13-Year-Old Abandoned White Boy Adopted By Black Dad

Peter Mutabazi’s parenthood journey is a touching must-read. Mutabazi, who lives in Charlotte, North Carolina was inspired to begin fostering because of his own difficult childhood. He said, “I grew up in Uganda. I grew up the poorest of the poorest. I didn’t have a good childhood. I ran away from home and became a street kid.”

So, one day he began what he found to be the initially daunting process of becoming a foster parent. But he worked through some of his own doubts. In an Instagram post, he wrote about the anxiety-ridden training period, “After my second class I thought to myself, how do I back out of this whole foster thing? I felt unequipped in every way.” He worried that he wouldn’t be an ideal candidate for a foster parent because he would be a single parent. But he stuck with it, worked through his doubts and received his license within four months, GoalCast reports.

And shortly thereafter he met his son, Tony, who had first been adopted at age 4. But when he was 11, his then-adopted parents abandoned him. Mutabazi got a call from an adoption agency asking if he could foster him for a weekend. Those few days proved to be life-changing for the two of them.

When they first met, Mutabazi said, “I remember telling him, ‘You can call me Mr. Peter.’ And Tony was like, ‘Can I call you dad?’” Mutabazi adopted Tony in November of 2019, according to GoalCast. And two weeks later, coincidentally, Mutabazi became a U.S. citizen. In an Instagram post, he wrote, “A dad and U.S citizen in just two weeks can’t describe in words the joy in my heart and house after a long long journey.”

Mutabazi’s Instagram (his handle is @fosterdadflipper) highlights joyful glimpses into his family’s lives, his recent adoption of a cute puppy named Simba, and also poignant moments. In a May 29 post, Mutabazi writes, “My everyday reality as a black dad with a biracial family: I wish you’d see me and treat me the same way you treat my kids.”