Manuel, Claudia and Luis arrived as the first Chilean adopted children in 1978. Today, they fear they were stolen

In Chile, children have been illegally adopted to the West. Kristeligt Dagblad has found the first to arrive in Denmark. Today, they are convinced that there were illegalities associated with their adoptions. The struggle to find the truth is not about revenge, but about becoming whole people By Mathias Sonne Mencke In the sky over Copenhagen on a cold December day in 1978, a plane made ready for landing. On board, five Chilean children were still too young to fasten their seat belts and to understand the turn their lives had taken. That they had left their country of birth and culture to become Danish citizens instead. At that time, they also did not know that they might be victims of illegal adoption. That some of their biological mothers would later in life insist that they had been stolen, just as thousands of Chilean children mysteriously disappeared from their families in the latter half of the 20th century. In the arrival hall of the airport, expectant Danish couples were waiting, who had long wanted a child, but for whom for one reason or another it had not succeeded. Through the adoption agency AC Børnehjælp, they were the first in Denmark to officially adopt from Chile in South America. A country that at this time was primarily known - and infamous - for dictator Augusto Pinochet's brutal treatment of political opponents. The country's political situation has probably not filled the arrival hall very much. For the couples, years of waiting time were reduced to minutes. Soon they could call themselves parents. Soon they were to meet the child they had read descriptions and seen pictures of, and whom they had been told in various terms had been abandoned by their biological families. At least that was the story Ole and Grete Kaalund knew. Manuel Francisco Humeres Salinas was the name of their future son. A four-year-old boy with dark hair and brown eyes who, according to the adoption agency, was born out of wedlock in the fall of 1974, after which he was abandoned by unnamed parents. He was perfect. And in a medical examination dated two years before arriving in Denmark, a doctor was mentioned in addition to the health professional considerations that their future adopted son appeared both "loving", "affectionate", "dark, but quite light" and not least as a child who "Falls easily to".

In 1978, Manuel Tom Kaalund and four other Chilean adopted children landed in Denmark. Today, several of them are convinced that there have been illegalities in connection with their adoption. For the same reason, Manuel Tom Kaalund has decided to find his biological mother so she can be sure he is alive.In 1978, Manuel Tom Kaalund and four other Chilean adopted children landed in Denmark. Today, several of them are convinced that there have been illegalities in connection with their adoption. For the same reason, Manuel Tom Kaalund has decided to find his biological mother so she can be sure he is alive. Photo: Johanne Teglgård

