'I love you very much,' Jimmy Lippert Thyden told his mother in Spanish as they embraced amid tears.
A 42-year-old Virginia man got to embrace his birth mother for the first time during a long-awaited family reunion in Valdivia, Chile.What seems like an unremarkable greeting between mother and son was in this case anything but.
His journey to find the birth family he never knew began in April after he read news stories about Chilean-born adoptees who had been reunited with their birth relatives with the help of a Chilean nonprofit Nos Buscamos. "The real story was these kids were stolen from poor families, poor women that didn't know. They didn't know how to defend themselves," said Constanza del Rio, founder and director and Nos Buscamos.The child-trafficking coincided with many other human rights violations that took place during the 17-year reign of Gen. Augusto Pinochet, who on Sept. 11, 1973, led a Chilean coup to overthrow Marxist President Salvador Allende.
Thyden sent the cousin his adoption papers, which included an address for his birth mother and a very common name in Chile: Maria Angelica Gonzalez. Thyden recalls his birth mother's response to hearing from him: "Mijo you have no idea the oceans I've cried for you. How many nights I've laid awake praying that God let me live long enough to learn what happened to you."Thyden, along with his wife and daughters visited the Santiago zoo where his American family first took him after the adoption. This time their tour guide was his biological sister.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
42 years after he was stolen at birth, man reunited with Chilean motherJimmy Lippert Thyden, who was separated from his mother at birth, met her 42 years later in Valdivia, Chile, thanks to the efforts of Chilean nonprofit Nos Buscamos.
Read more »
‘Hola, Mama’: Son stolen at birth hugs mother for first time in 42 yearsFor months Jimmy Lippert Thyden has been on a journey to uncover the mysteries of his counterfeit adoption, and to reconnect with his biological mother, brothers and sister.
Read more »
Man has tearful reunion with mom 42 years after he was stolen from her'I love you very much,' Jimmy Lippert Thyden told his mother in Spanish as they embraced amid tears.
Read more »
Man has tearful reunion with mom 42 years after he was stolen from her'I love you very much,' Jimmy Lippert Thyden told his mother in Spanish as they embraced amid tears.
Read more »
Man has tearful reunion with mom 42 years after he was stolen from her'I love you very much,' Jimmy Lippert Thyden told his mother in Spanish as they embraced amid tears.
Read more »
Dickinson man shot man, left him to die in mother's arms; sentenced to 20 yearsA Dickinson man has received a prison sentence for shooting a man he was trying to help and leaving him to die in the arms of his mother.
Read more »