Adopted at 2 weeks old, a dance video on Facebook reunited Phoebe Smith with her birth mother

Detailed summary

The Wellington woman and her birth mother had one precious year to get to know each other.

Phoebe Smith (front left) pictured with her parents and three of her siblings.

Wellington woman Phoebe Smith knew early on that her family was different.

Her parents were palagi, or European Kiwi. She had two siblings who were white and two others who looked like her – brown.

“Growing up, my brother and I used to be aware when we’d walk into cafes or restaurants and people giving us a side-eye.

“Or if I’m with my dad and he’s like: ‘My daughter’ and then points to me – and obviously we don’t look anything alike.

Smith, now in her 30s, was born in Wellington and adopted at 2 weeks old by a Kiwi couple. The pair had two children of their own before adopting her and two others, each from different families.

“I’ve got a sister who is Fijian-Indian, then there’s myself and then there’s my little brother, who is Samoan. I talk about us being like Liquorice Allsorts, because we are such a mixed bunch.

“We’ve got such different personalities and we’re just colourful and rich – and that’s the beauty of it.

“As the family’s grown with partners and kids, it’s now even more multicultural. My brother’s wife is Ethiopian, my sister’s partner is Māori – we have such a multicultural family now.”

Opening of the article, excerpted from NZ Herald. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.