:00:02. > :00:12.World. Katya Adler goes to Spain to investigate claims of widespread
:00:12. > :00:13.
:00:13. > :00:18.Spain is reeling from an avalanche of shocking allegations of baby
:00:18. > :00:25.theft and baby trafficking. It has been recently revealed to be going
:00:25. > :00:31.on for decades. Graves are being exhumed. Their contents show the
:00:31. > :00:41.cynical deceit used to trade in human lives. TRANSLATION: She was
:00:41. > :00:45.
:00:45. > :00:52.Since the Spanish Civil War, hundreds and thousands of babies
:00:52. > :00:56.has been trafficked by nuns, priests and doctors. I have been
:00:56. > :01:01.meeting the heartbroken mothers searching for the children they
:01:01. > :01:06.thought had died at birth. TRANSLATION: I was convinced they
:01:06. > :01:12.did not bury the baby. I had doubted the boy died. He is alive
:01:12. > :01:22.in my heart. The stall and an trafficked babies are grown up,
:01:22. > :01:41.
:01:41. > :01:46.searching for their biological Madrid housewife Manoli Pagador has
:01:46. > :01:53.three-quarters. And lots of grandchildren. She never got over
:01:53. > :01:57.the loss of her first-born, a son, nearly 40 years ago. Tributes win
:01:57. > :02:07.their first taught me he died, that was the worst thing on earth. My
:02:07. > :02:09.
:02:09. > :02:13.world collapsed. From that moment on, I no longer existed. In April
:02:13. > :02:23.1971, Manoli Pagador gave birth to a healthy baby boy week in
:02:23. > :02:24.
:02:24. > :02:29.The birth seemed to go well. There were no complications. The horror
:02:29. > :02:35.of what happened next has thwarted Manoli Pagador ever since.
:02:36. > :02:41.TRANSLATION: I said, are you not going to give him to me? They said,
:02:41. > :02:51.no. We need to give him to the doctor. At first, I had a baby
:02:51. > :02:54.
:02:54. > :03:01.crying. That crying went away. It went further away. And then, nine
:03:01. > :03:10.hours later, a man arrived. She said, your baby has died. -- a
:03:10. > :03:15.Manoli Pagador and her husband never believed their baby died.
:03:15. > :03:21.Like many other parents across Spain with similar stories, they
:03:21. > :03:31.believed their child was stolen. I have always doubted the boy died.
:03:31. > :03:35.Until recently, some members of Manoli Pagador's own family doubted
:03:35. > :03:40.her. Her eldest daughter of believes passionately that her
:03:40. > :03:48.brother was stolen. She has turned detective to find out the truth.
:03:48. > :03:57.TRANSLATION: My mother has told me her story many times. How she had
:03:57. > :04:04.her baby and how they treated her. I feel so much anger. So much.
:04:04. > :04:08.Right now, I am living in a bubble and looking for my brother. Us
:04:08. > :04:13.victims will do the investigation. I will tell you that now. Recent
:04:13. > :04:22.events in Spain have given Manoli Pagador and Mar and thousands like
:04:22. > :04:27.them new hope. TRANSLATION: Hundreds of Spaniards he believed
:04:27. > :04:33.they were the victim of last baby trafficking demand as a national
:04:33. > :04:37.investigation. There are alleged incidents of trades of the Spanish
:04:37. > :04:47.infants including baby steps. The volume and similarity of their
:04:47. > :04:57.
:04:57. > :05:02.The campaign was spearheaded by Some of the families who believed
:05:02. > :05:09.their babies were stolen had begun private investigations. Shocking
:05:09. > :05:13.evidence has emerged. Babies' graves are being exhumed across
:05:13. > :05:19.Spain, making for disturbing discoveries. One Great had a pile
:05:19. > :05:24.of stones in it. Another, the remains of an adult leg. The grave
:05:24. > :05:29.of a baby girl showed the brains of a baby boy, my relative at all to
:05:29. > :05:37.the distraught parents. Spaniards are appalled. As public pressure
:05:37. > :05:41.advance, there are likely to be more exhumations in the coming once.
