The reunion - Die Adoption, Teil 5 - Das Wiedersehen

On paper, Carlos Haas is German. But he was born in 1985 in Guatemala, Central America. When he was four months old, he was adopted in Lower Franconia. More than 30 years later, he is looking for his birth mother - and finds her. He travels to Guatemala.

The red off-road vehicle speeds down the winding road in the highlands of Guatemala.

Carlos Haas sits in the back seat with his wife and two children. Outside the mighty mountains of the Cuchumatanes pass by. But Carlos has no eye for that. He's sick of the corners. And the excitement.

“Cuánto falta ahorita?” Again he wants to know how long it will be. 40 minutes, says Maco.

"There is no protocol, listen to your heart"

You are already 20 minutes late. And now get lost too. Maco's colleague Pedro is already waiting in the village with Victoriana and her whole, large family. Because Victoriana cleared the table when Carlos got in touch with her. Everyone is invited to see Carlos again - except for Victoriana's abusive husband.

Finally the right turn. Maco stops. He's actually the professional, the one whose job it is to bring adopted children and their birth parents together. But now he's almost as excited as Carlos.

"So: There is no protocol, you just listen to your feelings, what your heart tells you, that's exactly right, so it will be a really great celebration."

Carlos, his wife and the two children get out of the car. Long tables with white tablecloths stand in front of the house of Victoriana's son Luis, 40 nieces, nephews, uncles, aunts, cousins ??and cousins ??sit and wait.

At the very front stands a small woman with long, black hair in a blue dress. Tears run down her cheeks. It has to be. Carlos walks slowly towards her. Victoriana comes towards him, then they are in each other's arms. Their cheeks touch, then their bodies nestle together. Then have Carlos say a few words.

"We are very happy to be here, I want to tell you that we want to love you all very much, thank you for your hospitality ..."

His wife Juliane is also totally upset now.

“As soon as we got out and walked over there, I really started to cry, I was somehow totally overwhelmed by this situation that they are all waiting for us and you can see them after you had seen and talked to them on your cell phone for a few months , somehow only then did you really realize what that means now. It's just really great, really incomprehensible! "

"You can't offer him anything because you're poor"

Carlos dances closely with his mother to the sound of the marimba. The nose, the eyebrows, the mouth: the two are similar. Victoriana has hoped for this moment for more than 30 years. At that time, she gave up her baby out of sheer need.

"My sister said to me at the time: You will not be able to give the boy what he needs, he needs education, he should be fine, and you cannot give him that because you are poor."

She still remembers the moment when she gave Carlos away.

"The woman in the capital with whom I left him said to me: Never ask about your child again, it will never come back."

Carlos doesn't hold a grudge against his mother. But when he thinks of the Guatemalan lawyer who organized the adoption, he is angry and sad.

“She benefited from my parents' wish in Germany to have a child as well as from the poverty in which my mother lived and which forced her to give me up for adoption. And that's how she earned her money, which is of course very ugly, because the feeling that you have been sold by her is of course a terrible feeling. "

Nobody suffers more than the mother who delivers her baby

After dinner, the family sits together in a small group in the kitchen. The mood is exuberant and happy. Carlos and his half-brother Luis get up and sing. Victoriana is sitting a little to one side, her head propped up on one hand.

“I'm so ashamed of the moment when he suddenly asks me: 'Mom, why did you do that? It's very, very hard for me. "

Carlos doesn't want his mother to torment herself like that.

“I don't think there is anyone who has suffered as much as my mother for doing this, now for the past 33 years, and who has felt so much guilt. I also have no feeling of anger or anger at her, I have so much pity for her and her life that she had.

Tonight he wants to enjoy the moment he has been waiting for so long. And continues to sing with his half-brother. The old Mexican hit: "No hay nada más difícil que vivir sin tí" - Nothing is more difficult than living without you.

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