Instead of creating fair-paying jobs and promoting adequate education, a monstrous Chilean dictator broke the law to reduce poverty.
His regime is responsible for stealing babies from their mothers and placing them in an illegal adoption network.
He was claimed to be a part of an effort to reduce poverty in Chile.
That’s how twins Elan and Micah Nardi were separated from their mother in 1986.
They were among the estimated 8,000 to 20,000 children stolen from mostly impoverished mothers and sent to live with families in North America and Europe in the 70s and 80s, according to People.
Some mothers were told their newborns had died after giving birth.
They were denied seeing their bodies and were never given death certificates.
Other mothers were told they had to bring their children to the hospital for a blood test.
The children were never returned to them.
One woman said she asked a policeman outside for help and he just looked at her, laughed, then told her that she was mad.
Some reported instances of being psychologically manipulated by being told that they were too poor to care for their children and already had other children to deal with.
Some said they were forced to sign papers they didn’t understand.
Some people were intimidated and too afraid to ask further questions during this time.
The twins were snatched at a hospital by authorities when their mother brought one of her older children to the hospital.
The hospital staff offered to help look after the babies while their mom looked after their older sibling that was sick.
The door was slammed in their mother’s face when she went to go find out where the twins were.
The children were gone by the time the police got there.
The twins were adopted by a couple in Massachusetts who were told that their mother wanted a better life for them and had to give them up.
Years later, their adoptive mother saw a news story about a Texas firefighter and other kids who were stolen in Chile.
That’s when the twins started to dig into their past.
They reached out to nonprofits Connecting Roots and Nos Buscamos to help them learn about their heritage.
The twins were connected with their biological family after a DNA test confirmed their relationship.
It wasn’t long after this that the twins met their birth parents via Zoom.
Their parents still had a photo of them from when they were just a few months old.
They even went to local news stations to talk about the disappearance of their children to see if they could get help locating them.
Their younger siblings even appeared on TV crying over their little brothers.
“They said, ‘We’d never forgotten you. We’ve had this picture with us for 36 years. We’ve always wondered what had happened to you,'” Micah said.
“Just the genuine emotion and reaction that they had made me have no doubt that what they were saying was sincere.”
They needed to use a translation app in order to communicate but the feelings and affection were translated.
The twins are learning how to speak Spanish and Chilean dialects.
They hope to be fluent one day.
Elan and Micah eventually traveled to Chile to meet their biological family.
They hope that their story encourages others Chileans who were adopted to explore their backgrounds and reconnect with their families.
Learn more about this incredible reunion in the video below.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
