Elizabeth van Kampen emigrated from the Netherlands to New Zealand in 1952. When she and her husband Henk discovered that they couldn't have children, they adopted three Maori children and raised them as Dutchmen.
The eldest, Peter, still cherishes his Dutch roots, and now he's passing on his love of Dutch culture to his children. He recently applied for a Dutch passport for his kids. "It's actually a bit funny," says Peter, "because my parents had to renounce their Dutch citizenship when they became Kiwis."
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Great story Peter!
I enjoyed reading this story. It is true that even with the best of intentions, not all adopted children identify with their new family. I'm sure the Van Kampens did their best to treat all their children the same. Hopefully, given some time, their prodigal son will re-establish contact with his adopted parents before they pass on.
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