Stolen twins
Elan and Micah Nardi are only three months old when their mother takes them to the hospital in Santiago in 1986: an older brother is ill and needs an examination. In the American People can be read that an employee offers to watch the two little ones. When the mother wants to visit her children a little later, the door is slammed shut in her face. She turns to the police, but before they arrive, the babies are already gone.
Unfortunately, this is not a unique story. In the 1970s and 1980s, it is estimated that this happened to some eight to twenty thousand Chilean babies. The children were offered through an illegal adoption network to mostly American and European families for financial gain.
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Quest
Elan and Micah end up with a family in the state of Massachusetts. Those parents have no idea for years what drama is behind the adoption of their children, until they see a news item in December 2021 about Chilean practices in the last century. The mother does not trust it and, together with her sons, enlists several organizations for investigation.
Eventually, thanks to a DNA test, the twins find their biological family. First they talk via Zoom, in June they travel to Chile to actually meet them. They have just returned from a second trip.
“Our parents carried our photo with them for 36 years. They went looking, but were never able to trace us,” says Elan People. “It hasn’t always been easy, but I hope that our story inspires other adopted children from Chile to look for their roots as well. Otherwise you may never get answers.”
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