:05:41. > :05:46.While most of the exhumations have been done privately, a judge in
:05:46. > :05:54.southern Spain has ordered the first state exhibition. The Spanish
:05:54. > :05:59.government has appointed a national co-ordinator to oversee this. The
:05:59. > :06:06.project is called ninos robados, or the stolen children. How many are
:06:06. > :06:10.there? I do not come up with a figure myself but from the volume
:06:10. > :06:16.of his official investigations, there are many. This is a serious
:06:16. > :06:22.matter. When it affects something as essential as your own identity,
:06:22. > :06:27.the right to know your origins is a fundamental right. Spain's judicial
:06:27. > :06:37.system is examining cases which took place between 1960 and 1990.
:06:37. > :06:45.
:06:45. > :06:52.The origins of this tragedy are In 1939, General Franco seized
:06:52. > :06:55.power at the end of the civil war. He began a dictatorship over a
:06:55. > :07:04.country that was economically devastated and bitterly divided on
:07:05. > :07:08.Thousands were executed or imprisoned. Their children were
:07:08. > :07:14.placed with right-wing Catholic families or put into institutions
:07:14. > :07:20.run by the clergy, and brainwashed with a fascist doctrine. To seal
:07:20. > :07:26.the fate of the children of his enemies, Franco and acted a new
:07:26. > :07:32.option war in 1941. It made it legal to name the adoptive parents
:07:32. > :07:36.of -- the biological parents. Infants were unaware that they were
:07:36. > :07:40.adopted and that other people told some otherwise. His deceit laid the
:07:40. > :07:50.foundation for the mass trafficking of babies that would follow for the
:07:50. > :07:55.
:07:55. > :08:01.While Spanish society continues to be rocked by the scandal pop --
:08:01. > :08:08.scandal, reverberations are built around the world. Randy Ryder was
:08:08. > :08:12.born in Spain but used in Texas. He is a writer. He had a difficult
:08:12. > :08:17.childhood, living between an Austrian mother and a Texan father.
:08:17. > :08:27.For the first half of my life, I spent with my mother. She was an
:08:27. > :08:28.
:08:28. > :08:35.alcoholic. She would say that you are not really mind. And that I got
:08:35. > :08:42.you from a very bad woman in Spain. But I was... I read that off as
:08:42. > :08:50.gibberish. It was only by accident that Randy Ryder began to find out
:08:50. > :08:54.the trees. He was holidaying with his own son with his -- in Austria.
:08:54. > :09:04.He was commented on the lack of resemblance between his grandson
:09:04. > :09:04.
:09:04. > :09:09.and his mother. At that point, my grandmother was -- looked at me and
:09:09. > :09:17.said, you do not have my blood. I said, what are you talking about?
:09:18. > :09:22.She said, you are not part of my blood biologically. When Randy
:09:22. > :09:30.Ryder confronted his father about what his grandmother has said, his
:09:30. > :09:35.father admitted he had been bought. He finally said, OK, you are. I
:09:35. > :09:45.want you to know that the best -- picked the best one of the bunch.
:09:45. > :09:45.
:09:45. > :09:51.He told me that he provided $5,000 to pay for the first. -- the birth.
:09:51. > :09:55.A large percentage of that cash went to someone. Randy Ryder
:09:55. > :10:02.requested his birth certificate from the Spanish Consulate. He was
:10:02. > :10:10.surprised that the people who knows -- that those people were listed as
:10:10. > :10:15.his biological parents. The combination of Franco's adoption
:10:15. > :10:25.laws have left victims like Randy rider few clues as to their real
:10:25. > :10:26.
:10:26. > :10:33.identity. Mar's own investigation is growing. She believes Randy
:10:33. > :10:37.Ryder is her stall and brother. TRANSLATION: She was watching the
:10:37. > :10:42.numerous TV programmes dedicated to helping victims search for their
:10:42. > :10:49.biological relatives. She spotted an immediate family resemblance in
:10:49. > :10:54.one of the contributors. I saw him on television. I felt, this guy
:10:54. > :10:58.looks a lot like my father. I was a nervous wreck. After thinking for
:10:58. > :11:08.40 years that my brother had died, I now find out that he could be
:11:08. > :11:17.
