Chilean man Jimmy Lippert Thyden, who was tragically stolen from his birth mother’s arms at birth, has embraced his long-lost mother for the first time in 42 years, reported AP.
The emotional meeting took place in Valdivia, Chile, where Maria Angelica Gonzalez, with tears streaming down her face, held her son tightly as he uttered the words, “I love you very much.”
The poignant reunion marked the end of a painful journey for both mother and son.
Jimmy Lippert Thyden, now a successful lawyer and father of two, was adopted by a family in the US shortly after his birth. He embarked on a mission to find his birth family after reading news stories about other Chilean-born adoptees reuniting with their relatives through the assistance of the Chilean nonprofit organization Nos Buscamos.
The organization’s efforts unveiled a shocking truth: that Mr. Thyden had been wrongly separated from his mother due to a fraudulent adoption scheme. Born prematurely in Santiago, Chile’s capital, he was placed in an incubator. Maria Angelica Gonzalez was falsely informed that her son had died. This heartbreaking deception, part of a broader child-trafficking operation during the rule of General Augusto Pinochet, forcibly separated thousands of babies from their families in the 1970s and 1980s.
Nos Buscamos, in collaboration with genealogy platform MyHeritage, has tirelessly worked to reunite adoptees with their birth families, orchestrating over 450 reunions in the past nine years. With the aid of DNA testing and family connections, Thyden’s search led him to discover his true identity and connect with his birth family, including his mother, four brothers, and a sister.
Upon entering his mother’s home in Valdivia, Thyden was welcomed by a touching display of 42 colorful balloons, symbolizing the years of lost time with his family. As he describes it, “There is an empowerment in popping those balloons, empowerment in being there with your family to take inventory of all that was lost.”
Although Thyden’s adoptive parents have supported his journey, they are grappling with their unwitting involvement in an illegal adoption network.
Thyden, along with Constanza del Rio, founder and director of Nos Buscamos, is advocating for recognition and support from the Chilean government for victims of counterfeit adoptions. They met with investigators and Chilean officials to shed light on the pervasive adoption scheme and to ensure the rights of those affected are upheld.
