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“I worked in an adoption agency many years ago,” says Pauline Hillen. “Now I help adoptees find their birth mothers.” But what about adoptees who aren’t sure whether they want to search for their birth parents? For filmmaker Thomas Ponsteen, who was adopted from Brazil and grew up and continues to live in the Netherlands, the question is a difficult one. He loves his adoptive parents and has no particular desire to find his birth mother. But when he learns about abuses in the adoption system, he begins to wonder whether he has any obligation to contact them. He makes contact with a Brazilian mother – not his own – whose child was taken from her and adopted under false pretenses. “If your adoptive parents have the right to tell their side of the story, then I think your birth family should have the same opportunity,” she tells him in the kitchen. He travels to Portugal, where she lives, to hear her side of the story, but it is unclear whether he will be able to convince her. Her story forces him to rethink his situation and decide whether to start searching.
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the country where the Brazilian woman was interviewed.
Sourse: newyorker.com
