Five children stolen during the dictatorship in Chile travel from the US to see their biological families

Five adopted Americans took from Houston on Friday to meet for the first time with their biological families in Chile, after being stolen when they were babies during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

«I will finally meet the person who brought me to this world and I will see where I get my energy and who seems to me,» said Ana Maria Haefmeyer, 36, Minnesota Administrative Assistant and one of the adopted flight.

Haefmeyer and the others were able to find their biological parents thanks to Connecting Roots, an NGO dedicated to gathering Chilean adopted with their biological families.

Human rights groups estimate that thousands of children were stolen from their biological parents during the brutal dictatorship of Pinochet, which lasted from 1973 to 1990, and adopted by foreign families.

Pinochet encouraged adoptions to reduce poverty, while it is believed that medical professionals, clergy, judges and other people profit from them.

Connecting Roots was founded by Tyler Graf, Texas firefighter and adopted who discovered that he had been stolen at birth and met again with his biological family in Chile.

The NGO uses Myheritage DNA tests to gather families and states that more than 100 families have contacted themselves with the hope of finding their children after a similar trip last year.

The five adopted will land in Chile on Saturday and spend the next few days meeting their families for the first time in decades.

Haefmeyer said he had a piece of paper with his mother’s name and that he had looked for his biological mother throughout his life without luck. It was not until he married and changed his name when he discovered that he was still a citizen of Chile and decided to get in touch with Connecting Roots.

Haefmeyer says that she is excited and nervous and that her adoptive parents have supported her. «They know that it will be to close or fill the hole that I have inside my heart that I have always felt missing,» said Haefmeyer.

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