Up to 300,000 Spanish babies were stolen from their parents and sold for adoption over a period of five decades, a new investigation reveals. 

The children were trafficked by a secret network of doctors, nurses, priests and nuns in a widespread practice that began during General Franco’s dictatorship and continued until the early Nineties.

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Here is a letter given to me by one Mother in Costa Rica to give to her son.

Dear Son,

I apologize if I came to stir your life, that was not my intention.
I've searched for you for 23 years and the hope to find you has kept
me alive; but my intention is not that you would recognize me as a
mom, I know that's impossible. If I've searched for you throughout
these years, it was not for guilt but for love. 

It was the circumstances that led me to this. You were the most beautiful child.
and I believe it meant a good investment for them, pity that such things 
can not be checked or proven, but I know there is a God who sees everything. 
But that's not your problem, it was mine. I just want you to know that it
did not happen for lack of love, but fatality. All these years there
was not one night I did not spend asking God to put guardian angels
around you to take care of you; and I know they have cared for you. I've had a
painful life and I'm tired, my time is over and I just want to ask you
to forgive me. I know I have no right even to ask for forgiveness.

I do not expect anything from you. I ask God to know that you were doing 
well and that you have a family to care for and to love.

I love you with all my heart and if someday you can forgive me please
send me a photo of you with your family. And if you have any
questions, I promise I'll reply with the whole truth.

Please do not take too long,

I love you,

Velvet’s behind-the-scene shots.

I’m learning many new Spanish phrases in Costa Rica. “Que dicha” is one of them,  which means bliss/happiness. This is how I would describe my new friend and recent partner for this project, Velvet Salas. Without her help with translation and camera work, I would be stumbling through these interviews.

I met Velvet last year when she auditioned for one of our reenactments. She had a powerful presence and we fell in love with her immediately. She offered to help with makeup and wardrobe and she eventually recruited her daughter, Gala, as a child actor for another one of our scenes.

We’ve been in touch over the last year via Facebook and she has remained a constant supporter from afar. When I was looking around for someone to help for this phase of production, she volunteered without hesitation.

I am enamored of her boldness and enthusiasm about the entire process. Her empathy and experience as a mother has brought a new depth to the interview process; and her insight into Costa Rican culture has helped me through the networking, scheduling and shooting process. I have asked her to operate the video camera and keep track of sound, all while
translating interviews! I can’t believe I’ve asked so much of her. Thank you Velvet. I owe you! Que dicha!

These photographs were taken by my sister, Mayela. I particularly like the composition of the tripod legs shot. I think she might be a natural.

Mayela is also helping me with translations, production details and our interview schedule. She’s also making my life so much easier during my stay here. She is my biological sister. Her perspective on our adoption circumstances is becoming a key part of this film and really the inspiration behind my interest in doing it in the first place. When we were reunited I was touched by how much she worried after us. She never stopped looking for us. She went through many emotions over the years: blaming herself, feeling shame for the family, feeling anger towards PANI (social services in Costa Rica) and feeling a deep loss.

The pain of adoption affects more than mothers and adopted persons. It also effects the siblings of the birth mothers and the extended family. Mayela searched for years for us. Once she found us she applied five times for her visa in order to visit us in the U.S. That’s $150 a pop. No small fee for Costa Rica. She has never asked me for anything other than to accept her love and the love of her family. Gracias, Mayela. Thank you for rounding out the edges of our renegade crew with your sweet spirit.

We start shooting today and although we’ve received yet another rejection from grant funders, we are pushing forward and staying positive. When I say we, I’m speaking about the wonderful women who have agreed to share their stories with me and my generous friends and family who have been supporting me throughout this whole process. I would not be here without them.

On this trip I’ve assembled a mighty heart-filled guerilla crew. They have volunteered their talents and time to help with publicity, production and translation. “Gracias a Dios,” as Mayela, my sister would say. She and her husband, Jose, are my biggest supporters here in Costa Rica.

Jose has offered his car for transportation around the country and he has filled the pantry with lots goodies to sustain us during production. He’s also hilarious and always keeps our spirits up.

Viva Jose!

This recent article from The Surviors Foundation in Guatemala helped clear my mind of all the rhetoric and focus my thoughts on my initial purpose. The U.S. Department is continuing to ignore the human rights of mothers in Guatemala and the rights of their stolen children now living in the U.S. How will these children feel in 10-20 years when they realize the U.S. government was complicit with the corrupt adoption industry and kept them from their families in Guatemala?

My loyalty stays with mothers and families of Latin America and all victims of this corrupt system.

Fundacion Sobrevivientes
November 3, 2006, the lowest for Anyeli Lisette Hernández Rodríguez, two years old was stolen from residence in the municipality of San Miguel Petapa, to be given in international adoption networks trafficking children. From that moment, life changed drastically for her mother, Elizabeth Loyd Rodríguez Morales.

Until the day the case is criminal and remains unresolved, sadness engulfs each of this family, not to be exceeded while the child is away and not return to his true home. Unlikely.

(I used google to translate. Please email me any corrections)

The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute held an event on March 10, 2011 at the NYC Hard Rock Cafe to heighten public, media and policymaker awareness about the need to restore adopted adults’ right to access their original birth certificates.

“Personally, I believe when it’s all said and done, three factors influence which voices get picked-up by popular news-media and which hard-core adoption issues, (and the many concerns that go with them) get promoted as serious and significant enough to discuss more openly. First, as it is mentioned in Russia’s most recent news-release, there is a powerful adoption lobby, and these people make a lot of money protecting international adoption, which happens to be a very profitable business. Second, people don’t like to be forced into a stereotype that projects a negative connotation or image, especially if the negative stereotype is used to describe adoptive parents, adoption agencies, or religious-motivated adoption advocates. Third, unless an adoptee proves to be a credible witness, meaning the adoptee owns a measure of academic success, and has volumes of documented proof (in his/her possession) supporting his/her beliefs, the opinions of the adoptee who dares to criticize a parent or condemn the adoption experience will not be taken seriously, rendering the opinion of those hurt and angry, not at all statistically significant.” read more

An excerpt from article in USATODAY by Lorraine Dusky of Birth Mother, First Mother:

When Oprah Winfrey’s mother was asked on why she had not told her family about the daughter she gave up for adoption, I could have answered for her: shame, humiliation, the sense that you did something gravely wrong. Not wrong in the eyes of the law, but in the natural order of things.

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