The boy was named Manuel Tom Kaalund. He grew up in a villa in Lyngby in North Zealand, and one day, when he was old enough, he asked his adoptive parents why his original family did not want to know about him. They told what they knew and the adopted son was silent. Being left on a bench in a park by unknown parents does not leave much room for in-depth questions. The problem is just that parts of the story are probably lies. A review of Manuel Tom Kaalund's adoption case reveals several documents that seem contradictory and misleading. And he is far from the only adoptee from Chile who is putting together a puzzle where the pieces do not fit. Two others who were on board the plane in 1978 are Luis Vad-Nielsen, who ended up with a family in Strøby Egede near Køge, and Claudia Alejandra Svane, who came to live in Brønderslev in Vendsyssel. Today, both are convinced that their adoptions were due to a deception. The suspicions are due in particular to the fact that their biological families have told them that they were stolen, but also documents concerning the mediation of adopted children between Denmark and Chile under the Pinochet regime, which Kristeligt Dagblad has been given access to, show, This is the story of missing Chilean children who may have ended up in Denmark. It is the story of a dictatorship state from which children disappeared, of a Danish system that received adopted children without questioning the documentation. And then there is the story of adopted children who have grown up and are looking for answers. “All my life I have thought that my biological mother gave up on me. And for that reason, I did not want to search for her. Now I can not help it. The thought that I might have been stolen against her will I cannot bear. I myself have children and think about what trauma she must have. I want to find her so she can see I'm alive. Both for my own sake and hers, ”says Manuel Tom Kaalund. The suspicion of fraud in the Danish adoption cases from Chile has been nurtured by a Chilean commission of inquiry that has unequivocally determined that children from the 1950s until the late 1990s disappeared as part of illegal adoptions to the West. In all, the Chilean authorities estimate that at least 8,000 children disappeared under suspicious conditions during Augusto Pinochet's military dictatorship from 1973 to 1990. NGOs estimate that number is much higher. The adoptions, according to the commission, involve the entire Chilean system: from judges and lawyers to social workers, health professionals, orphanages and the Catholic Church, and in the wake of the cover-up, the Chilean government has launched an investigation for prosecution. Self-justice has attracted attention in most of the western world, and in February the Swedish Minister of Social Affairs, Lena Hallengren, stated in the daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter, that the country's government wants a bullet hole of the overall Swedish adoption practice over four decades. And in Denmark, in the autumn, the National Board of Appeal most unusually called on all adopted children from Chile with suspected illegalities regarding their adoption to make contact. One of the adoption cases that the National Board of Appeal is reviewing at the time of writing is Manuel Tom Kaalunds. We will return to that. First a trip to Chile, where for years the suspicion of missing children was known. In newspaper articles you could read about mothers who claimed that their children had been stolen, just as viewers in the Chilean counterpart to the DR program "Traceless" could often observe how adopted children's stories about the reasons behind their adoptions did not match the biological family interpretations. However, the testimonies did not resonate with the population. The biological mothers often came from poor backgrounds, and the allegations of fraud and child abduction lack credibility. It was therefore not until 2014, when the Chilean media Ciper was able to document that a group of children allegedly declared stillborn under the Pinochet regime had in fact been adopted to the West without the permission of their parents. The births and subsequent adoptions were led by a Catholic priest who, in conjunction with several doctors, removed babies from mothers at birth and then told them that their infants were stillborn. This often happened to women from more affluent, conservative families, where births out of wedlock were considered shameful. And in his defense, the priest maintained that he was only doing what the fathers of the daughters had asked him to do. The revelations started an avalanche. Associations such as Nos Buscamos (we are looking for each other) and Hijos y Madres del Silencio (Children and Mothers of Silence) arose and mobilized hundreds of mothers with the common denominator that they had all lost a child under mysterious circumstances. The frustrations of the population grew, and the Chilean parliament took the consequence and set up the aforementioned commission, which, based on thousands of testimonies from mothers, relatives, lawyers and social workers, stated that families have been systematically deprived of children for adoption. The Commission identified four common methods used by doctors and social workers, among others, to provide for children. Common to them was that the mothers in question were in more or less defenseless positions. The first method was for the social authorities to readily declare parents unfit and forcibly remove their children, after which the children disappeared or were declared dead. The second method was that, for example, the authorities or the church "enticed" or "blackmailed" the poor to sign papers they did not understand the meaning of. Third method was sheer kidnapping of children. And lastly, many mothers experienced that their children were lied to dead after births or hospitalizations.

In her spare time, Claudia Alejandra Svane has helped other adoptees find their biological origins. It is hard mentally to shake up the past, she says, and mentions that she knows several who over the years have struggled with, for example, mental problems or abuse.In her spare time, Claudia Alejandra Svane has helped other adoptees find their biological origins. It is hard mentally to shake up the past, she says, and mentions that she knows several who over the years have struggled with, for example, mental problems or abuse. Photo: Johanne Teglgård

