Man Stolen As Baby Reunited With Birth Mum 38 Years Later
The story of how a Chilean baby named Sergio became a Houston fireman called Tyler Graf has shed light on the shocking forced adoption scheme which operated in Chile during the 1970s and1980s.
Tyler, 38, was flabbergasted when he was contacted by a Chilean non-profit who told him that he had been stolen from his mother at childbirth and put up for adoption.
Tyler, who works as a fireman and has a family of his own, always knew that he was adopted, but grew up believing he was abandoned by a mother who couldn't afford to keep him.
His mum grew old believing her son had died shortly after being born.
Advert
Although he had a happy childhood in Minnesota, he could never understand how someone could have put their own child up for adoption.
He told the New York Times: "I carried that animosity, that chip on my shoulder, my whole life."
However, thanks to a friend offering to investigate his birth family and with the help of non-profit Hijos y Madres del Silencio, Tyler soon discovered the truth: his birth mother Hilda del Carmen Quezada believed he was dead.
The pair have now been re-united, after Quazada flew to Houston to meet her son for the first time in 38 years.
Tyler describes the re-union as overwhelmingly emotional, telling the New York Times: "They just left us alone in each other’s arms and we hugged and she kissed me and we just stood there crying."
He was one of thousands of Chilean children who General Augusto Pinochet's regime put up for adoption without their parents' consent.
This forced adoption programme was a large operation requiring the coordination of social services, hospitals and judges.
The adoptions were scandalously encouraged by Pinochet in order to reduce poverty in Chile.
Tyler was taken in by a Minnesotan family - who were completely unaware of the circumstances behind Tyler's birth.
Tyler, named at birth Sergio, was born prematurely and his mother never saw him again.
Quazada, who is now 65, remembers painfully the lies that the authorities had told her.
She said: "Two weeks after the birth, they told me he had died. I asked for the body and they refused, saying it was too small."
Tyler has now been able to fly back to Chile and meet the three sisters that he never knew existed.
Tyler told the New York Times: "We’re making up for 38 years of lost time. Time we can't get back."
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via [email protected]
Alex Fleming-Brown