Adriana Esmeralda Lid was three and a half years old when she came to Ålesund. She was adopted from Costa Rica together with her little sister, Dorien. Throughout their upbringing, the girls believed that they were unwanted and that this was why they had ended up with a Norwegian couple in Sunnmøre.
– I thought we were abandoned by our mother. Therefore, ever since I was a little girl I have wondered where I come from and who my parents are, says Adriana to TV 2.
During the pandemic in 2020, the now 38-year-old woman finally managed to track down her biological mother. Then she got a shock. The mother said she did not know that the daughters had been adopted to Norway.
– I heard that she had been looking for us for 32 years.
GROWED UP IN NORWAY: Adriana Esmeralda Lid grew up in Ålesund in Sunnmøre Photo: Gorm Røseth / TV 2
More stories in “Norway behind the facade”
Adriana’s story is not unique. In Monday’s episode of the documentary series “Norway behind the facade” there are several adoptees who tell dramatic stories about human trafficking, kidnapping and falsified documents. The episode is called “The dark side of adoption” and is available on TV 2 Play.
How many mothers and fathers out there are missing a child that they were never supposed to lose? And what did the Norwegian authorities know? These are some of the questions asked in the documentary.
Throughout their childhood and adolescence, Adriana and her sister believed the worst about their mother.
TO NORWAY: Adriana and Dorien before the adoption to Norway. Photo: Private
When Adriana turned 20, she read something that made everything that much worse.
– I had to wait to ask for access to the adoption papers until my little sister turned 18. We could not get any information before that time. In the folder was a letter where the mother’s name was not written, but it said that she was a criminal, a prostitute and in and out of prison. Actually a very sad story that she had left me and my sister on the streets without food.
The letter, of which TV 2 has obtained a copy, was written by a Norwegian woman on 22 June 1988. She lived in Costa Rica and was used as a local contact person in adoption cases. Both against the authorities and adoptive parents. The Norwegian woman is dead.
The letter she sent to an adoption agency in Norway contains a detailed description of the two little girls and their mother. Five months later, the sisters were in Ålesund. Adriana first read the letter when she turned 20 years old.
LETTER FOUND: This is the letter that described the mother of Adriana and Dorien. Photo: Private
– How was it to read this letter?
– It was shocking and much worse than I had thought. Not only had she left us, it said she was also a criminal.
For the next 16 years, Adriana believed what she had read in the papers that the Norwegian authorities gave them access to.
Then everything changed during the 2020 pandemic.
Then Adriana, the mother of two, decided to finally find her biological family. The adoption papers contained the name of the lawyer in Costa Rica. Through him, she finally managed to find the woman who gave birth to her. Adriana does not know Spanish, but was helped to send a message on Facebook. The answer came immediately.
SENT MESSAGE: First contact between mother and daughter on Facebook Photo: Private
– Only then, aged 36, did I hear a completely different story. For more than 30 years, my mother had lived in uncertainty. She knew nothing about us being adopted away. She thought we were still in Costa Rica.
Adriana is clearly affected when she talks about her mother.
– What did she tell about what had happened?
– She lived in Costa Rica and was part of the resistance movement during the civil war in Nicaragua in 1988. She said she was imprisoned on false grounds because she was a political activist. Then the local child care took us. When mother got out, she didn’t hear anything from the authorities. She didn’t know where we had gone. She received no information.
THE MOTHER: This is the mother of Adriana and Dorien. Photo: Private
Adriana and Dorien have not only found their mother. They have also learned that they have several siblings.
– I look forward to visiting them even though I don’t know a word of Spanish. In the midst of all the pain, it was good to know that she never gave up the search. Then you get the feeling that you were very wanted.
MOTHER AND DAUGHTER: Adriana Esmeralda Lid with her one-year-old daughter, Hedda Isabel. Photo: Gorm Røseth / TV 2
Adriana emphasizes that it is not the adoptive parents’ responsibility to check that the papers are in order before an adoption abroad.
– They go in good faith and trust the information they receive. It is not their responsibility, but the Norwegian authorities’ responsibility to ensure that children are not exposed to illegal adoptions. In order to gain clarity on the scope, there should be an investigation of all foreign adoptions.
The government will investigate
In total, around 20,000 children have been adopted from different countries to Norway over the years.
Minister for Children and Families Kjersti Toppe tells TV 2 that an investigation of foreign adoptions will be carried out to see if the control has been good enough.
– The aim is to uncover possible illegalities in the practice, to learn from any weaknesses in the system and to ensure that adoptions abroad in the future are safe and in the best interests of the children, says Toppe.
The episode “The dark side of adoption” can be seen on TV 2 tonight at 21.40 or anytime on TV 2 Play.
