The president of Argentina adopted a ‘werewolf’ boy

We’re not kidding and this isn’t The Onion.

Argentine President Cristina Kirchner actually did adopt a young man to save him from becoming a werewolf. The boy, Yair Tawil, became the president’s godson in part of a long-standing tradition, which stems from old Argentinian folklore.

According to legend, the seventh-born son of a family will turn into el lobison, a werewolflike creature which, as the legend goes, after the boy’s 13th birthday will turn into a demon at midnight during every full moon and will be “doomed to hunt and kill before returning to human form.”

Oh, it gets better.

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The legend also says el lobison also feeds on excrement, unbaptized babies and the flesh of the recently dead, and that it is unnaturally strong and spreads “werewolfitis” with a bite.

People believed so strongly in this that they were abandoning or murdering baby boys.

So… hundreds of years ago, presidents of Argentina did what any good leader would do. They started adopting these poor innocent little boys. Historically, the adoption privilege was only extended to Catholic families, but in 2009, the law was changed (yes, the law that said the president can adopt seventh-born sons to keep them from becoming werewolves) to include all faiths.

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Tawil’s parents had previously written to the president in 1993 to plead for his adoption, but they were denied. It wasn’t until Tawil wrote to the president himself, gently reminding the president of the change in the law to also include Jewish families that the president’s heart was apparently moved.

The now 21-year-old Tawil, who if the folklore is to be lived, has been a werewolf now for eight years, is the first Jewish boy to be adopted under the long-standing, albeit strange, tradition.

The president called her new godson “totally sweet” and posted photos to her Twitter account of the family lighting the menorah together, calling the time “magical moments” with a “marvelous family.”

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Y a Iair, que hiciera el rezo. Un momento muy especial. Después me dijeron que tenía que apagarlas y pedir un deseo… pic.twitter.com/31ThMLjULn

— Cristina Kirchner (@CFKArgentina) December 23, 2014

Tenía razón. Me trajeron de regalo un candelabro de Israel. Me pidieron que encendiera las velas… pic.twitter.com/DVWewmZera

— Cristina Kirchner (@CFKArgentina) December 23, 2014

Yo no lo sabía, pero su visita coincidía con la celebración de Hanukkah. El papá, decía que no era una casualidad… pic.twitter.com/o3y5E17Gew

— Cristina Kirchner (@CFKArgentina) December 23, 2014

Mágico fue recibir a Iair Tawil, 1er ahijado presidencial de nuestra historia que profesa la fe judía. pic.twitter.com/18eNPR5kXv

— Cristina Kirchner (@CFKArgentina) December 23, 2014

Strange… but sweet!