One of those who was lied to dead was two-year-old Claudia Alijandra Gallardo Vergara. She was later given the name Claudia Alejandra Svane, when she came to Denmark and moved in with her adoptive parents in Brønderslev in 1978. She describes growing up in North Jutland as “someone you can not put a finger on. It was safe and full of love. ” "Still," she says, "have I always felt a rootlessness and from an early age asked myself self-blaming questions, such as is it my own fault that my biological parents did not want me?". Eventually, Claudia Alejandra Svane acknowledged that she had to have certainty if she was to be able to move on with her life. She reviewed her adoption case and found that she was apparently born out of wedlock and that her biological mother had handed her over to the state orphanage Casa Nacional del Niño in Chile's capital, Santiago. A place with which the then adoption agency AC Børnehjælp had established a collaboration in 1978, and which up to and including 1981 approved 76 away adoptions to Denmark. However, the fruitful collaboration came to an abrupt end. Access to documents in the dissemination of Chilean children to Denmark shows that AC Børnehjælp and Casa Nacional del Niño immediately suspended the collaboration in 1982 "on the basis of suspicion of illegal behavior". Apparently, it was the Chilean authorities themselves who suspended the dissemination, as Chilean media, according to a document from the Danish embassy in Santiago, described illegal "child traffic". AC Børnehjælp's Christmas card for potential adopters the same year did not mention the suspension of the Chilean adoption agency and the suspicion of irregularities. It was not until the following year that it was established that the communication had been "reopened", but "certainly not without problems, and that only a small number of children are still coming". Of the total of 111 Chilean adopted children who have come to Denmark over time, Manuel Tom Kaalund, Claudia Alejandra Svane, Luis Vad-Nielsen and 73 other children arrived from Chile before the placement from the orphanage was suspended. It was the then Directorate of Civil Justice, which supervised the Danish adoption agency in the 1970s and 1980s. However, there is nothing to indicate that the Danish adoptive families were informed of the suspicion, or that the official team "reacted" to the suspicion. The National Board of Appeal writes this in an email response to the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Interior, as Kristeligt Dagblad has seen. AC Børnehjælp is today merged with DanAdopt under the name DIA - Danish International Adoption. Here, on the basis of the new information, the adoption agency from Chile has been reviewed and "no information or articles have been found that illegal activities have taken place at Casa Nacional del Niño". In a statement sent to the National Board of Appeal, however, the DIA writes that in the "cases from Casa National del Niño it is not primarily stated whether consent has been given or not" from the biological parents. Founder and director of the organization Chilean Adoptees Worldwide Alejandro Quezada calls Casa Nacional del Niño one of the most "powerful" children's institutions at any given time. He himself was adopted to the Netherlands in 1979, after he, according to his biological family, was lied to dead for a health check shortly after birth. About the state orphanage Casa Nacional del Niño, he says that "I have not yet come across an adoption from there, where there have been no elements of deception beyond the dissemination". Both Manuel Tom Kaalund, Claudia Alejandra Svane and Luis Vad-Nielsen lived at Casa Nacional del Niño before coming to Denmark. At the same time, their adoptive parents were represented by the same lawyer in Chile: Maria Luisa Avendaño. A well-known name in the Scandinavian adoption agency from Chile in the 1970s and 1980s. In 2019, she thus appeared in a comprehensive reconstruction, where the investigative Chilean media Ciper documented, among other things, how Chilean lawyers coordinated with day care workers and social workers to collect infants from orphanages, hospitals and poor homes, after which they ended up in Sweden. Of course , Claudia Alejandra Svane did not know all this when she started looking for her biological family a little over 20 years ago. She trusted that the information in her adoption papers was truthful and that she had truly been given up. If one is to believe Claudia Alejandra Svane's biological mother, Viviana Vergara, however, that information is a lie from end to end. She never gave up her daughter for adoption. On the other hand, throughout her life she has believed that her daughter died when she was two years old. The alleged fraud happened one day, Viviana Vergara took her daughter to the emergency room to treat a wound that had become inflamed. The mother's cousin took her to the hospital and confirms the story. The daughter was hospitalized, and the next day Claudia Alejandra Svane's mother and aunt came to pick her up. They collapsed when a doctor told them the daughter was dead. The mother shouted and screamed and demanded to see the body, but the doctor refused. The daughter's body was to be used for research. For the following time, Viviana Vergara came daily to have the body of her daughter handed over, but each time she went home empty-handed. Eventually, she realized that her two-year-old daughter was dead. "Imagine that I show up after she thought I had been dead for so many years. It was like blowing up a bomb in her life. She actually had a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized, ”says Claudia Alejandra Svane, who is now 45 years old. The two underwent DNA tests that confirmed the relationship, and Claudia Alejandra Svane managed to be reunited with her biological mother and little brother via video service Skype, before the mother died shortly after. Today she helps other Danes who were adopted from Chile to find their origin. A clarification work that she believes the Danish state should be involved in. "Even though I know my story, I think that we as a country need to find out what's head and tail in all this, so that we can reach a reasonable agreement on our storytelling. For many, the suspicion of being stolen is traumatic, and here it is important to remember that it is not only us adoptive children, but also our adoptive families and the biological families who have been led behind the light, ”she says. That the demand for children for adoption in Denmark in the 1970s and 1980s exceeded the supply can be read in the letters the adopters on the country's waiting lists received. In 1978, for example, the office manager at AC Børnehjælp wrote that “unfortunately we must realistically realize that there is a growing disparity between the number of applicants who want to adopt a child from abroad and the number of children available for adoption ( ...). On the other hand, we are under constant pressure from our contacts abroad to also be able to place slightly older children in the age group 3-6 years and possibly 7 years. ”

