Brooke Blurton has spoken out about her family’s tragic situation.
In a post on Instagram Stories on Thursday, the 26-year-old former Bachelor star revealed her 10-month-old nephew, Adam, had been placed into foster care.
Brooke explained that her older sister – Adam’s mother – suffers from schizophrenia and was unable to care for her young son.
Sad situation: Brooke Blurton has spoken out about her family’s tragic situation. In a post on Instagram Stories on Thursday, the 26-year-old former Bachelor star revealed her 10-month-old nephew, Adam (pictured), had been placed into foster care
She said the little boy also has ‘no hearing’, and added that she’s been learning sign language so she can communicate with him when he’s older.
‘Quite a few of you have asked about Adam’s hearing. Adam’s is my oldest sister’s baby,’ she explained in the heart-wrenching post.
‘Adam was unfortunately removed from her care due to her mental illness. She has schizophrenia and Adam is now being fostered.
Difficult: Brooke explained that her older sister – Adam’s mother – suffers from schizophrenia and was unable to care for her young son
Cute: Calling herself ‘a VERY proud Aunty’, Brooke also shared a photo of the beaming baby boy as they bid goodbye to each other at the airport
‘Adam has no hearing, it’s still being tested but we are hopeful he might hear some things. Though he doesn’t have full hearing.’
Brooke then reflected on her own upbringing, having been placed into foster care herself when she was a child.
‘For me, who once was a kid in the foster system, I understand stability and consistency is important for Adam, and know how important it is for Aboriginal kids to be with family,’ she continued.
Communicating: She said the little boy also has ‘no hearing’, and added that she’s been learning sign language so she can communicate with him when he’s older
‘They belong to their families and communities. I regularly visit so he’s aware of who I am. So I’m extremely heartbroken to be away from him.’
The Indigenous reality star added: ‘But I’ll still regularly teach him about our family, culture and where his bloodline runs.’
Calling herself ‘a VERY proud Aunty’, Brooke also shared a photo of the beaming baby boy as they bid goodbye to each other at the airport.
Proud: The Indigenous reality star added: ‘But I’ll still regularly teach him about our family, culture and where his bloodline runs’
‘If he could hear, he would have heard how much his Aunty Brooke loves him!!!!!’ she captioned the sweet photo.
Brooke lost her mother to suicide when she was just 11, and her grandmother died only a month later.
‘I don’t have a lot of family, unfortunately. Mum and Nan dying when I was younger and having to grow up without any parents [was the hardest thing],’ she told OK! Magazine in August 2018.
Tragic: Brooke lost her mother (left) to suicide when she was just 11, and her grandmother died only a month later
The youth worker spoke more about her difficult childhood in an interview with the SBS’ Noongar Dandjoo in February 2018.
‘My biggest passion in life is mental health, from working and growing up with a lot of drug and alcohol violence in my childhood really,’ she said, adding that she ‘didn’t really have a lot of strong role models’.
‘I had an older sister who suffered from schizophrenia, so growing up, that was pretty complicated, and then losing mum to suicide.’
‘My biggest passion in life is mental health, from working and growing up with a lot of drug and alcohol violence in my childhood really,’ she said, adding that she ‘didn’t really have a lot of strong role models’