Fox Sports host Yvonne Sampson on how she found out she was adopted

NRL TV host Yvonne Sampson was just three years old when she asked her mum an innocent question about where she came from.

Watching horses give birth on her family’s farm on the Sunshine Coast, a curious three-year-old Yvonne Sampson wanted to know how she came to be.

In the case of her adopted parents, honesty was the best policy.

“We had horses and foals being born and litters of puppies, so I saw where babies were coming from and thought, ‘Where did I come from?’” Yvonne told news.com.au.

“I asked mum if she carried me like I’ve seen on the farm and she just said, ‘No, another woman did’.

“I think honesty really worked for our situation. There are a lot of other stories where there’s issues of shame, concealment and secrecy over the adoption, but for us, I’ve got a great adoption story.”

That natural curiosity led the Fox Sports host to chase a career in journalism. And — with any luck — would help her figure out the identity of her birth parents.

Yvonne Sampson is an integral part of Fox Sports’ rugby league coverage. Picture: Brett Costello

When she was 18, studying at Queensland University of Technology, Yvonne got in contact with her birth mother through an adoption agency.

The pair wrote letters to each other for six months before finally meeting over a memorable dinner on the Sunshine Coast, sharing laughs and pictures with each other.

Eight years later, while Yvonne was working as a reporter for the Seven Network, she met her birth father, who was then a fireman on the Sunshine Coast, in a scenario that could only be described as fate.

“I was working, and his name came up, and I thought, ‘I know that person, how do I know that name?’

“I figured out it was my birth father, and I sent him a letter basically just saying, ‘This is who I think you are, we met through work the other day. Thank you for everything, I’m well, I hope you are too’.

“I didn’t have any expectations. You have to be mindful that you don’t know this person, you don’t know if their family know. It’s hugely disruptive.

“But he was wonderful. He jumped straight on the phone and said, ‘I didn’t know where you were. I always look at families with a girl roughly your age and wonder’.

“It really was very special.”

Yvonne with her fellow Fox Sports hosts Matty Johns and Michael Ennis. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Only recently, Yvonne figured out even more about her family history when her birth father discovered he was taken from his mother because she was indigenous. He was told she died.

It was a whole new puzzle for Yvonne in terms of her heritage and what she knew about herself.

“One of the greatest things about being adopted is you continue to fill in the puzzle pieces about your background and where you’re from,” she said.

“To find out we had indigenous heritage was wonderful news. I think for my birth father it was difficult, to find out he missed out on life and a childhood with his mum was very confusing and hurtful.

“But for me it was welcoming, and it helps with your identity. There’s still questions I have, and I keep wanting to learn more about my background and fill in more gaps.”

After several years with Channel 9, the 38-year-old, who last year married political reporter Chris O’Keefe, officially cemented herself as one of the best in the business when she was poached by Fox Sports in 2017 to join Matty Johns and spearhead its 24-hour NRL channel Fox League.

Yvonne and Chris met in 2012 in the Channel 9 Brisbane newsroom.

She will kick off her highly successful show League Life on Wednesday at 7.30pm in what will be a huge program ahead of the season, with NRL boss Todd Greenberg, Australian coach Mal Meninga and Broncos boss Paul White joining her on the panel to discuss the prickly issue of player behaviour.

“It’s been such a challenging off-season and disappointing in many ways,” Yvonne said.

“We need to have these difficult conversations to bring about change, and change is always a positive thing when you’re moving in the right direction.

“I think it’ll be interesting to hear Todd’s perspective on the process and where we are headed in terms of the values of the game.”

Fox League will show every game of the 2019 Telstra Premiership live and ad-break free in HD, as well as an extensive line-up of rugby league talk shows.