Luis Vad-Nielsen was adopted from Chile to Denmark in 1978. For him, the art of painting has been a way of processing his emotions. As a young man he was angry at his biological origin, and when his friends asked about it, he just replied that his "mother was a simple whore".Luis Vad-Nielsen was adopted from Chile to Denmark in 1978. For him, the art of painting has been a way of processing his emotions. As a young man he was angry at his biological origin, and when his friends asked about it, he just replied that his "mother was a simple whore". Photo: Johanne Teglgård

Whether the wording in the letter contributed to Georg Vad-Nielsen and Lilli Sørensen from Strøby Egede in East Zealand saying yes to adopting five-year-old Luis Vad-Nielsen is unknown. It is certain that the age meant that the now 47-year-old Luis Vad-Nielsen had memories of violence and loneliness from the orphanage Casa Nacional del Niño in his suitcase when he landed in Denmark in 1978. Today he is an artist and stands in the childhood home, where he shows a picture he has painted. The painting shows a mountain with the contour of a woman's body. The sky is fiery red. And from the mountainside, drops of water run down into a lake. On two islands, trees grow with branching roots that run between the islands. “I painted it in 1999. I think it's about creating connection in my origins. To acknowledge that I am Danish, even though the blood that runs in my veins is Chilean. That I am proud of both, ”he says. When Luis Vad-Nielsen came of age , his world began to tumble. He had had a safe and loving upbringing, but at the same time felt a constant fear of losing. As a child, he wished he could be in the adoptive parents' car if they were to drive wrong. He left boyfriends he loved for fear of being abandoned himself, and he felt a smoldering anger against his biological mother, who according to the adoption papers had "abandoned" him, and whom he referred to his friends as a "whore".

According to his adoption papers, Luis Vad-Nielsen was born on September 4, 1973 and was then named Luis Mamerto Olguin Cubillos. He is divorced today and has a son.According to his adoption papers, Luis Vad-Nielsen was born on September 4, 1973 and was then named Luis Mamerto Olguin Cubillos. He is divorced today and has a son. Photo: Johanne Teglgård

He soothed his mind with alcohol, which turned into cannabis, which turned into ecstasy and smoking heroin. Fortunately, Luis Vad-Nielsen came for treatment, and it was as part of the therapeutic treatment that he and the adoptive parents were recommended to find the son's biological origin. The mission was successful in 1999, and as was the case with Claudia Alejandra Svane, his biological family also believed he had been stolen. Luis Vad-Nielsen's biological mother explained that he had indeed been at the orphanage with his brother Tomas, but that it should have been temporary and that she had never given consent to an adoption. But Luis Vad-Nielsen had simply disappeared one day when she showed up, and according to her mother, she spent the next 20 years looking for him throughout Chile. Luis Vad-Nielsen's adoption papers show that the mother abandoned him when he was born out of wedlock. One reason the mother pure rejects. Nowhere in the adoption papers is it mentioned that he lived in the orphanage with his biological big brother. Luis Vad-Nielsen and his adoptive parents were shocked by the mother's interpretation, and after returning home they went to the press to bring to light that their adoptive son had apparently been robbed from his mother. The articles "Adoptive child stolen - parents thought he was dead" and "A stolen child found" in Dagbladet Køge shortly after the Chilean embassy in Copenhagen contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for information on adoption cases from Chile to Denmark until 1980. In particular, they wrote, they were interested in information about the 12 children who arrived in 1978 and in 1979. The Danish authorities at the time refused to provide the information, as the Chilean children were Danish citizens, so the request according to Kristeligt Dagblad's information did not lead to anything. The suspicion of illegal adoptions from Chile is far from unique. Over the years, the media has documented deception in dissemination from virtually the entire world. The same has been the case in other European countries, and in February this year, a Dutch commission of inquiry concluded that illegalities in the so-called transnational adoption agency to the country have taken place. The report prompted the Dutch government to suspend all transnational adoption immediately and the Dutch Minister of Justice to issue an official apology to all adopted children, adoptive parents and biological parents. In the childhood home in Strøby Egede, Luis Vad-Nielsen says that he does not need any apology. What adoptive children and their adoptive parents need today is clarity and possibly psychological help. "In my eyes, an apology makes us neither whole nor half. Instead, I hope that Denmark will help adopted children find themselves. This is not about revenge. It is about identity and that we have been involuntarily and wrongfully stolen. ”

