Bekalu: Two Moms with Love (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9798218867591)

Every adopted child has questions: "Do I look like my birth parents?" "Do I have biological brothers or sisters?" "What would my life have been like if I had been raised by my birth parents?" And the hardest one, "Why did my birth parents give me up?" Bekalu was adopted from Ethiopia by an American family at age 4. When he was 10, he sent a letter to Santa asking for 3 things for Christmas: an iPhone, a massage chair, and to meet his birth parents. His adoptive parents felt that that he wasn't old enough for an iPhone and that a massage chair was too expensive and impractical. So they set out to grant his third wish. After a friend sent Bekalu's letter to a talk show in Ethiopia, the director invited Bekalu and his adoptive mother, Laura, to come to Ethiopia and appear on the show. There, they shared photos of Bekalu as a toddler and details of the police report from when he was found as an infant. Friends of Bekalu's birth mother, Zenash, recognized the story and photos. A year later, Bekalu met Zenash on the show. They continue to talk regularly and Bekalu and his adoptive family plan to meet more relatives in Ethiopia next summer.