Andrea was illegally adopted from Colombia: 'It has been a huge grief'

“I am hugely angry about what has happened. I always will be. It's completely unforgivable. '

32-year-old Andrea Landgreen does not remember much from her first years in Colombia.

In 1992, she was illegally adopted as a three-year-old.

Only many years later was she to discover just that.

Andrea Landgreen was illegally adopted from Colombia back in 1992. Photo: Kasper Løjtved / Byrd.Andrea Landgreen was illegally adopted from Colombia back in 1992. Photo: Kasper ...show more

"I think it's important to get clarified. It is and has been a huge sadness to find out that my biological family did not want to give me up, "says Andrea Landgreen.

Illegal adoptions are currently pending after several European countries have had to launch investigations into the adoption system following revelations about illegal adoption.

In Denmark, the National Board of Appeal completed an investigation of the adoption agency from Chile in April this year - the conclusion was, however, that it could neither confirm nor deny whether there had been illegal adoptions in the years 1978-1988.

»Such unclear communication from the National Board of Appeal is anything but a help. It leaves the adoptees and their families back in a gray zone. It is simply too bad, "says other deputy chairman Ina Dygaard from Adoption and Society and adds:

I wanted to find out why I had been chosen from, or what had happened at all

Andrea Landgren, adopted from Columbia

»You can contact the National Board of Appeal today and get a copy of your adoption documents and get help with the return of DIA (adoption mediation organization, ed.). But one can not get help for a thorough legal assessment of the papers. That is one of the things that the adoptees need help with today, "she says.

Andrea Landgreen was responsible for her return trip. The journey lasted 11 days and took place in 2015.

“I wanted to find out why I had been chosen from, or what had happened at all,” she says.

The now 32-year-old woman has otherwise had a safe childhood, where she grew up in a terraced house in Lyngby with her adoptive parents. She has "never lacked for anything," as she herself puts it.

Andrea Landgreen today has contact with her biological family in Columbia. She has a biological sister, the rest of the sibling group has other fathers. Photo: Kasper Løjtved / Byrd.Andrea Landgreen has contact with her biological family in Columbia today ....show more

She currently works in a media company and has a six-year-old son.

But at the same time, Andrea Landgreen has struggled with trust in other people, the pursuit of attention, jealousy and the urge to have control over everyday situations.

"I've been thinking a lot about whether I was good enough," she says.

The meeting with his biological mother and seven siblings took place on a starry night in a parking lot in the mountain town of Bogotá.

We held each other. It was a very big relief. It felt like I had run a marathon because in my search for her I had been rejected in so many places

Andrea Landgren, adopted from Columbia

Prior to this, a major search work and money had gone under the table, which eventually led to her being handed out papers with sufficient information on the biological mother, which she had lacked.

With her was an agent and a priest who had assisted the search.

“When we stood there holding each other, it was a very big relief. It felt as if I had run a marathon because in my search for my biological mother I had been rejected in so many places, "says Andrea Landgreen.

It was here that she was first told that the adoption had been against her biological mother's wishes.

Andrea does not speak Spanish and her mother does not speak English. Therefore, it is difficult to communicate. However, Andrea has learned a bit of Spanish after meeting her biological mother. Photo: Kasper Løjtved / Byrd.Andrea does not speak Spanish and her mother does not speak English. Therefore, ...show more

The mother said that as a two-year-old Andrea had been taken away by the authorities when they suspected abuse in the apartment where she was being cared for by the biological mother's friend. Meanwhile, the mother was at work as a prostitute.

Andrea found out that during the year she was in the custody of the authorities, she had seen her mother every 14 days for an hour at a time. Each visit ended with a dramatic farewell, in which she was torn out of the arms of her mother by the staff.

Andreas' biological mother tried several times to get her daughter back. But because her mother could not afford to ask a lawyer, she was adopted against her mother's will.

At Adoption og Samfund, people still have confidence that international adoptions are a good idea.

“There is a completely different legal control over adoption cases today than there was when Andrea was adopted. That is why we trust the system, "says Ina Dygaard.

Despite poverty in Colombia, Andrea believes her life would have been better if she had not been adopted.

“It is not certain it would have been a safe upbringing. But if I had grown up there, I would not have known anything else. When you are taken over to something that is so different, I think it's hard not to feel alienated. I would probably have been more whole in Colombia, "she says.

Andrea still has contact with the family in Colombia, especially her biological sister, with whom she has had a good relationship. She wants to visit her family again.

»But my life is in Denmark. This is where I have my son and my family. "

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