Nursed to* life by officer

When Christina and Maria were small, their mother was hospitalized and the police found two starving girls. Against advice, an officer nursed both girls to life and they were adopted to Denmark. But a feeling of emptiness came with it.

- They said I shouldn't breastfeed you. But I feared you would die if I didn't.

Maria and Christina are in Bolivia, where they face the woman who found them as children. She was a police officer. The two sisters have traveled to their country of birth in an attempt to find their biological mother and get answers to what happened back then. What it was that led to them being adopted.

The officer says that she had just returned from maternity leave when she was called to a house where she found two malnourished girls. Those girls were Christina and Maria.

Tears well up in the twins as they listen to the story of themselves as children. Because it quickly becomes clear to them that the woman in front of them is one of the reasons they are alive.

- Although we have had a good upbringing in Denmark, we have always had a feeling of abandonment. It probably has something to do with the fact that we have never known what actually happened in our first year of life, says 22-year-old Christina Nyborg from Hjørring.

Maria and Christina were born in the South American country of Bolivia, and they were one and a half years old when the police picked them up from their mother's house. According to the papers, their mother was hospitalized, and the two girls subsequently ended up in an orphanage. The staff tried to find their mother, and in the newspaper they also called for other members of the family who could take care of the twin girls. But no one approached.

Even Maria and Christina do not remember the time at the orphanage. They were two years old when their adoptive parents entered the orphanage. Christina knows that she was put on her adoptive mother's lap as one of the first things, and it quickly became clear that the little girl craved the care of an adult.

Craved for care

- From the first day I was almost glued to my mother. If she went to the toilet, I wanted to go with her, and I became deeply unhappy if I suddenly couldn't see her. So something could indicate that I have experienced an early failure, says Christina.

Both girls were initially withdrawn and had no language. But as time went on, they began to settle in to the new surroundings in the North Jutland city. The girls were followed everywhere. When they entered kindergarten, you could always find the two dark-haired girls playing together, and if one was at home with illness, the feeling of abandonment was reinforced in the other.

As the teenage years hit, they started comparing themselves to the others.

Covered the skin

Their southern features with dark hair on their arms and legs made them more difficult to show off. When others enjoyed the summer sun in shorts and short sleeves, the girls were often covered up with long pants and sleeves, and they often cast envious glances at other girls' light, thin hair.

In the family it was never a secret where they came from. Their parents often talked about Bolivia, and together they traveled back to the girls' country of birth several times, so they got an understanding of their origins. But as they wandered among alpacas and mountainous landscapes, the questions pressed on. Therefore, Maria and Christina chose to contact the DR program Sporløs to seek answers.

- Our papers stated that we were triplets. So we couldn't help but think that maybe we had a sister or brother somewhere. Had that person also been abandoned? We knew ourselves how much support we found in each other, and it made us sad to think that there was someone who might be completely alone.

The family remembered the twins

With butterflies in their stomachs, the girls returned to Bolivia. All they had was their mother's name Margarita, but after a visit to the hospital, they found the town where she lived. They managed to get in touch with their mother's aunt. When she was told they were looking for the girls' mother, the first thing she asked was if it was twins looking for her. Then they knew they were on the right track.

The day they met the ex-cop, both girls were overcome with emotion. Hearing the story of how her maternal instincts had taken over and she chose to breastfeed them was touching. But even though the girls were found in critical condition, a great concern for their mother flared up. That's why Maria and Christina couldn't hold back their tears when they were told that she had been found.

- We had both tried to adjust to the fact that she might not want to see us. We would be extremely upset, but we would have to respect it, Maria and Christina explain.

But Margarita had never forgotten her girls. Hand in hand, the twins walked up to the venue where they were to meet their biological mother last May. The closer they got, the more the tears pressed on. When they finally reached out to her, wet eyes mingled with laughter, and they all embraced each other.

- It will work out, my girls. It's okay now, she said as she hugged her daughters to her.

Wild experience

For Maria and Christina, the meeting with their biological mother was the culmination of many years of unanswered questions. Throughout their lives they had always had each other to look up to, but when they looked at their mother, they felt connected to another person for the first time.

- It was like seeing yourself. She looked like us, especially Maria. So it was really a wild experience.

Margarita could tell that the girls' father had another boyfriend when she got pregnant. Therefore, she was left alone with the two girls, and she was forced to move into the back house of the woman for whom she worked. She was under pressure both financially and mentally, and on the day she was taken to hospital, she had tried to take her own life. When she was subsequently discharged, she did not know where her daughters were. The city was big and she had no idea where to look. Eventually she thought they were dead.

- I felt so sorry for her, and it was important for us to say that we were doing well and had got some good parents, says Christina.

Have calmed down

The sisters were also asked if they had triplets. Their mother confirmed that it was true, but that the third child had died at birth. In return, the mother was able to tell them, to their great joy, that they have a little sister who is alive and well.

When Maria and Christina sat in the plane on their way home to Denmark, they were overcome with emotion. It took time for the experience to really sink in, but today they can feel that it has changed them.

- I noticed that the feeling of abandonment we had been walking around with was gone. The answers have given me peace of mind, because now we know what happened, explains Christina.

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She and Maria have talked to their little sister and their mother several times. The plan is that they will go back and visit their family when they take a sabbatical, because communication can be difficult due to a poor internet connection.

The twins hope their story can help give hope to other adoptees. Because it may be possible to get answers to the questions that keep popping up.

- We have been lucky to have each other, but there are many adoptees who lack someone to look up to, and I think you should try to find those answers. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. That is why I also think it is important that you talk to other adoptees who can recognize the feelings you go with, Christina explains.

Today, she and Maria are grateful that they now have two families.

- Our parents will always be the ones we grew up with. But we are looking forward to getting to know our second family. It is great that it can now be done.