When an adoptive father asked his son if he wanted to meet his biological father, who was on the phone, years of unanswered questions finally became clear, and Sam Ettore reconnected with his biological parents.
John and Hope Ettore adopted their son Sam in 2005 from Vietnam. At the time of his adoption, Sam had life-threatening health issues, and they knew they had to provide him with all the help they could.
Upon arriving in Ramona, California, Sam underwent eleven surgeries to restore his health. He, his adoptive brother Josiah, and four other siblings live happily with their adoptive parents.
In 2005, Sam was born prematurely with a potentially fatal facial tumor that his biological parents in Vietnam felt unable to treat.
Sam’s biological parents in Vietnam made the difficult decision to place him for adoption, even though it deeply upset them.
Sam eventually met his biological parents thanks to his adoptive mother’s last wish. How did Sam meet his biological parents?
Although the Ettore family is happy, they face a tremendous challenge: Hope is battling cancer. Hope has been fighting two types of cancer since 2015.
Today, doctors have told her that she has only a few months to live.
Hope stated that one of her final wishes was to reunite Sam with his biological parents and have them meet their son.
She shared, “Absolutely. I knew these parents would love, love, love to know how he’s doing.”
Hope and John turned to Facebook to accomplish this mission. They shared Sam’s story on Facebook in Vietnam.
One day later, his biological parents saw the message and contacted Hope and John.
Although Sam’s biological parents are no longer together, they both wanted to meet their son and did so through FaceTime.
When John asked Sam if he wanted to talk to his biological father, Sam thought his parents were teasing him.
Sam’s mother was in tears when she greeted him and told him he looked like his uncle. He also learned that he had two biological siblings.
He had a twin brother as well, but it is not known if he survived.
Sam also showed his mother the spot where the tumor he had at birth was removed from his face, and Hope said, “That’s where the tumor was; they did a great job.”
Talking with his biological parents, Sam learned that his birthday was on May 27. Sam thought he was still 17, but he discovered he was already 18.
Sam thanked his biological parents for doing their best for him.
Addressing his father and mother, Sam had no words, but once he found out he was already an adult, he said, “I’m truly sorry that you had to face such a situation:
“I’m really sorry that you had to make a difficult decision to have me adopted, but it’s you and my adoptive family who saved my life, and I’m grateful to you.”
The Ettore family then traveled to Vietnam, where Sam met his biological parents in person, as well as his grandparents and other family members, and visited the country where he was born.
