Adopted, he believed he was an orphan: 22 years later, Antonin will find his biological parents
Antonin Maindron, who came to France at the age of three and a half, thought his biological parents were dead. He will meet them in Ethiopia, his country of origin. Testimony.
In his dining room, seated on a chair, he firmly holds his Christmas present. A photo album retracing his childhood given to him by his mother Nelly. These memories of youth will soon travel to Africa in the house where the young man was born in the mid-90s.
He puts the book down and starts. He has the impression of "reciting" his story, of appearing detached in the eyes of his interlocutors. The fire is inside. He hesitates and recovers: "It's a crazy thing, it's unimaginable. »Adopted in France at the age of three and a half, Antonin Maindron will be reunited with his biological parents , whom he believed to be dead, in Ethiopia in a few days.
From La Gaubretière , a town nestled in the Vendée bocage where he has lived for 22 years, he delivers a poignant testimony . A rare word that he also wants full of hope for uprooted children.
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"I must have been stuck two minutes before I understood"
The date is engraved in his memory . December 5, 2019. So is the time. It was 10 p.m. and Antonin was typing on his smartphone, lying in his bed, ready for the night. "I was scrolling through wanted notices on a Facebook group," he recalls precisely.
And his face appeared. In a photo no one had ever seen, not even his foster parents. The whirlwind of feelings . “It's indescribable. I must have been stuck for two minutes before I understood. A truly incredible moment that I will never forget, ”recalls the 24-year-old.
Nelly, his mother, is formal. "Yes, it's you," she replied immediately in an SMS. The description attached to the photo corresponds perfectly. "It was also a question of marks on the body," adds Audrey, awakened with a start by her boyfriend.
A journey in the making
Antonin and his partner Audrey will spend a dozen days in Ethiopia. A stay that the couple had prepared in advance with Rebecca Payot, founder and president of the association “Roots are born of the wings”.
This association, born 15 years ago, supports adoptees and their entourage in the search for their origins and prepares them on the benefits and risks of this "return journey". At the same time, Antonin took lessons in Amharic, the language spoken by the majority of the population in Ethiopia.
On site and during discussions with his biological family, Antonin will benefit from the presence of a translator guide.
"A part of my life that I missed"
A few weeks earlier, the Vendéen decided to look in the mirror . He attended a gathering in Poitiers (Vienne), organized by Les Amis de Reine de Miséricorde , where adoptive parents and their children from Burkina-Faso and Ethiopia come together in the 1990s and 2000s.
It is a first for a long time for Antonin who had deserted these meetings since adolescence. It is also and above all a click to put the pieces back together . A quest that will never leave him. “There was a part of my life that I missed,” he continues calmly, “and fate was calling me. "
The research notice on which Antonin Maindron recognized himself.
The research notice on which Antonin Maindron recognized himself. (© Facebook screenshot)
"My mother always mourned my departure"
After recognizing himself in a photo, Antonin entered into a relationship two days later with his sister, Sinidu, who was behind the wanted poster. Everything is accelerating. The past resurfaces and it is brutal . The stranger at the end of the world becomes a precious and regular confidante.
She tells me that our parents are not dead, that they still live in the house where I was born and that I have three older brothers (Meles, Tefera and Fenta). I was born in Debre Markos (and not Baher Dar) on August 16, 1994 (and not March 25, 1996) under the name of Gedilu Zegaye. I even have a nickname: Tariku. I am the last of the family, the one who was adopted.
Antonin
His biological parents, Beyenesh and Zegaye Alamineh, in a "complicated" financial situation, believed to have entrusted him in good faith to a European family until he came of age. Before coming to France, he lived for seven months in an orphanage. In any case, according to Antonin, there was no question of full adoption. Has he been the victim of trafficking? "It's possible," he answers cautiously, not wishing to move the knife in the wound.
To his letters to the French embassy, ??his Ethiopian family never had any answers, he reports. “My mother always mourned my departure. And when she found out that I was alive, she fell in love, ”says Antonin.
"I need to have answers to my questions"
The reunion will be moving, of course. Scheduled for last November, the “return trip” to Africa was postponed to early January 2021 due to the health crisis. A 22 year long tear ready to heal.
The past 12 months have put aside some of the anxieties of childhood and adolescence. "Anto, he's radiant," said his partner Audrey. Before, he sometimes had times when things were less well, a kind of discomfort, almost depression. "To be more stable, I need to have answers to my questions", confirms Antonin, without wanting to say more.
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"I will have two dads and two mothers"
The first meeting between Antonin and his biological family will take place in private, Wednesday January 6. "It's not the end, it's just the beginning of something", savored Antonin, determined to get involved for the country that gave him life.
Antonin's arrival at Roissy airport, June 18, 1999.
Antonin's arrival at Roissy airport, June 18, 1999 (© Document given to actu.fr)
"You don't denigrate your adoptive family by looking for your biological family," he assures us after having lived a happy childhood in Vendée, surrounded by his adoptive parents, Nelly and Gilbert, and his sisters of Malian origin, Lauranne and Madeline.
“Now I will have two dads and two moms”. A blended family and a new photo album to fill out.