A Vietnamese baby born with a large facial tumor, who was given up for adoption, has reunited with his birth parents at the age of 18 after growing up in California.
Sam Ettore was born in Phu Rieng, Vietnam, with a benign cavernous hemangioma covering half his face. He was transferred to a hospital in the country’s capital, Ho Chi Minh City, and on to Go Vap Orphanage, where John and Hope Ettore of the United States found him. He was malnourished, blind in one eye, and riddled with scabies and other skin infections.
John, 59, and Hope, 51, took Sam into their home and their hearts and funded his lengthy recovery journey. Today, the teen lives with his parents and five siblings in Ramona, California.
“My parents always told me the story of my adoption, so I knew they had gone to ‘a faraway place called Vietnam’ to get me,” Sam told The Epoch Times. “They also always told me that my Vietnamese mom and dad loved me very, very much, and they did an amazing and selfless thing by giving me up.”
When Hope was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer in 2021 after a battle that began six years prior, and was given a year to live, she felt the time was right to encourage Sam to connect with his birth parents.
Louisiana-born Hope, an epidemiologist, told The Epoch Times that Sam was born very premature and had a twin brother, whom his parents had kept but the child subsequently died. “His parents did not want to give him up, but only did so because he was so sick. They even came back to the orphanage to see him several times,” Hope said.
In early childhood, Sam didn’t realize he was at all different from his adoptive family. He recalls that, while in elementary school, he at times noticed how his “eyes were different” from his peers’. And gradually, his origin story began to make sense.
John and Hope gifted their son a trip to Vietnam for his high school graduation. But before flying to his birthplace, Sam needed to connect with his biological family. An old school friend of Hope’s, who lives in Ho Chi Minh City, translated their request into Vietnamese and shared it with her social media network.
“It went viral overnight,” said Sam, “and less than 24 hours later, we heard from someone saying they knew both parents. Within 48 hours, I had talked to both my birth parents and my grandmother.”
It was “emotional for everyone,” Sam recalled; his mother cried throughout the call and the teen felt overwhelmed, but was delighted to be able to ask questions about his biological relatives.
Hope had suspected that Sam’s birth parents would want to reconnect. She told The Epoch Times: “Because I knew the circumstances of his adoption, that his parents only gave him up so he could get medical care, I knew they would probably be overjoyed to find him and know that he is doing really well. As my health has started to decline, I wanted to make sure that I found them and could be part of the reunion. Honestly, it is so exciting!”
Hope and John, an Ohio-born Christian pastor, have four biological children: Elliott, 23, Isabella, 21, Lilah, 17, and Eva, 16. After adopting Sam, they also adopted a boy with disabilities from an Ethiopian orphanage—Josiah, now 18—whose mother died of tuberculosis.
After Hope completed missionary work in southeast Asia in the ‘90s, she saw firsthand what life was like for sick and impoverished children who did not have access to life-saving healthcare.
“There are so many children who have needs pretty much everywhere in the world, so the truthful answer about why we chose Vietnam is that John and I prayed that God would lead us to the right child,” she said. “That night, I dreamt I was walking down the street in Ho Chi Minh City.”
The dream “made no sense,” said Hope. In 2005, all adoptions between the United States and Vietnam had been shut down due to “black market baby” adoptions. But the Ettores discovered there was still a chance: both countries had a special agreement allowing just two seriously ill babies to be adopted into the United States.
Sam was one of them.
“The agency representing him sent us a photo,” said Hope. “At first it was very overwhelming because we were not prepared to see a child with a huge tumor on his face. However, we very quickly decided that yes, of course we would adopt and help this baby.”
Hope gave birth to the couple’s youngest daughter just two weeks after bringing 16-month-old Sam to the States. With that, their young family comprised a 7-year-old, a 5-year-old, two 16-month-olds, and a newborn, but the couple were steadfast in their commitment.
After gaining weight and overcoming his infections, Sam underwent the first of his tumor surgeries as a toddler.
“Because it was so big, they had to do it in stages,” said Hope. “After the first one, they then did a surgery on his blind eye in hopes that it wasn’t too late to save his vision. Thankfully, it worked!”
Over the years, Sam has had five facial surgeries, two eye surgeries, numerous laser resurfacing procedures, and physical, occupational, speech, and behavioral therapies to help with developmental delays. He couldn’t be more grateful for the way his life turned out.
Sam said: “It was a huge commitment they made when they adopted me, and they definitely fulfilled it. In general, my parents, siblings, and grandparents have been the best family I could ever have asked for. I feel really grateful to have not just one, but two families now that love and care about me.”
Hope describes Sam as “truly the sweetest, kindest, and most caring” son with a fabulous sense of humor. She knows that others can struggle to understand why her family would adopt two sick children when they had four biological children of their own. She firmly believes that life is about giving and sharing.
“Those of us who are blessed with ’more than we need' are obligated to give back to those who don’t have enough. Pure and simple,” Hope said. “One thing I wish when people read our story is that others may consider adopting children who need not only families, but also life-saving medical care.”
With ambitions to be a chef, Sam plans to attend a culinary arts program at Grossmont College in El Cajon, California, in the fall of 2022. He also hopes to make his trip to Vietnam to reconnect in person with his birth family.
