Skip to main content
Child and Juvenile Adoption Information Center
:::
中文版 Sitemap Facebook fan page Contact us

Child and Juvenile Adoption Information Center

  • About us
    • News
    • History
    • Services
    • Organizational Structure
    • Info
    • Contact Us
  • Adoption In Taiwan
    • Adoption Procedures
    • Legal Organizations
  • Reunion Service
    • Application & Eligibility
    • Adoption Cultural in Taiwan
    • Preparation
    • Cultural issues
    • Reunion Notice
    • Stories
    • E-books
  • FAQS
  • Related Laws
    • The Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act
    • Civil Code
    • Family Act
    • Household Registration Act
    • Enforcement Rules of the Household Registration Act
    • Permit and Management Regulations for Children and Youth Adoption Service Providers
    • Information Management and Regulations of Child and Juvenile Adoption
    • Regulations Governing Visiting, Residency, and Permanent Residency of Aliens
    • Act for Implementation of J.Y. Interpretation No.748
  • 中文版 Sitemap FB fanpage Contact us
  • About us
    • News
    • History
    • Services
    • Organizational Structure
    • Info
    • Contact Us
  • Adoption In Taiwan
    • Adoption Procedures
    • Legal Organizations
  • Reunion Service
    • Application & Eligibility
    • Adoption Cultural in Taiwan
    • Preparation
    • Cultural issues
    • Reunion Notice
    • Stories
    • E-books
  • FAQS
  • Related Laws
    • The Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act
    • Civil Code
    • Family Act
    • Household Registration Act
    • Enforcement Rules of the Household Registration Act
    • Permit and Management Regulations for Children and Youth Adoption Service Providers
    • Information Management and Regulations of Child and Juvenile Adoption
    • Regulations Governing Visiting, Residency, and Permanent Residency of Aliens
    • Act for Implementation of J.Y. Interpretation No.748
About us
::: 首頁 > About us > News
Five of Chile's stolen children take off to reunite with birth families
News 2025-02-24

Five of Chile's stolen children take off to reunite with birth families

Five U.S. adoptees took off from Houston on Friday to reunite with their birth families in Chile for the first time after they were stolen as infants decades ago during the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship.

Five of Chile's stolen children take off to reunite with birth families

2025/02/23【Reporting by Sebastian Rocandio in Houston; Writing by Alexander Villegas; Editing by Sandra Maler / Reuters】
 
HOUSTON, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Five U.S. adoptees took off from Houston on Friday to reunite with their birth families in Chile for the first time after they were stolen as infants decades ago during the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship.
 
"I will finally get to meet the person that brought me into this world and I get to see where I get my energy from and who I look like," said Ana Maria Haefmeyer, 36, an administrative assistant from Minnesota and one of the adoptees on the flight.
 
Haefmeyer and the others were able to find their birth parents thanks to efforts from Connecting Roots, an NGO dedicated to reuniting Chilean adoptees with their birth families.
 
Human rights groups estimate that thousands of children were stolen from their birth parents during Pinochet's brutal dictatorship, which lasted from 1973 until 1990, and adopted to foreign families.
 
Pinochet encouraged adoptions to reduce poverty while medical professionals, clergy, judges and others are believed to have profited off the adoptions.
 
Connecting Roots was founded by Tyler Graf, a Texas-based firefighter and adoptee who discovered he had been stolen at birth and reconnected with his birth family in Chile.
 
The NGO uses DNA tests from MyHeritage to reunite families and say over 100 families have reached out in the hopes of finding their children after a similar trip last year.
 
The five adoptees will land in Chile on Saturday and spend the next few days reuniting with their families.
 
Haefmeyer said she had a piece of paper with her mother's name and had looked for her birth mother throughout her life with no luck. It was only after she got married and went to change her name that she found out she was still a citizen of Chile and decided to reach out to Connecting Roots.
 
Haefmeyer says she's excited and nervous, adding her adoptive parents have been supportive of her trip.
 
"They know it's going to be closing or filling in the hole that I have within my heart that I've always felt is missing," Haefmeyer said.
 
 
 
News from: Reuters
Previous 'My life is complete now I've met my lost brother' Next Homeward Bound: One woman's search for her roots in Taiwan
Back to list
open new window share to Facebook open new window share to Line
:::

Child and Juvenile Adoption Information Center

ADD:5F.-1, No. 1, Nanhai Rd., Zhongzheng Dist., Taipei City 100, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

TEL:(02) 8979-5430 FAX:(02) 2321-2798

EMAIL:adoption@adoptinfo.org.tw

The Child and Juvenile Adoption Information Center is hosted by: Social and Family Affairs Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare The Child and Juvenile Adoption Information Center is co-hosted by:Children Welfare League Foundation
Accessibility web page detection through A priority
© 2019 Child and Juvenile Adoption Information Center. All Rights Reserved.
TOP