Guatemalen mother IDs daughter stolen from her 14 months ago!
By Wendy
@jerzgirl (9234)
United States
August 1, 2008 9:55am CST
Her 6-month-old daughter was stolen from her at gunpoint over a year ago, but this mother didn't give up hope that she'd someday find her. She had studied her daughter intensely during her short time with her...she knew the peculiar way her fingers curled. And, that is how she found her...in court, being held by her "foster" mother awaiting adoption by a US couple. Despite documents signed by a medical doctor attesting that DNA tests proved a different mother, she insisted that this was HER daughter. The authorities agreed to re-test her...the foster mother disappeared. The new DNA tests proved what the natural mother knew - this WAS her daughter.
There is a growing market in stolen infants who are "sold" to brokers who have clients, often in the US, who want to adopt a child. Most of these people believe the adoptions are legitimate, but the children were actually stolen.
Here is the story of this one lucky (and persistent) mother: http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/88-07312008-1570943.html
If you wanted to adopt, would knowing this make you extra cautious? Or would you believe that, even if stolen, the child would be better off with you than with the people who stole him or her? And, if the real mother is found, would you try to work out a shared arrangement so the child would be less traumatized?
4 people like this
4 responses
@maximax8 (31053)
• United Kingdom
1 Aug 08
I went to Guatemala in 2006 and was told not to take photos of the local children because people thought a Japanese lady was doing this was going to steal one of the children. I think that the mother that had her baby girl taken away from at gunpoint must have been devastated. It is lucky that she knew that her daughter's fingers curled. Through the DNA test she proved she was the mother. The little girl might have been adopted to the American couple and then gone to live in America with them. It is amazing that the mother found her before this could happen.
I would love to adopt a girl but I would be cautious in case she did really have a loving mother. I would wonder if she was really an orphan or her parents didn't want her. If I adopted a girl and then found she had been stolen I would come over to the country every year and make her biological mother part of our life. I saw a program about international adoption and one lady had an girl from Vietnam. She had been told she was an orphan but she wasn't really. I think that the child would have a different life in her native homeland than in my home country. It would not be a better life, just another life with poorer weather, more money, love, care and an excellent education.
1 person likes this
@jerzgirl (9234)
• United States
2 Aug 08
It does make you wonder why they didn't allow photos, doesn't it? An odd response to something that should be so innocent. So often, government officials are involved in these kinds of things. That could explain it.
I think I would also tell the child as much as I knew and then if I learned the truth, tell her that as well and do what I could to find the birth mother so they could meet and know one another.
@bamakelly (5191)
• United States
1 Aug 08
This is a truly amazing story of hope for a mother who never gave up. There does seem to be a growing market out there of stolen infants. People need to do their homework when it comes to adopting.
I had placed a child for adoption six years ago and I went through a legitimate agency. But not everything is done legally these days, unfortunately.
As far as working out a shared arrangement I am not sure what I would do until it actually happened. It must be traumatizing for everyone involved in one of these whirlwinds.em]happy[/em]
@jerzgirl (9234)
• United States
2 Aug 08
Absolutely a story of hope. I was so happy to read her story even as I was saddened that there are people who would stoop to this just because they want the money. And, I respect that you were able to do what you believed was best for your child. So many can't or won't even when they can't afford to care for the child (or in some cases, don't want to be bothered caring for the child). That's not a condemnation of those who keep their children either because that kind of bonding is hard to deny. I'm sure it was hard for you, regardless.
@blanne (173)
• Philippines
1 Aug 08
This topic has caught my attention and would possibly make me extra cautious if someday I opt to adopt a child. That would be scary and at the same time sad knowing that the child still has a real mother. People who apparently steal infants should go to hell. They seriously have to consider changing their current occupation. If someday I encounter one, I would make sure that he rots in jail.
About the second question, I say if ever I happen to be richer than the real parents of the kid, I think he/she is still better off with his/her family. Even though I can give him/her a better and brighter future, those could never sum up to his/her parents' love and care. It would just be so different, and if I were the kid and if given the option to choose, I think I'd still pick my real parents.
And lastly, I believe I would see to it that the child be given the proper care in case if the real mother is found. Considering that I adopted the child, I should also take responsibility of him/her. And trying to work things out between the child and the real mother would be one of those responsibilities.
1 person likes this
@jerzgirl (9234)
• United States
2 Aug 08
Thank you for your response. It is nice to know that you would take quality over quantity. I have a friend who believes that poverty is child abuse. Yet, the abuse he received as a child hasn't proved to him that being well-off doesn't prevent it. Regardless, she regained her daughter, left the man who didn't care that the daughter was gone, and will build a new life. I'm sure it's confusing to the child - even a good case scenario can be confusing and frightening to a child. I'm very happy for her.
1 person likes this
