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Logline
An American woman searching for her Chilean birth mother investigates illegal adoptions from Chile, exposing the corrupt network behind it, the involvement of the United States Government, and the aftermath of the unsuspecting families just now discovering the truth.
Synopsis
It’s been over 30 years since Chile was under the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, but the devastation of the country’s long history of human rights violations still reverberates today...
even in America.
Among the worst is a dark hidden secret…
STOLEN BABIES.
The babies,
now grown adults,
are discovering the truth
and THE NETWORK responsible —
an extensive web of corruption including the
Catholic Church, priests, nuns, government
officials, judges, doctors, nurses, hospitals,
clinics, orphanages, adoption agencies,
social workers and beyond—
all getting a piece of the profit. How could something this
widespread and illegal go
undiscovered for
so long?
the storY
We follow the stories of six adoptees and their mothers. The first is ADRIAN REAMEY, a 36-year-old Chilean-born woman adopted into the United States as a baby. After years of struggling with depression, Adrian hopes that finding her Chilean birth mother will help heal her fear of abandonment. But almost immediately after her search begins, Adrian finds a New York Times article unearthing this complex child-trafficking ring stemming from illegal and coercive adoptions. Shocked by the story and eerie similarities of her own adoption, Adrian travels to Chile to begin a broader investigation for the truth. IS ADRIAN ALSO A VICTIM OF CHILD-TRAFFICKING?
As Adrian’s investigation progresses, she meets the other adoptees and birth mothers, each one searching and exposing another dimension to this GLOBAL CHILD-TRAFFICKING RING that reveal tactics used by the network to target and prey on vulnerable, pregnant women.
Adrian meets TYLER GRAF, a firefighter from Texas who is also the stolen baby from The New York Times article—the first of these stories exposed in the United States. Tyler was born prematurely to a single, poor, indigenous mother who was told her baby died at birth. Instead, Tyler was taken for adoption—all at the hands of a local judge who helped to facilitate over 2,000 illegal adoptions from Chile.
Like Adrian, the next adoptee, CRISTINA PRISCO, is shocked to discover Tyler’s story and begins a search for her own birth mother—only to find that the corruption extended to hospitals, orphanages, and priests. Hours after giving birth, her birth mother, Laura, was targeted and tricked into adoption by the very people entrusted to her care at the hospital. Like all of these women, Laura was then forced into unbearable silence.
Not only did judges, hospitals, and orphanages in Chile share in the profit, Adrian learns that the corruption also extended globally after meeting SCOTT SANTINI. Another American adoptee who was stolen at birth, Scott was targeted because of his light skin, which meant he was more desired in the American market. Scott’s tragic story exposes the mental and physical abuse his birth mother endured—and the criminal involvement of social workers and adoption agencies in the United States.
Even more profitable than lighter-skinned babies were twins—a revolting reality exposed in the story of ELAN & MICAH NARDI—36-year-old American twin brothers who discover they were trafficked through adoption and the lengths to which social workers and lawyers hunted their prey to procure babies for profit.
Desperate to uncover her true origin story, Adrian locates the foster parents who cared for her in her first two months of life. But as the emotional reunion unfolds, a shocking moment occurs when their daughter, CAROLINA ESPINOZA, confronts Adrian about her lifelong suspicion of also being adopted. Is Carolina another stolen baby?
Deep into the investigation, Adrian meets a new Chilean adoptee, JIMMY THYDEN. A US Marine Corps veteran and Criminal Defense Attorney, Jimmy is fresh on the heels of learning that he was not abandoned as his paperwork stated, but instead stolen and trafficked after the hospital told his mother he died. A trained fighter, Jimmy joins the investigation with Adrian and Constanza to fight for the truth…and change.
Beyond the criminal activity, Adrian feels the profound loss and inhumane cruelty inflicted on these poor and young pregnant women as she meets with several birth mothers like CAROLA, MARIA, LAURA, FRANCISCA, HILDA and GUILLIERMINA—each one searching for their missing, beloved children and sharing their anguish and personal circumstances that made them vulnerable.
Assisting Adrian throughout her investigation is the founder of the NGO Nos Buscamos, CONSTANZA DEL RIO, and their lead investigator, SUZI WORTMAN - both adoptees, unrelenting, and trailblazing activists fighting fiercely in Chile to raise awareness, push for policy change, and reunite families. Together, they find Adrian’s birth mother and piece together her adoption story after an emotional reunion where a heartbroken mother finally gets to hold her beloved daughter after 36 years.
With Nos Buscamos' leadership, the adoptees and birth mothers unite to become voices for the silenced and embark on a quest for reform to permanently stop child-trafficking. Together, working with the newly appointed Chilean government officials—President Boric, Ambassador Juan Gabriel Valdes, and the Minister of Justice—they take their fight to the UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT. The work for reform is now the only path forward.
Sharing their stories and refusing to give up, they will stop at nothing to bring families together and heal old wounds—all with the hope that this never happens again. Anywhere.
in the Press
Since the filming of HOLA MAMÁ began in the summer of 2022, several of the adoptees featured in our film, as well as the NGO Nos Buscamos helping to facilitate the reunions, have all received significant press coverage from various news and media outlets.
Here are some of the press highlights to date:
