to her mother, really seemed to care for her and made her feel at home. That bond compelled her to take his surname, Makwala. The specter of Karoline was finally behind her, but the true story of Sarah-Jayne Makwala King was just beginning.

Eventually, Makwala King moved to South Africa, where she embarked on a flourishing career as a radio host. All the pieces finally fit together. She shared her story with captivated listeners, many of whom also had complicated family backgrounds.