'I was trafficked as a baby. At 30, I found family in Brazil'

For 15 years, Isabella dos Santos lived a "true soap opera", as she says: as a girl, raised by an adoptive family in Paris with the name of Charlotte, she began to suspect that there was something wrong with her adoption, investigated her past, confronted his mother, with whom he had a troubled relationship, and discovered that he had been a victim of human trafficking when he was still a baby.

Ten years ago, he came to Brazil, his native country, even though he spoke little Portuguese and practically without documents. He followed his search for a few more years until he found more pieces of the puzzle. She found her biological sister and discovered that she was sent to France in a criminal scheme to sell children

Today, at age 35, Isabella has adopted a Brazilian name and surname, given by her biological mother, and is working on a documentary that will tell her story and that of other people trafficked for adoption in Europe, like her. Childhood Isabella in France, raised as Charlotte Image: Personal archive In an interview with Universa , she tells her story. "I heard so many stories that none of them seemed true" "I always knew I was adopted. I didn't physically resemble my adoptive parents and they were much older than the other parents. I also knew that I was born in Brazil and that I had been taken to this family in France - which, in fact, was not it was quite a family, because it was a very troubled couple, my adoptive father had problems with drinking and drugs, and I

had no other relatives.

But at the same time, my adoptive mother didn't talk about it much, didn't give details, it was taboo. She always told

different stories: one moment she said I had been dumped in the trash, another moment that I had been given to an

orphanage.

There were so many versions that none could be true. Whenever I insisted, she would make up a different story, she

would yell at me.

As I grew up, my anguish grew and I began to suspect that there was something wrong with my past."

"The beginning of the search for my story"

At age 15, Isabella saw a folder with her name on a shelf in her father's office: Charlotte. Her foster mother locked her

office every night, but she managed to find out where the key was kept, open the room while her parents slept, and get

the briefcase.

There, he found some clues about its origin. A Brazilian birth certificate, issued in São Paulo, as if she was born on May

30th and was the twin sister of a boy. She also said that the two were children of Maria das Dores.

The folder also had medical examinations prior to the date of birth that appeared on her French documents and a

passport for a baby, both with the name Isabella.

She eventually found some bank statements and a transfer from her adoptive parents to a woman whose name she had

already heard among the different stories her mother told about her adoption. Here, we will call her Silvia — the name is

fictitious, it was changed at the request of the interviewee

"My foster mother wasn't fooled. She knew everything"

"The first thing that worried me was whether the boy was really my brother. He was adopted at the same time as me, by a

family that was friends with my adoptive parents. When we were little and played together, people referred to us like 'th

I was afraid of being beaten, but I took courage and went to confront my adoptive mother. Before that, I took copies of all

the documents and left the originals at a friend's house, afraid she would find and destroy it."

In this discussion, Isabella's adoptive mother ended up telling the truth. He explained that Maria das Dores was a kind of

orange, falsely registered as the mother of Isabella and the boy, who are not biological brothers, but were forged as twin

brothers so that the human trafficking gang could send the two children to Europe in a turn.

She also said that the biological mother of the young woman was a young girl and that the father was Italian, but that he

did not want to assume the child.

"In that moment, I understood that my adoptive mother was not deceived. She knew the whole story. It was chaos, a

horrible scene, and shortly after that I ended up leaving the house."

"At the age of 25, I arrived in Brazil as a Brazilian citizen"

"I finished high school, went to college, lived in Spain and the United States. I wanted to arrive in Brazil with a degree and

I did it all alone, my adoptive parents didn't help me at all.

At the age of 25, I managed to arrive in Brazil as a Brazilian. I went to the consulate in France, told my story and received

a Brazilian passport, but with the name Charlotte, because until then I didn't know my real name.

There, they said that my case was very complex, that they did not know how to solve it.

The Brazilian consulate should have made contact with Brazil, explained the situation and put someone to meet me at the

airport, drive me to the authorities, give me some support. But not. I had to jump from registry office to registry office,

defense, police. I could express myself in Portuguese, but I needed guidance.

In Rio de Janeiro, I got a job as a nanny and later as a maid, living in the back room of a French family, because I didn't

have documents here

Later, I managed to issue a work card and was hired to work at the reception of Copacabana Palace. Only after two years

of living here, when I met the NGO Mães do Brasil, was I finally able to issue a birth certificate and a Brazilian ID — all

with Charlotte's name, but at least I had more documents. Until then, I only lived with my passport."

"They said it would be impossible, but I found my family"

Starting in 2015, with the help of the NGO and some lawyers, Isabella's investigations advanced: she managed to speak

to Maria das Dores - who had been registered as her mother on the fake certificate she found in France - who gave her

some clues about your mother. Afterwards, she made contact with other Brazilians sold for adoption in Europe at the

same time as her and managed to discover that they had all been born in the same maternity hospital, in São Paulo.

Finally, he had access to the medical records of the hospital where he was born. Luckily, the document was preserved,

and she found her mother's name: Jacira Lima dos Santos, who was 21 when Isabella was born.

"I thought, 'It's a miracle'.

A PF delegate told me to give up. Not even they, who would be the most qualified to help me, found anything, and I did."

With her mother's name, Isabella managed to find her older sister, Lucélia dos Santos, on social media. A DNA test

confirmed the relationship. But even before the result, they had no doubts: because of the physical resemblance, they

immediately recognized each other as sisters.

"My sister told me that our mother died three years after I was born. On the same day I had this feeling of victory, of

finding my family after years of searching, I also had this feeling of loss for knowing that I will never be able to hug this

mother".

"I had one part of the puzzle and my sister the other"

When she found Lucélia, Isabella was able to combine the information she had with the part of the story that her sister knew. It was then that the pieces fell into place, "like a jigsaw puzzle", she says

At this point in the story, Isabella says that her mother was employed at Silvia's house when she became pregnant —

possibly with her husband, who was Italian, and did not accept to recognize the child. The story matches the information

she received from her adoptive mother before she left France.

"In 2014, I started a paternity investigation process. The man refused to take the exam several times, until, the following

year, he died."

Apparently, Silvia and her husband would have kidnapped Isabella with a few days to live and negotiated with the French

family. Thus, the girl would have been sent to Paris with Maria das Dores and another boy, as if she were the mother and

twin children, but all forged by the couple.

"Our mother had her first pregnancy at 16 and was kicked out of her parents' house, who were very traditional. When my

sister was born, my grandmother took her to raise her, but she left my mother on the street

A few years later, she got a job at a madam's house and became pregnant. When I was born, Silvia, who was her boss,

stayed with me one day when my mother left the house and wouldn't let her back in. She locked the door.

My mother didn't know what to do, and my grandmother ended up convincing her not to go to the police, according to my

sister.

Until she died, my mother talked about me. She told Lucélia that she had a little sister, Isabella, and that she was going to

look for me, get me back.

It felt so good to know that my mother chose a name for me, and that I had a family that wanted me, that loved me. This

comforted me a lot, because this idea of having been thrown in the trash is very bad, it takes away our self-esteem. You

have to be very cruel to say that to a child, even if it were true."

Now, Isabella tries to gather evidence to prove in court that Silvia's husband is her father. The objective is to carry out a

DNA test with genetic material from a half-sister, who is his daughter with another woman, and an aunt, his sister – both of

whom spontaneously refuse to provide material for the test.

In addition, she records a documentary telling her story.

"My mother was a loving person, but she was a victim of machismo, neglect, inequality. There are many women who go

through this and many children who are also trafficked, like me. That's why I want to talk about it. me, the memory of my

mother and the other victims."