Adopted Utah man re-united with Chilean birth mother may be human trafficking victim
Adopted Utah man re-united with Chilean birth mother may be human trafficking victim
by Bronagh Tumulty Saturday, September 8th 2018
An adopted Utah man was re-united with his birth mother in Chile after 42 years. He's now trying to determine whether he was a victim of human trafficking as a child. (Photo: Pixton Family)
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(KUTV) — A Draper man is sharing his story of meeting his birth mother — but this story has a huge twist.
Jeremy Pixton was adopted from Chile as a baby and the 41-year-old now lives in Draper with his wife and three children.
He always knew he was adopted and, over the years, made some attempts to find his family.
He kept hitting roadblock after roadblock, trying to get his records here in Utah. He said Utah is one of four states that won’t open records after a closed adoption.
So, he turned to groups in Chile to help him.
One, Nos Buscamos, was able to track down his birth mother, who was shocked to learn her son was even alive. She said she was told he died after she gave birth.
Pixton said at that time, it wasn’t commonplace to ask questions or try to get answers about adopted children, so his birth mother was forced to move on with life.
Her little boy had not died at all and Pixton said he was adopted to a couple here in Utah through LDS Family Services. He firmly believes he was a victim of human trafficking, and a full investigation is now underway in Chile.
He just got back from Chile after meeting the whole family, including his birth mother, younger brother and older sister.
Pixton plans to go back there in January with his wife and kids.
Nos Buscamos said he is the 31st person believed to be a victim of human trafficking they’ve been able to reunite with family members. His sister was also adopted from Chile, and authorities are now trying to track down her birth mother in Santiago to find out if she, too, was a victim of trafficking.
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