I was born in 1978 in Santiago, Chile, in Latin America.

When we talk about Chile, the Chilean military dictatorship or General Augusto Pinochet, words like kidnapping, torture and disappearance come to mind, but there are other crimes that are much less well known! Those linked to adoptions and appropriations. The Chilean justice system is examining these thousands of cases. A working group is dedicated to them. Numerous investigations are taking place around the world. Inter-ministerial reports are published. The United Nations human rights bodies unanimously condemned illegal international adoptions. Western countries became aware of abuses and even scandals in adoption procedures in the countries of origin.

Four decades have passed...

As soon as I stepped off the plane, I discovered a truth that I never thought I would one day know.

I am just one of thousands of voices from all over the world, in every language, on every continent, who intend to speak out to make these irregularities and illegalities known, to break the silence and bring a little justice to all the victims (adoptees, adoptive and biological families) of these systemic practices. Mothers who have been robbed of their child(ren) are coming together. Associations are being formed. The doors to adoptions were closing. The powers that be began to recognise that illegal international adoptions could, in certain circumstances, be qualified as crimes against humanity and genocide. They enshrined the right to truth, justice and reparation.

This book is a journey to the land of my ancestors, a reconnection with the little man I once was, who one day in September 1980 flew off to a completely different future.

Arnaud Brice

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