The New York TimesThe New York Times

‘Time We Can’t Get Back’: Stolen at Birth, Chilean Adoptees Uncover Their Past

By Ernesto Londoño

17 Dec 2021 · 6 min read

Growing up in Minnesota, Tyler Graf knew almost nothing about his birth mother. And what little he knew, he said, stung.

His adoption papers listed her name, Hilda del Carmen Quezada; her age, 26; the date, March 2, 1983; and the hospital where she gave birth to him in central Chile. The documents also included a judge’s note saying Quezada gave him up because she had little money and “other children to support.”

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