:11:17. > :11:23.Randy Ryder, Manoli Pagador and Mar have decided to get DNA tested to
:11:23. > :11:27.see if they are related. They will pick the DNA results together. A
:11:27. > :11:32.handful of DNA matches have already been made between stolen babies and
:11:32. > :11:39.mothers who were told their child had died. It is concrete proof that
:11:39. > :11:43.for decades, Spanish papers were being forcibly taken and sold on.
:11:43. > :11:49.Under Franco, the Church assumed a prominent role in Spain's social
:11:49. > :11:53.services, including hospitals, schools and children's homes.
:11:53. > :11:58.Individual nuns and priests were ideally placed to organise the
:11:58. > :12:08.trafficking of babies, sorting them from others as -- that they
:12:08. > :12:14.
:12:14. > :12:17.There are numerous support groups, blogs and websites where the teams
:12:17. > :12:27.level allegations at individual doctors, hospitals and private
:12:27. > :12:27.
:12:27. > :12:34.clinics. The most Pretorius of these is the clinic in the --
:12:34. > :12:38.notorious, is this clinic in Madrid. It is wisely being described as
:12:38. > :12:43.extremely catholic. Hundreds of babies are believed to be traffic
:12:43. > :12:51.from this clinic. It was well known to be the place to go if you wanted
:12:51. > :12:56.a baby fast and have the means to pay for it. In 1981, civil registry
:12:57. > :13:01.sources indicated that 70% of women who gave birth at the clinic were
:13:02. > :13:08.registered as mother unknown. This was legal under Spanish law. It was
:13:08. > :13:16.meant to protect the anonymity -- anonymity of unmarried mothers. But
:13:16. > :13:21.it was widely used to cover up baby trafficking. Photojournalist was
:13:21. > :13:24.working for interview magazine in 1982. They received a tip-off about
:13:24. > :13:34.unmarried mothers being coerced to give up their babies for
:13:34. > :13:35.
:13:35. > :13:40.trafficking. TRANSLATION: There was a Doctor Who ran the clinic. We
:13:40. > :13:50.tried to speak to him so he could tell us what was going on. He
:13:50. > :13:55.
:13:55. > :14:04.They told us things that people would arrive to give birth and then
:14:04. > :14:08.one person would take another baby. At one point during the interview
:14:08. > :14:16.they told us but when women wanted to keep their baby they were then
:14:16. > :14:22.told their baby had been born dead. I said, do they not want to see it?
:14:22. > :14:26.They said yes but we keep several babies in the freezer. He then
:14:26. > :14:33.arranged to return it to the San Ramon clinic in the dead of night
:14:33. > :14:43.to see for himself. This nurse opened the door and we went through
:14:43. > :14:44.
:14:44. > :14:48.to a back room. They opened the door to a freeserve. They showed me
:14:48. > :14:58.a child, a baby girl, that had been stillborn. They kept her as a model
:14:58. > :15:13.
:15:13. > :15:17.I have come to Tenerife to see a woman who believes her baby was
:15:17. > :15:27.stolen in the 1980s. Her story is similar to many people who say
:15:27. > :15:35.
:15:35. > :15:45.their babies was taken from them at Dr Eduardo Vela had sedated her
:15:45. > :16:00.
:16:00. > :16:02.When she came round he was at her TRANSLATION: Dr Eduardo Vela told
:16:03. > :16:09.me the birds had been complicated and the baby had had some
:16:09. > :16:13.difficulties. He was not sure that she had survived. I started to cry
:16:13. > :16:20.and he told me, do not cry. I am going to baptise her so that she
:16:20. > :16:29.will go to heaven with the angels. Then he came back with that thing.
:16:29. > :16:34.It was wrapped in a towel or a cloth or something. He courts the
:16:34. > :16:44.baby close to me. It was very pale he said. Give her a kiss. So I kiss
:16:44. > :16:45.
