Cate Riley doesn't get a Swiss passport
Cate Riley, daughter of Swiss parents, was adopted by an Australian family in the 1970s. Now she wants to be legally recognized as Swiss. But this is not that easy.
Melanie Eichenberger and Julie Hunt, swissinfo.ch
Wrapped up, two teenagers stand with their father in the Basel train station hall. Her mother is coming down the escalator. She waves. It is Cate Riley (52) who walks through the hall beaming despite the freezing temperatures.
It must be a bit of a temperature shock for the family, coming straight from the Australian summer. She has traveled 17,000 kilometers by plane. “We had to buy new jackets and shoes; we never need anything like that at home ,” says Riley.
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Riley is Australian, but her roots are in Switzerland. With this trip to Europe she follows in the footsteps of her parents. At the same time, for them it is also the mission of “Swiss citizenship”. Because the 52-year-old wants to become what, strictly speaking, she has been since birth: Swiss. But this undertaking is not that easy.
Authorities urged single women to give their babies up for adoption
Riley, her husband Rob and their two children Ginny and Oscar board the train in Basel to Delsberg , the capital of the canton of Jura. It is the home county of Riley's father. “He spent a lot of time here during his youth,” she says.
Riley was adopted. She was born on September 5, 1970 in Sydney with the name Margrith . At a time when adoptions in Australia were at their peak - 10,000 in 1970 - authorities were urging single women to give their babies up for adoption. Society denied them the ability to care for their child alone.
The birth mother, as a Swiss citizen in Australia, had no choice but to give up her daughter - the result of a short relationship. “Back then, these mothers were expected to forget their child and carry on as if nothing had ever happened,” says Riley.
Who does the red-haired baby suit?
At the age of one month, Riley came to her adoptive parents, who lived in the Sydney suburbs, and baptized her with the English name Catherine Nicole. “I stayed in the hospital for a whole month until parents were found who were suitable for a red-haired baby,” she says. Riley grew up with a brother nine years older than her, the biological son of her adoptive parents.
She went to school with children who, like her, were adopted. “We didn’t talk about it, but it connected us.” She was also teased at school because of it.
Nevertheless, she had a good childhood. However, she never let go of the thought of where she came from. “I was missing a natural, natural closeness between myself and my adoptive family,” says Riley. She longed for a deeper connection.
“The fact that I’m Swiss was completely unexpected”
At the same time, there was - and still is today - the inner conflict of remaining loyal to their adoptive parents. She didn't want to hurt them with her curiosity. This in turn was woken up again and again. For example, with birthday presents from relatives, such as a cuckoo clock.
They were objects that came from Europe. Like Riley herself. Because it was never a secret: her biological parents were not from Australia.
Even if Riley would have wanted to know more at the time, adoption records were not available in Australia until 1991. It was the era of secret adoptions. This law changed in the early 1990s, and at the age of 21 she was finally able to access her documents. “The fact that I’m Swiss was completely unexpected,” says Riley today.
“I searched in telephone books, in libraries and at the authorities”
All of this happened at a time before it was possible to find out about the country and its people with one or two clicks on the Internet. So Riley first contacted the Swiss National Tourist Office to find out more about the Alpine country . “Back then I didn’t even know where Switzerland was.”
Finding her birth mother became an odyssey for Riley. “I looked in telephone books, in libraries and at the authorities,” she says. But no one in Australia had the same name as her mother. “I gave up hope a few times.”
One day, during Riley's research in Australia, a woman turned up who had the same last name as her birth mother. “I wrote her a letter and asked if she knew my mother.” It turned out that the woman contacted was her mother's twin sister. “My aunt passed the letter on to my mother.”
Mother wasn't allowed to look for her
After five years of searching, Riley finally found her birth mother. Weeks of correspondence followed until the then 25-year-old flew to Brisbane, where her mother lived with her two daughters and her Australian husband.
“My mother was very happy and grateful when I came back into her life,” says Riley. Margie, as Riley calls her birth mother, always thought of her, but her hands were tied. She wasn't allowed to look for them.
At that time, the young woman found out that her father, who had already left Australia before Riley was born, was also Swiss . The new family took her in immediately. “Everyone came to Australia to get to know me.” Because her father hasn't forgotten her either. However, it took a few years before he opened up to his “second” family and told them about Riley’s existence.
“Suddenly it became clear where I got my musical and artistic inspiration from.”
It was also difficult for Riley's adoptive mother. “She was afraid of losing me to my birth mother.”
Meanwhile, Riley and her family are sitting in a café in Delsberg . The 52-year-old has taken a seat at the window and is sketching the snow-covered roofs of the Jura capital.
Growing up with adoptive parents who had absolutely nothing to do with art, Riley had to fight to be allowed to study graphic design. Getting to know her birth parents encouraged her in her career choice. His father and mother were architectural draftsmen, his grandfather an artist. “Suddenly it became clear where I got my musical and artistic inspiration from.”
She is also entitled to the Swiss passport
The journey continues to Courfaivre JU , where Riley's father grew up. She wants to find the house where he lived. But the family makes a pilgrimage through the snow-covered village in vain.
Frozen, the family boards the train to St. Ursanne JU before heading back to Basel.
Even if they didn't find the house, their efforts to gain Swiss citizenship should not be in vain. Two days after the trip to the Jura, Riley is sitting with her husband Rob in a Zurich law firm.
It was at one of her Swiss family's numerous family reunions when Riley's cousin said: "Your half-sisters, who are only half Swiss, have a Swiss passport, but you are entitled to one too." This triggered something in Riley that has bothered her for almost two decades now.
“At first I thought, okay, then it’s just not possible.”
She researched, asked the consulate and Swiss communities. She was either referred or rejected. “At first I thought, okay, then it’s just not possible.” But as the years passed, she felt a deep injustice. “I’m Swiss, so my blood wasn’t exchanged when I was adopted.”
“Cate Riley’s case is complex,” says Marad Widmer, Riley’s lawyer. The lawyer sees an opportunity, but Widmer cannot guarantee success.
At the age of 25, Swiss citizenship expires
Legally, a child born abroad to a Swiss parent and of a different nationality automatically loses their Swiss passport at the age of 25.
Unless they have reported to a Swiss authority or declared in writing that they want to retain their Swiss nationality. If Swiss citizenship is forfeited, it will also be forfeited for the children.
Another possible option would be to annul the adoption. But Riley doesn't want that, the damage she would cause to her family would be too great.
But it was precisely this adoption that severed the legal connection to Switzerland. Riley's luck may be that, as required by the old civil law, she reported to the tourist office within a year of learning that she was Swiss. This was attached to the Swiss consulate.
Riley now has hope. After years of research, she found someone in her lawyer who would support her in her mission of “Swiss citizenship”. A mission that should also give her back a piece of identity that she lost when she was adopted.