Adopted Jody Bernal after unveiling Spoorloos: 'It has been rumbling for years'

DELFT - According to Jody Bernal, the television program Spoorloos should have put on the robes, after it became clear that adopted children were linked to the wrong parents in the program. The singer and DJ himself came to Delft from Colombia when he was six months old, the country where there is now much to do. He has seen for some time that things are going wrong in the search for biological parents of adopted children: 'It has been rumbling for years.'

In recent days there has been much to do about the Spoorloos program of the KRO-NCRV. The program is said to have used a rogue 'fixer' who often led the children to the wrong parents. Jody Bernal, herself an adopted child, tells in the radio program Menno in de Afternoon of Omroep West that there have been rumors about errors in the television program for some time.

The program is said to have knowingly used a rogue intermediary in Colombia, who linked children to the wrong parents. Bernal is also originally from Colombia and reacts shocked. 'If you are adopted, I myself was three months old then, you are looking for your roots. It must be terrible to be told years later that it's not right.'

Stories have been going on for a long time

The singer, known for his hit 'Que Si, Que No' from 2000, finds it intense that last night's program Spoorloos declared to Khalid and Sophie that they still have faith in their 'fixer', even after it appears that mistakes have been made. Something that according to Bernal is not possible. 'It has been rumbling among adoptees for some time. The bell has been ringing for some time and we often heard that certain stories would not be correct and the matches would not be correct.'

According to Bernal, the television program should have put on the robe. 'In the end, this program will be showing off a Televizier ring in 2001. You could have said: yes we are wrong, we should have done better research.'

Bernal found his parents in the same way Spoorloos does. With a lawyer in hand, a search was then made with the information that Bernal himself had. 'My biological mother's name quickly came out: Gladys Chaves Bernal. That document also contained the name of my older brother. When they were found, I was immediately told that my younger brother died of leukemia," Bernal says.

He himself has no doubts about his origin. 'Also because the photo of my deceased brother was on the dresser when I went to Colombia. So for me the story is also correct. We also look alike in the photo, so the story just makes sense to me.'

More sides to adoption

Bernal therefore does not feel the need to have a DNA test done himself. 'It was less easy then, but also because I know for sure. But when I watched the program the day before yesterday, I was like: wow.'

According to the DJ and singer, there are often several sides to adoption. It is often not optimal for a child to come to the Netherlands at a young age. “A friend of mine was also adopted from Colombia at the age of six. He found it terrifying to suddenly have his own room here, for example. Because he was used to living on the street and had the freedom there. That was his safety.'

'The perception of: 'then we give them a roof over their heads' is simply not enough,' concludes Bernal. He therefore believes that adopted children should receive more help. "Certainly if you're looking for your roots, that's why it's terrible if the parents turn out to be wrong," Bernal concludes.

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