A man who was stolen from his Chilean mother as an infant during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet has been reunited with his biological family after a DNA test confirmed his origins. Kyle Adler, 36, was adopted by an American family at nine months old and grew up in a wealthy Chicago suburb. He is one of thousands of children forcibly taken from poor and Indigenous families under Pinochet's 17-year rule, from 1973 to 1990.
Adler's biological mother, Ana Maria Navarrete, was a 19-year-old single mother who worked nights at a fish shop in Coronel, Chile. She entrusted her baby to a caregiver, who later told her that an American couple had taken the child, arranged by a local priest. A police investigator suggested the baby was part of a vast counterfeit adoption network involving agencies, immigration officials, judges, nurses, and doctors. Navarrete said no one was held accountable.
Adler's journey to find his birth mother began in early 2017 when he discovered the Nos Buscamos Facebook group, a nonprofit that helps reunite stolen children with their families. Founder Constanza Del Rio confirmed his origin story within three months and arranged a virtual reunion. However, the revelation of his illegal adoption was crushing, leading to years of therapy. Last year, a DNA test from MyHeritage confirmed a match with Navarrete, making the reunion official.
Human rights lawyer Jimmy Lippert Thyden González, himself illegally adopted, said children from poor and Indigenous populations were targeted during the Pinochet regime. 'It was an effort to eliminate and eradicate the poor class,' he said. The Chilean government estimates over 20,000 children were stolen. Lippert Thyden González has sued the Chilean government and founded Grafting Hope, a nonprofit advocating for survivors of counterfeit adoptions.
Adler travelled to Chile earlier this year to meet his biological family, describing the experience as 'eye-opening.' He said, 'I feel the love, I feel the compassion, the care — it’s nice to have a family again.' Tyler Graf, founder of Connecting Roots, who also reunited with his birth mother, accompanied Adler. Graf said his mission is now to track others taken from Chilean families: 'Now it’s time to mend these families and bring everyone back home.'
