Kyle Adler, stolen from his Chilean mother as an infant and trafficked through a Pinochet-era adoption ring, reunited with his biological mother after 35 years through DNA testing and nonprofit support.
Kyle Adler, a 36-year-old Chile an American, discovered as an adult that he was stolen from his mother as a baby and trafficked through an illegal adoption ring during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet.
After years of searching, he finally reunited with his biological mother, Ana Maria Navarrete, in Santiago, Chile earlier this year. The reunion marked the end of a decades-long separation that began when Adler was just nine months old. Navarrete, who was 19 at the time and working nights at a fish shop in the coastal city of Coronel, had paid a woman to care for her infant son, whom she had named Marcos Antonio Navarrete.
One day, the caregiver told her that the baby had been taken by an American couple after a local priest arranged for his adoption because he supposedly needed a family. A police investigator later suggested the disappearance might be linked to a wider adoption trafficking ring involving judges, doctors, and government officials. The Chilean government has estimated that more than 20,000 children may have been taken from families during the Pinochet era, many from poor or Indigenous backgrounds.
Adler was adopted by Mike and Connie Adler, an American couple, in 1990 and raised in an affluent suburb outside Chicago. He said his adoptive parents likely had no idea the adoption was tied to a trafficking network.
'My parents didnt steal me,' he said. 'They saw me as who they wanted me to become, and theres a lot of love that was put into that.
Child Trafficking Pinochet Dictatorship Adoption Reunion Chile DNA Testing
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Chilean American Reunited with Birth Mother After Discovering He Was Stolen as a BabyKyle Adler, a 36-year-old Chilean American who was taken from his family at nine months old and illegally adopted, embraces his birth mother, Ana Maria Navarrete, after traveling from the U.S. to meet her for the first time, in Santiago, Chile, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. Kyle Adler’s discovery that he was stolen from his Chilean mother as a baby came as a shock, sparking an identity crisis that lasted years and led to a reunion with his biological mother earlier this year. Kyle Adler believes neither of his adoptive parents knew the circumstances surrounding his adoption.
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American adoptee reunites with Chilean birth mother after decades of searchKyle Adler, taken from his Chilean mother as an infant during the Pinochet regime, discovers his true identity through DNA testing and meets his birth mother in Santiago, highlighting the legacy of illegal adoptions and the fight for justice.
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Chilean Man Reunites with Birth Mother After Decades of SearchingKyle Adler, 36, has met his birth mother, Ana Maria Navarrete, for the first time in Santiago, Chile, after traveling from the US. Adler was adopted by an American family in 1990 and had been searching for his birth mother since he discovered he was adopted illegally.
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Chilean American Man Reunites with Birth Family After Decades of SearchingKyle Adler, 36, a Chilean American man, has reunited with his birth family after discovering he was stolen from his mother as a baby and trafficked through an illegal adoption ring. Adler's reunion with his biological mother, Ana Maria Navarrete, was made possible through DNA testing and the help of a Chilean nonprofit that reunites adoptees with their families.
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