I discovered the truth after 35 years
Yvette Mystakas, 39, Sydney, NSW.
My two younger sisters were red with sunburn from our day spent at the beach.
“How come they burn, and I don’t?” I asked my mum, Rozana, who also had lighter skin.
“You’ve got your grandfather’s dark Croatian complexion,” she said.
It was 1994, and, at nine years old, I was conscious that I looked completely different from my sisters. I had dark brown hair, while they were blonde like our dad, Hugh, who was British.
When my parents divorced amicably in 1999, we moved to Sydney with Mum, but maintained our close bond with our father.
At school I was often called nasty, racist names, even by some of the teachers.
“Why do you always pick on…