8000 suspicious cases

A commission of inquiry in Chile has concluded that Chilean children have disappeared from the 1950s to the late 1990s, and state prosecutors are building a comprehensive case for the prosecution of people involved in the illegal adoption of children. The Board of Appeal in Chile estimates that there are at least 8000 suspicious cases of children who have disappeared. NGOs estimate the figure to be significantly higher. The majority of Chile's total 20,000 adoptions took place during Augusto Pinochet's military dictatorship from 1973 to 1990.

According to his adoption papers, Manuel Tom Kaalund was born on November 13, 1974 and was then named Manuel Francisco Humeres Salinas. Today he has two children from a previous relationship and two bonus children with his current girlfriend.According to his adoption papers, Manuel Tom Kaalund was born on November 13, 1974 and was then named Manuel Francisco Humeres Salinas. Today he has two children from a previous relationship and two bonus children with his current girlfriend. Photo: Johanne Teglgård

Opposite Luis Vad-Nielsen and Claudia Alejandra SvaneManuel Tom Kaalund has not yet found his biological origin. He is sitting on a bench in Ringsted and looking out over Susåen. It has been snowing, just like the December day he arrived in Denmark in 1978. It has taken him most of his life to reach a realization that he needs to know who he is and where he comes from . Like his two fellow passengers on the plane in 1978, he has throughout his life experienced a feeling of inadequacy and fear of losing. Manuel Tom Kaalund laughs and tells the story of that time in the childhood home in Lyngby, where he tied a toast sandwich with cheese stuck like bait on a string to catch his father when his adoptive parents moved apart and divorced. Like Luis Vad-Nielsen, he feels convinced that his rootlessness was a contributing factor to that he started taking drugs and ended up homeless. It is only within the last few years that he has begun to open up to the anger he has felt as a young man. In the adoption papers, the parents were promised an "affectionate" and "cheerful" boy who had "easy to adapt". "In many ways, they got the opposite," says Manuel Tom Kaalund. He shows a picture of himself as a newly adopted four-year-old boy in Denmark. The eyes are deep and brown.

For a period in his early adult life, Manuel Tom Kaalund lived as a homeless drug addict. He spent the night at this playground in the residential area Urbanplanen on Amager. It was when he became a father for the first time that he stopped his abuse.For a period in his early adult life, Manuel Tom Kaalund lived as a homeless drug addict. He spent the night at this playground in the residential area Urbanplanen on Amager. It was when he became a father for the first time that he stopped his abuse. Photo: Johanne Teglgård

Who do you see? “Hm… I see a boy trying to make his parents happy. But in the eyes I also see something else. I actually see an unhappy boy just trying to follow the flow ... trying to please his parents and the outside world because he's scared, ”he says. Throughout his life, Manuel Tom Kaalund has been told that he was found on a bench in a park left behind by unknown parents. The official adoption papers state that Manuel Tom Kaalund "was born out of wedlock to unnamed parents and that he was admitted to the Casa Nacional del Niño as an abandoned child". For the same reason, the parents' names have been omitted from the birth certificates that appear in Manuel Tom Kaalund's case. Birth certificates, which in a strange way were first stamped in the autumn of 1978, shortly before Manuel Tom Kaalund was adopted to Denmark, and thus not in 1974, where he was allegedly born. The mystery is not lessened by the fact that a Chilean doctor sent a health record of Manuel Tom Kaalund to the adoption agency AC Børnehjælp six months before the adoption. In it, the doctor describes the birth, which obviously had taken place four years earlier, and two years before the boy had officially arrived at the Casa Nacional del Niño left by unnamed parents. In the medical records, the doctor noted, among other things, that the mother did not experience "any diseases during her pregnancy", and that the birth itself "proceeded without complications". Even the mother's identity appears in the medical record, despite the fact that the identity in the other case files is stated to be unknown. In the pile of files from Manuel Tom Kaalund's case, it is of course not known which documents show the truth and which may have been fabricated. The only thing Manuel Tom Kaalund can state is that "it all smells good enough". "There is so much I want an answer to: What happened then in Chile? Was I really abandoned by my mother, or was it cheating? So the Danish adoption agencies through fingers with the communication? ”, He asks.

