Illegally adopted during Chile’s dictatorship, they’re now reuniting with biological families

By PATRICIA LUNA
Associated Press

SANTIAGO (AP) — Romina Cortés couldn’t pronounce her sister’s last name. She didn’t know what she smells like, what her favorite food is, or what she likes to do in her free time. That’s because Cortés’ sister, María Hastings, was one of thousands of Chilean children who were trafficked or illegally put up for adoption over the last 60 years or so, many of them during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet from 1973-1990. The illegal adoptions — 20,000 of which are being investigated, according to Chile’s justice system and other social groups — extend back to the 1960s. Largely poor, young women in vulnerable situations were either forced to give up their children or told they died shortly after childbirth.