VOA新闻杂志2023--Son Taken at Birth Reunited with Chilean Mother after 42 Years

Son Taken at Birth Reunited with Chilean Mother after 42 Years

Forty-two years ago, hospital workers took Maria Angelica Gonzalez' son from her arms right after birth. Documents say they later told her he had died. Now, she was meeting him face-to-face at her home in Valdivia, Chile.

"I love you very much," Jimmy Lippert Thyden told his mother in Spanish as they hugged and cried.

"It knocked the wind out of me," Thyden told The Associated Press after the meeting.

His effort to find the birth family he never knew began in April. That was when he read news stories about adoptees who had been born in Chile and had been reunited with their birth relatives through a Chilean nonprofit group called Nos Buscamos.

The organization found that Thyden had been born prematurely² at a hospital in Santiago, Chile's capital, and had been placed in an incubator. Gonzalez was told to leave the hospital, but when she returned to get her baby, she was told he had died and his body had been removed, documents say.

"The paperwork I have for my adoption³ tells me I have no living relatives. And I learned in the last few months that I have a mama and I have four brothers and a sister," Thyden said. He now lives in Ashburn, Virginia, where he works as a criminal defense⁴ lawyer.

He said his was a case of "counterfeit⁵ adoption."

The group Nos Buscamos estimates that tens of thousands of babies were taken from Chilean families in the 1970s and 1980s. That claim is based on a report from the Investigations⁶ Police of Chile, a civilian⁷ group, which examined the passports of Chilean children who left the country and never returned.

"The real story was these kids were stolen from poor families, poor women, that didn't know how to defend themselves," said Constanza del Rio, founder⁸ and director and Nos Buscamos.

The group said the disappearances⁹ took place during the rule of General Augusto Pinochet, who led the country for 17 years starting in 1973. Pinochet led a group which overthrew¹⁰ Marxist President Salvador Allende. Chile's government says at least 3,095 people were killed during that time.

Over the past nine years, Nos Buscamos has organized reunions for more than 450 adoptees and their birth families, del Rio said. Other nonprofit groups are doing similar work, both in Chile and the U.S.

Nos Buscamos has been partnering for two years with the genealogy¹¹ company MyHeritage. MyHeritage gives DNA¹² testing kits¹³ for use at home at no cost to Chilean adoptees and suspected victims of child trafficking in Chile.

Thyden's DNA test result said that he was 100 percent Chilean. It said he was related to another person who also uses MyHeritage. The website said the person was a first cousin.

Thyden sent the cousin his adoption documents, which included an address for his birth mother and a very common name in Chile: Maria Angelica Gonzalez. His cousin had a Maria Angelica Gonzalez on their mother's side and helped him make the connection.

Thyden said his reunion with his birth family was a success. But, he knows that reunification might not go as well for other adoptees.

"It could have been a much worse story," he said. "There are people who find out some really unfortunate details about their origin."

While in Chile, Thyden and del Rio met with one of seven investigators¹⁴ working on thousands of counterfeit adoption cases like his own. Thyden also met with Juan Gabriel Valdes, the Chilean ambassador to the United States, to seek government recognition of the adoption scheme.

He said there was no way to assist Chilean adoptees in their efforts to visit their home country. Thyden said he sold a truck to pay for his family's airplane tickets and other costs.

He said, "People need to be able to decide...what their name is going to be, where their citizenship¹⁵ is going to be...They should have all the rights and privileges of a Chilean citizen because this is a thing that happened to them, not that they chose."

Words in This Story

knock the wind out of –idiom to suddenly not be able to breathe because of a physical blow or from surprise and astonishment¹⁶

adoption — n. the process of legally taking the child of another person as your own

premature¹ — adj. something that happens too early

incubator — n. a device in a hospital that protects newborn babies

counterfeit — adj. a copy of something that is meant to deceive others

genealogy — n. the history of a family showing who is related to who

origin — n. the place that a person or thing comes from

scheme –n. an organized plan

privileges –n. (pl.) special rights or things that a person may have

1 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

2 prematurely   

adv.过早地，贸然地

参考例句：

• She was born prematurely with poorly developed lungs. 她早产，肺部未发育健全。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His hair was prematurely white, but his busy eyebrows were still jet-black. 他的头发已经白了，不过两道浓眉还是乌黑乌黑的。 来自辞典例句

3 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 counterfeit   

vt.伪造，仿造；adj.伪造的，假冒的

参考例句：

• It is a crime to counterfeit money.伪造货币是犯罪行为。
• The painting looked old but was a recent counterfeit.这幅画看上去年代久远，实际是最近的一幅赝品。

6 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

7 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

8 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

9 disappearances   

n.消失( disappearance的名词复数 )；丢失；失踪；失踪案

参考例句：

• Most disappearances are the result of the terrorist activity. 大多数的失踪案都是恐怖分子造成的。 来自辞典例句
• The espionage, the betrayals, the arrests, the tortures, the executions, the disappearances will never cease. 间谍活动、叛党卖国、逮捕拷打、处决灭迹，这种事情永远不会完。 来自英汉文学

10 overthrew   

overthrow的过去式

参考例句：

• The people finally rose up and overthrew the reactionary regime. 人们终于起来把反动的政权推翻了。
• They overthrew their King. 他们推翻了国王。

11 genealogy   

n.家系，宗谱

参考例句：

• He had sat and repeated his family's genealogy to her,twenty minutes of nonstop names.他坐下又给她细数了一遍他家族的家谱，20分钟内说出了一连串的名字。
• He was proficient in all questions of genealogy.他非常精通所有家谱的问题。

12 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

13 kits   

衣物和装备( kit的名词复数 )； 成套用品； 配套元件

参考例句：

• Keep your kits closed and locked when not in use. 不用的话把你的装备都锁好放好。
• Gifts Articles, Toy and Games, Wooden Toys, Puzzles, Craft Kits. 采购产品礼品，玩具和游戏，木制的玩具，智力玩具，手艺装备。

14 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

16 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。