After Four Decades, Woman Taken as a Baby Meets Her Birth Mom

The woman was one of many unknowing victims taken away from her birth mother as an infant and given up for adoption. More than 40 years later, the pair were finally reunited.

Kaitlin Saar was overwhelmed with emotion when she finally met her birth mother, Maria Paulina Gonzalez. The 41-year-old — who was born in Chile — was stolen from her birth family as a baby.

Adopted by a couple in New York and raised in Long Island, her adoptive parents were told that her biological mother had given her up with the hope she would have a better life.

But what they didn't know was that Saar had been taken from her family as part of a large family planning scheme orchestrated under Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. Pinochet was the president of Chile from 1973 to 1990.

Thousands of Chilean mothers fell victim to the scheme, with many told that their babies had died at birth. Despite this, Gonzalez never forgot her daughter, and eventually discovered her birth certificate through her human rights attorney.

According to ABC7, the certificate had been hidden under Saar's adoptive name. Gonzalez then used social media to track her daughter down. Saar also knew that she had been adopted from a young age.

While she was unaware that she was born in Chile under the oppressive Pinochet government, she, too, wanted to find her birth mother. She received assistance from Connecting Roots, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reuniting Chilean adoptees with their biological families.

Once the two made contact, they took a DNA test with the help of Connecting Roots to confirm their match. They finally met on Wednesday, October 8, in Smithtown, New York, where Saar currently resides.

The reunion was captured in footage published by Fox, where the pair could be seen sharing an emotional embrace. In addition to finally meeting her daughter, Gonzalez also met Saar's two kids — her grandchildren.

In a statement to People, Saar said she learned about the stolen babies from Chile while visiting the country as a tourist. While she knew she was adopted, she was initially scared of searching for her mother because she "was afraid to know the truth."

"Did she not want me? Did she want me? Did she regret giving me up for adoption? Was she even alive? I did not want to be upset by the information, so I didn't look for it," she reflected. Despite her initial fears, she was excited to meet Gonzalez.

"I am so happy [Paulina] was able to find me and connect. This is one thing I really never thought would ever happen in my life. Ever. I'm thrilled to start this next chapter in my life [...]," she shared.

Saar also added that she held no resentment toward her adoptive parents. "It was not their fault, and they [gave] me what we thought my bio mom wanted: a better life and opportunities. Without [my adoptive parents], I wouldn't be who I am or where I am today," she said.