Home is where the heart is, but for the Springbok captain Siya Kolisi and his wife Rachel, their hearts are with Siya’s younger siblings Liphelo and Liyema.
The prominent couple best known for Siya’s work on the rugby field and their common desire to make a difference in South Africa and the rest of the world with their Kolisi Foundations appeared to have been change makers since a young age.
This comes after the pair decided to adopt Siya’s sibling while just in their early 20’s.
Recently, a much more mature Rachel reflected on the past 10 years that have forever changed their lives as a family. In a post, she highlighted how fast time has flown since she and Siya decided to adopt Liphelo and Liyema.
In her post, she wrote:
“While celebrating Liphelo’s birthday last week, and having all 4 kids home for the weekend, we reflected on the fact that almost to the day, 10 years ago, Liphelo and Liyema came to spend a week with us in Cape Town to see that they were comfortable to make the move and come stay with us forever.”
She highlighted that at the time she was just 24 years old after having just given birth to her firstborn son Nicholas three months prior, while Liphelo was 7 and Liyema 12.
Summing up what the past decade has meant to her she wrote: “10 Years, of the greatest gift God could have ever given me.”
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In the past, Siya has also been transparent about the journey leading up to his adoption. In his book, Rise, he highlighted that he grew up without his mother who passed away while he was quite young, and his siblings were in foster care.
It was not until he returned to his hometown of Zwide as a professional rugby player that he was reunited with his siblings.
“My little sister didn’t know me. She had been crawling when I last saw her. I told the woman taking care of them that I was going to take them for the December holidays that year, which I did. But afterwards, I said I can’t send them back,” he said in an interview with The Guardian.
The adoption process according to Siya, took 18 months.
Currently, the 17- and 22-year-old are receiving all the love and attention from their brother and his wife Rachel and their children Nick and Kezia. Now and then they would be spotted in some of the couple’s Instagram and TikTok posts.
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@rachelkolisi Looks like Pelo and i are getting matching tatoos ?? #hypotheticalquestions ♬ original sound – rachel kolisi
Also see: Siya Kolisi buys his father a seaside home in Gqeberha
