‘It was surreal’: Yellow Wiggle Tsehay Hawkins’ search for her birth parents

Yellow Wiggle Tsehay Hawkins, 19, has always known she was adopted. But it wasn’t until she turned 18 last year that she travelled to Ethiopia for the first time in search of her birth parents.

“I definitely felt a connection once I was there, and just seeing everyone that looked like me and had similar mannerisms, it was surreal,” Hawkins says.

Yellow Wiggle Tsehay Hawkins with mum Robyn.Credit:

Born in Addis Ababa in 2005, Hawkins was adopted in 2006 by parents Robyn and Reg. Robyn suffers from endometriosis, and was told it wouldn’t be possible to have kids. After exploring other pathways, including IVF, the couple decided on adoption.

They have another son, Kendly, who they adopted from Colombia in 2012.

Hawkins and her parents joined Red Wiggle Simon Pryce and Purple Wiggle Lachie Gillespie in an episode of the podcast Wiggles Talk, out today, for a candid conversation about the path to adoption, and what comes next.

“It was a very, very emotional journey, deciding what we were going to do,” Robyn says on the podcast.

The couple waited 3½ years before receiving the call that confirmed they would finally become parents.

“She had these big, big, bright eyes, and her hair was sticking up in the air, and she just looked like this wild child,” Robyn says, recalling the first time she saw Hawkins at the foster home in Ethiopia.

For Robyn and Reg, finding their daughter’s birth parents was never something they shied away from.

“When you go through the adoption process, you get in your head from the very beginning that you’re caring for this beautiful child, and that there is somebody else out there that is responsible for bringing that child into the world, and you have to leave that space for that person in your child’s life,” Robyn says on the podcast.

Reg agrees, adding: “They’re part of our story, too.”

The Hawkins family: Kendly, Robyn, Tsehay and Reg.Credit:

Unfortunately, Hawkins’ return to Ethiopia last year did not shed any further light on her background.

A lack of records at the orphanage made it difficult to trace her birth parents.

Reg had already travelled on his own to Ethiopia twice to learn more about Hawkins’ background – first, by visiting the women’s shelter where she was left at just a few days old, and later, placing an advertisement on a local radio station – but both occasions yielded no information.

Hawkins says that not being able to find her birth parents was disappointing.

“I’d love to know who [they] are because that’s where I get a lot of my features from. It’s who I am,” she says on the podcast.

But she has also come to terms with never knowing who they are.

“I know, with a lot of children who are adopted, sometimes that’s all they want to know, and that’s their whole life focus ... [but] I feel very complete … this is my life in Australia, this is my home.”

Robyn and Reg made a point of nurturing their daughter’s connection to her cultural heritage.

Although Hawkins was just five months old when she was adopted, with no memory of her very early life, she’s maintained close ties to her roots through meetings with other adoptees from Ethiopia, sharing music, food and dance.

These things, alongside her upbringing in south-west Sydney and her brother’s Colombian heritage, have shaped her into the person she is today, she says.

Last year, Hawkins travelled to Ethiopia for a second time. She was invited as a keynote speaker at a gala fundraising event for a local orphanage and hopes it was the first of many philanthropic trips to enable her to give back, particularly after visiting the orphanage where she spent the first few months of her life.

“It was a bit of a reality check – of seeing my beginnings and how different my life could have been,” she says.

And she’s not done with searching for her birth parents either.

“It will always be a part of my life,” Hawkins says. “Every time I go over there, I’ll see if there’s any new information, and kind of try everything. But God always has a plan for me, so you never know.

“I’m quite happy if I never find out, but it would be an extra cool bonus to learn my backstory.”

The Wiggles’ Bouncing Balls Tour is on now, with new shows added in Brisbane and Melbourne. Listen to Wiggle Talk wherever you get your podcasts.

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