:16:45. > :16:51.her. -- I gave her a kiss. Why was she so cold? She was completely
:16:51. > :17:00.frozen. Shortly afterwards, Dr Eduardo Vela return. This time
:17:01. > :17:05.without the baby. He strokes me and told me, do not cry. God has taken
:17:05. > :17:15.her with him. It is better this way because a child with disfigurements
:17:15. > :17:15.
:17:15. > :17:21.and health problems would have been She went on to have more children
:17:21. > :17:28.but she never believed her baby really died. She is convinced that
:17:28. > :17:33.she knows why she was targeted to have her baby taken. TRANSLATION: I
:17:33. > :17:36.probably did not fit the right profile for the doctor. At the time
:17:36. > :17:44.I was a divorcee with a child outside marriage and with a younger
:17:44. > :17:49.man. I do not believe in God. I am a politically incorrect person
:17:49. > :17:57.because I am towards the left. Everybody knows this. I work with
:17:57. > :18:02.left-wing movements in Madrid. He knew all of this. She is not the
:18:02. > :18:10.only mother who believes she was shown a frozen baby by a Dr Eduardo
:18:10. > :18:14.Vela as part of an elaborate deceit. Clare one was able to run a baby
:18:14. > :18:21.factory for decades, producing babies Forder without being held to
:18:21. > :18:27.account. We asked him for an interview but he declined, as he
:18:27. > :18:32.has done towards any requests for interviews. I gave birth in his
:18:32. > :18:36.latest clinic, here in Madrid, over one year ago. That is how I have
:18:36. > :18:46.managed to get an appointment to see him today. As a newly expecting
:18:46. > :19:12.
:19:12. > :19:22.He immediately assumed I was talking about the allegations of
:19:22. > :19:30.
:19:30. > :19:40.He explained he was providing a service for women who did not once
:19:40. > :19:40.
:19:40. > :21:01.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 80 seconds
:21:01. > :21:06.or could not keep their baby. -- He clearly had had enough of my
:21:06. > :21:15.questions and headed for the door. Dr Eduardo Vela denies any
:21:15. > :21:20.wrongdoing. He still claims he was storing the baby in the freezer to
:21:20. > :21:27.carry out an autopsy. Experts I have spoken to save the story has
:21:27. > :21:34.made no sense and would clearly be in contradiction of to loss at the
:21:34. > :21:39.time. People at the clinic have difficulty finding information for
:21:39. > :21:43.their babies because the doctor burnt all of the files. Their only
:21:43. > :21:50.hope now is the end a matching. This lady and her daughter have
:21:50. > :21:56.come to Madrid to me Randy Ryder, who is arriving from Texas. -- to
:21:57. > :22:01.meet. Tomorrow they will get the results of their DNA tests to see
:22:01. > :22:07.if they are actually related. TRANSLATION: I am nervous and
:22:07. > :22:17.excited. I am happy because I am going to meet him in person. Just
:22:17. > :22:33.
:22:33. > :22:38.talking about it makes my heart In the end, all of Spain's stolen
:22:38. > :22:45.and a traffic babies have to hang on is there hope that the end a
:22:45. > :22:50.matching will succeed in reuniting their families. The day has finally
:22:50. > :22:55.come fall all of these people to find out the truth. -- to come for.
:22:55. > :23:04.I have spent much time looking in the mirror and asking, who are you?
:23:04. > :23:09.Where do You come from? More months of waiting and hoping are about to
:23:09. > :23:19.end, here at the DNA testing laboratory. They are about to find
:23:19. > :23:19.
:23:19. > :24:47.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 80 seconds
:24:47. > :24:51.It is such an awful feeling. They talks about it, the possibility
:24:51. > :24:57.that may be Randy Ryder was not the Sun and further they were looking
:24:57. > :25:01.for. But when the final result came and you see their faces and you
:25:01. > :25:06.know their lives that were broken before, just feel a little bit more
:25:06. > :25:14.broken now. This is happening all over Spain. The same crisis, that