Four-year-old Manuel Tom Kaalund in his room in the adoptive family's villa in Lyngby in North Zealand. The adoption papers stated that he is a "cheerful" boy who "has an easy time falling for". In the following years, he ended up moving school several times as he was maladapted. Later, he lived for a period as a drug addict and homeless.Four-year-old Manuel Tom Kaalund in his room in the adoptive family's villa in Lyngby in North Zealand. The adoption papers stated that he is a "cheerful" boy who "has an easy time falling for". In the following years, he ended up moving school several times as he was maladapted. Later, he lived for a period as a drug addict and homeless. Photo: Private photo

It is well over 42 years ago that he, Claudia Alejandra Svane and Luis Vad-Nielsen sat in the plane on the way to Copenhagen. Today, they are all in their late 40s and convinced that their adoptions to Denmark were associated with illegalities. Manuel Tom Kaalund hopes that the Danish government will follow Sweden's example and set up a commission so that it can get to the bottom of the many scandal cases that have been about adoptions from abroad over time. In the meantime, he will continue his search for his origin. Last year, he found a woman who judged by name could be his aunt. He contacted her but received no response. "Now I'm going for the next track," says Manuel Tom Kaalund indomitably. “For me, a big part of life has been about finding acceptance in life. I have thought that my origin did not concern me because I was abandoned. I'm not like that anymore. Children have been stolen, and my biological mother also deserves reassurance that her son is alive. ” But what if your mother does not want you in life? "Then I actually get happy. Because then it means that she managed to get on with her life. I do not think all mothers have been able to do that. ”

Here's how we did it:

The article is based on documents from Manuel Tom Kaalund, Claudia Alejandra Svane and Luis Vad-Nielsen's adoption cases. In addition, the newspaper gained access to the mediation mediation between Denmark and Chile under the Pinochet regime from 1973 to 1990 and in documents concerning adoption sent from the Chilean embassy in Denmark and the Danish embassy in Chile. Finally, the newspaper has been given access to documents in the communication between the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Interior and the National Board of Appeal in the wake of the suspicion of illegal Chilean adoptions that arose last year. A statement from Danish International Adoption states that one child arrived in Denmark from Chile in 1976, despite the fact that the collaboration with the orphanage Casa Nacional del Niño did not begin until 1978. In all other documents the newspaper has had insight into, it appears , that the first children from Chile arrived in 1978. At no point is a case of a child adopted in 1976 mentioned. For the same reason, Kristeligt Dagblad has chosen to write that the first Chilean children arrived in 1978.

New series: The missing Chilean children

Based on the Danish authorities' suspicion of illegal conditions in adoptions from Chile, Kristeligt Dagblad puts a new series of transnational adoptions under the microscope. Because the adoptions are a thing of the past, or should Danish couples still be able to adopt children from less prosperous countries?

Adoption under scrutiny in Europe

In February 2021, the Dutch Minister of Justice officially apologized to all adopted children, parents and biological parents, after a commission of inquiry concluded that illegal transnational adoptions have taken place from all over the world. The country suspended at the same time the adoption agency. In Denmark, the National Board of Appeal is in the process of uncovering a number of adoption cases from Chile due to suspicion of illegalities. In Sweden, Minister of Social Affairs Lena Hallengren is working to set up a working group to examine the country's transnational adoption agency from the 1960s to the 1990s.

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