A 36-year-old man’s world turned upside down when he learned he had been illegally separated from his Chilean birth mother as an infant, setting off years of soul-searching that ultimately led to an emotional family reunion this year.
Kyle Adler described the profound impact of connecting with his biological family: “It’s been so eye-opening to see who my people are. I feel the love, I feel the compassion, the care — it’s nice to have a family again.”
Taken in by an American family at 9 months old, Adler represents one of thousands of children illegally removed from Chilean families during Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s 17-year rule. He joins hundreds of others who have reconnected with their birth relatives through DNA analysis and advocacy groups helping Chilean adoptees trace their origins. Additional efforts focus on seeking accountability for families torn apart by these practices.
Adler’s adoptive family brought him to an upscale Chicago-area community in 1990.
Regarding his adoptive parents Mike and Connie Adler, he explained: “My parents didn’t steal me; they didn’t name me Kyle out of malice. They saw me as who they wanted me to become, and there’s a lot of love that was put into that.” Adler suspects his adoptive parents were unaware of the illegal circumstances surrounding his placement. He noted they initially opposed his search for his birth mother before their deaths in 2022.
Despite becoming highly successful, Adler said he eventually craved deeper purpose in his life.
“Suddenly now I found myself where I didn’t know what to do. I knew I was adopted and at that point, I was just like, I need to find my mom.”
His birth mother, Ana Maria Navarrete, was 19 and working single-parent when she gave birth. She worked evening shifts at a seafood market in Coronel, a coastal community located 533 kilometers (331 miles) from Santiago. She had given him the name Marcos Antonio Navarrete.
Unable to afford housing for both herself and her baby, Navarrete arranged for a caregiver to house and watch Adler. She told The Associated Press she visited whenever her work schedule allowed.
The caregiver eventually informed her that an American couple had taken the child after a local priest arranged for a baby “in need of a family.”
“And she let them have him,” Navarrete told AP, expressing anger and shame. The AP was unable to independently confirm all aspects of these events.
A law enforcement investigator informed her the child had likely been taken through an extensive fraudulent adoption operation involving adoption agencies, immigration authorities, judicial officials, medical staff and physicians.
Navarrete said no one faced consequences, and “those years afterward were some of the worst years of my life.”
Without family assistance, she said she eventually abandoned hope of recovering her son.
“Justice for the poor did not exist in Chile and it still does not,” stated Constanza Del Rio, who founded and leads Nos Buscamos, a nonprofit maintaining online records for thousands of cases. Government estimates indicate more than 20,000 children were taken from families.
Poor and Indigenous communities were specifically targeted during Pinochet’s rule from 1973 to 1990, according to Jimmy Lippert Thyden González, who was also illegally adopted and works as a human rights attorney.
“It was an effort to eliminate and eradicate the poor class. It was a way of eradicating the Indigenous population, the uneducated population,” he explained.
In early 2017, Adler discovered the Nos Buscamos Facebook group while searching online for “Chilean birth mom search,” and reached out to Del Rio.
Del Rio confirmed Adler’s background and arranged a virtual meeting within three months.
Learning about his illegal adoption initially devastated Adler, triggering an identity crisis that required years of counseling.
Last year, Adler felt prepared to seek answers.
DNA analysis from MyHeritage, an Israel-based genealogy company, verified the connection between Adler and the now 56-year-old Navarrete in Santiago, “making it official,” he said.
MyHeritage collaborates with Nos Buscamos, Connecting Roots, and similar organizations to offer complimentary home DNA testing kits for Chilean adoptees and suspected trafficking victims.
Tyler Graf, who established and runs Connecting Roots, accompanied Adler on his journey.
Graf also reconnected with his birth mother Hilda Quezada Godoy years after being separated from her, and said he now dedicates himself to locating others taken from Chilean families.
“Now it’s time to mend these families and bring everyone back home so they can see where they came from,” Graf told the AP.
Human rights attorney Lippert Thyden González filed suit against the Chilean government three years ago and aims to pursue the case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. He also established Grafting Hope, a nonprofit dedicated to educating U.S. policymakers and advocating for survivors of fraudulent adoptions.
The Chilean government did not respond to multiple AP requests for comment.
“I want justice. Not just for me, but also for him because I don’t know the type of life he had,” Navarrete told AP following her reunion with her son.
Navarrete is collaborating with legal counsel and hopes those responsible will face imprisonment.
“My birth mom’s just been wanting me to be alive,” Adler said before departing Miami in February.
Mother and son reunited two days following her 56th birthday on Valentine’s Day, with an AP team documenting their meetings in Miami and Chile.
Emotions overflowed as Adler emerged from the international arrivals area in Chile. Both wore white clothing as Navarrete rushed to embrace him. The tall, dark-haired man leaned down to rest his face against his mother’s hair.
“I’m so happy to be finally meeting him, my dream has finally come true,” Navarrete said.
The powerful reunion led to a meaningful week together exploring the beach in Coronel, the medical facility where Adler was born, and the residence where he was taken. They obtained a copy of his original birth documentation, and he met one of his four siblings. Previously in Miami, he had met another sister and her child.
In Santiago, they shared mementos Adler had brought as presents: A framed graduation certificate, childhood photos, and baby shoes his adoptive parents had preserved.
Since Adler doesn’t speak Spanish, Connecting Roots supplied an interpreter. Currently, translation applications help them maintain communication.
Navarrete said their time together brought joy but also reopened much of the anguish from the past 35 years.
“It took me so long to find him. And then to spend a week together only to have him leave,” Navarrete said through tears, “it’s like I found him but I’ve now lost him all over again.”
She expressed optimism about a family reunion in December. For Adler, the journey toward forgiveness continues, though he hopes Navarrete can release her trauma.
“I’m not just the son that you lost, I’m the son that you found. I’m back to being your son,” he said.
