Spanish scandal - 300,000 stolen babies stolen and sold for adoption

Posted on Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 09:48 AM

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Tonight in Britain a new BBC documentary will claim that 300,000 Spanish babies were stolen from their parents and sold for adoption over 50 years.

The shocking practice began during General Franco’s dictatorship, trafficking babies by a secret network of doctors, nurses, priests and nuns, and it continued until the early 1990's.

Children were removed from the homes of politically suspect parents, or from single mothers or the unreligious, and transferred to good Catholic homes.

The investigation reveals the practice operated like this: after the mother gave birth the child was removed from the room, then some time later the mother was informed of its death. The mother was usually denied permission to view the child's body.

At other times a doctor would present the mother with an infant corpse kept in the hospitals freezer.
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Many grieving parents attended masses not knowing the coffin was empty. Priests, doctors, nuns and nurses all conspired to deliver babies to eager adoptive parents (there was a profit motive, but there was also a religious and political one too).

This crime was repeated year after year in multiple Spanish cities and even today the precise details of how it operated are not fully known. But that is due to change tonight when BBC2 airs This World: Spain's Stolen Babies.

Exhumations of the supposed graves of the babies and DNA tests have provided proof that widespread baby theft happened. Across Spain, people are now lining up to take a DNA test and thousands of Spaniards are asking 'Who am I?'

The caption on the above photo reads: 'Randy Ryder as a baby being cradled in a Malaga hospital in 1971 by the woman who bought him.'

To learn more about the scandal click here.

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barneyjo | Oct 19, 2011, 06:36 PM EDT

This is just for 2B, to make him feel better - "Many Irishmen heard the call of Franco Joined Hitler and Mussolini too Propaganda from the pulpit and newspapers Helped O'Duffy to enlist his crew. The call came from Maynooth, "support the Nazis" The men of cloth had failed yet again When the Bishops blessed the Blueshirts in Dun Laoghaire As they sailed beneath the swastika to Spain." By God, in writing this, Christy Moore has proved that the pen is mightier than the sword!!

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McNamara31 | Oct 19, 2011, 10:15 AM EDT

hollarbackgurl...Many of us (and mostly female) have had to deal with 2BorNot2B vial attacks and if you look back over his posts they speak for themselves quite effectively. I’ve read and posted here on IC pretty much from the beginning, however of late I ask why this paper, a central source for the Irish worldwide, would constantly allow the attacks from this vile attack dog to be posted. Can they not see the difference between degradation, deceitful attacks and “free speech?” Recently after I posted to Ed Farnan’s column about Kimberly Guilfoyle, and encountered another attack post from 2b, a post appeared “in my name” that I did “not” post and I wonder how that can occur? All things considered, I’ll be finding another source of Irish community. So if you see a post from McNamara31 you know it’s not from me.

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hollabackgurl | Oct 19, 2011, 08:56 AM EDT

You're a disgrace, 2BorNor2B. I won't waste my time debating someone who uses a tragedy involving 300,000 infants into an opportunity for sarcasm.

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2BorNot2B | Oct 19, 2011, 12:37 AM EDT

Yeah hole-on-backperson... all I need is to get history lesson on proper political leanings and affiliation from the likes of you. --- You need to put those rhinestone cat glasses over your gay schnoz and read the posts you select to impart your learned vitriol upon more carefully. -- Do you really think you have to illustrate me on who were the good and the bad guys during the Spanish Civil War? Puhleez! I have lived in Spain. --- Looks like when it comes to communist propaganda you are an insatiable sponge and an über-useful idiot; despite what you learned at the indoctrination camp, the great majority of Spaniards were damn glad Franco happened to be around when the bloody 'republicans' were intent on delivering their country to the Soviet block. The ones who were not, moved along with Trotsky to Mexico and to various other South American countries --- So here... I'm handing back the thundering half-wit compliment to you. You need to wear it under your libtard tin-foil hat to hide your minuscule brain from the rational public.

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2BorNot2B | Oct 18, 2011, 11:51 PM EDT

My thinking is that since it's the highly reputable BBC who's throwing out the accusation, its quite possible these 300K babies were sold to Brits, since the only hope for accelerating the growth of population in that country would be through adoption. --- Makes perfect sense, since it's well known that rather than doing the horizontal boogie many Brit males prefer to do it doggie style, and that for lack of proper equipment those "couples" have had to turn to the Petri dish, to surrogates or to their check books if they want to be able to enjoy the pitter patter of tiny feet (though they will soon wear angora and high heels). --- Oh but wait... wasn't it also the Brits who hated the Spaniards because they got to the gold of the New World before they did, and therefore had to come up with the various circulating 'Black Legends' (the Inquisition, the burnings at the stake, etc) about the Spaniards and their Church...?? Maybe before rushing to judgement I'll wait to see if this story actually pans out for the BBC through increased eyeballs, revenues and subpoenas.

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hollabackgurl | Oct 18, 2011, 09:48 PM EDT

Over a quarter of a million babies were trafficked by priests and nuns for over 50 years and all you can do, 2bornot2b, is use it as an opportunity for sarcasm? And Franco was not a communist you thundering halfwit, he was a far right dictator who threw his left wing enemies in concentration camps throughout the country. You can't rewrite history and now you can't conceal it either.

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2BorNot2B | Oct 18, 2011, 07:29 PM EDT

But of course, this HAD TO HAPPEN through the agency of those HORRIBLE priests, nuns,and whoever else can be portrayed as a MONSTER involved with that awful Catholic Church! --- I believe even the Pope was directly involved! It's known he secretly made the trip from Rome weekly (all the while thousands of nuns and priests were being raped and massacred by the ' Spanish republican forces,' though the BBC -wouldn't you know- is not concerned about that). He disguised himself either in a Commie or Nazi uniform as convenient. -- Yup, the Pope had to make the trip in order to crack the whip at Franco, to shoot a few of those nasty ' Spanish Republicans' along the way as a bonus (really, they were communists, if you care to know), and to make sure there were enough dead fetuses in the Spanish coolers to fool all those parents who eagerly awaited the birth of the child who would never come, but was instead being shipped to some rich baby buyer elsewhere in the world! -- Will the discovery of horrors by the perspicacious Cahir and his friends at the Spanish and Catholic-hating BBC ever cease? Some folks have a gaydar .. others fortunately have a hate-dar. Thanks Cahir, most of what we know in regard to the CC's vileness we owe 2U!

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hollabackgurl | Oct 18, 2011, 04:19 PM EDT

Just to clarify, this unimaginable horror was facilitated by Catholic priests, nuns, doctors and nurses.

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Collette2 | Oct 18, 2011, 03:31 PM EDT

General Frano, another misguided Catholic playing God.

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CaptainCon | Oct 18, 2011, 02:30 PM EDT

Any chance of international law enforcement agencies taking a look at this cult? Thanks.

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hollabackgurl | Oct 18, 2011, 02:28 PM EDT

Is there anything more dangerous than a person who's convinced they know God's will?