An American man who was stolen at birth by hospital workers in Santiago, Chile, has been reunited with his mother after 42 years. Jimmy Lippert Thyden, a criminal defense lawyer from Virginia, met his birth mother, Maria Angelica Gonzalez, at her home in Valdivia, Chile. The emotional reunion was filled with tears and embraces as Thyden uttered the words, "Hola, Mama," in Spanish. Reflecting on the gravity of the moment, Thyden expressed his overwhelming emotions, saying, "It knocked the wind out of me... How do you hug someone in a way that makes up for 42 years of hugs?"

Thyden's journey to find his birth family began in April after reading news stories about other Chilean-born adoptees reuniting with their birth relatives. With the help of the Chilean nonprofit organization Nos Buscamos, Thyden discovered that he had been born prematurely and placed in an incubator at a hospital in Santiago. However, Gonzalez was told that her son had died and his body had been disposed of. Thyden described his case as a "counterfeit adoption" and expressed shock at the fact that his adoption papers claimed he had no living relatives, when in fact he had a mother and several siblings.

Nos Buscamos estimates that tens of thousands of babies were stolen from Chilean families during the rule of dictator Augusto Pinochet in the 1970s and 80s. This child trafficking occurred alongside numerous other human rights violations committed during Pinochet's 17-year reign, in which thousands of people were killed, tortured, or imprisoned for political reasons. Over the past nine years, Nos Buscamos has facilitated more than 450 reunions between adoptees and their birth families. Other organizations, such as Hijos y Madres del Silencio in Chile and Connecting Roots in the United States, are also working to reunite families affected by the illegal adoption network.

In Thyden's case, the breakthrough came when a DNA test confirmed his Chilean heritage and matched him to a first cousin using the MyHeritage genealogy platform. Through this cousin, Thyden was able to connect with his birth mother, albeit after initially being ignored until he sent photos of his wife and daughters. The reunion was celebrated with 42 colorful balloons, each representing a year of lost time with his Chilean family.

While Thyden's adoptive parents have been supportive of his journey, he acknowledges that they too were victims of the illegal adoption network and are grappling with the realities of the situation. Thyden believes that government recognition of the pervasiveness of the adoption scheme is crucial. He met with Juan Gabriel Valdes, the Chilean ambassador to the US, to discuss the issue and advocate for support for Chilean adoptees seeking to visit their home country. Thyden emphasizes the importance of adoptees having the right to determine their own name and citizenship, as well as having access to the rights and privileges of a Chilean citizen.