The Hague PVV councilor finds his biological mother in Colombia: "Went absurdly fast"

THE HAGUE - Sebastian Kruis, leader of the PVV party in The Hague in daily life, was at Schiphol a month ago, not knowing what the following weeks in Colombia would bring him. He went on a trip to the South American country to look for his biological family. And with success, less than two weeks later he found his biological mother in a shelter for the homeless elderly in Medellín. "I went from no information at all about my mother to a meeting with her in a matter of days."

The 32-year-old party leader was adopted at a young age by a couple from the Netherlands. 'When I was nine months old, I was adopted and came to the Netherlands. I grew up there in Zoetermeer and when I was eighteen I moved to The Hague, the most beautiful city in the Netherlands', Kruis begins in the radio program Menno in de Middag. 'I am now 32 years old and in all this time I really didn't feel the need to know more about my biological family and look for them.'

Until more than a year ago a report was published about abuses in international adoptions and the role of the Dutch government in this. 'There have been stories for some time that things have gone wrong with adoptions. But that research showed that things often did not go well with adoptions and that the government played a reprehensible role in this,' explains the PVV member. 'That made me, like many other adopted children, start to doubt whether my adoption file is correct and I really wanted to find out', says the politician.

Tour of Colombian population register and police

So Kruis put his money where his mouth is and he was standing at Schiphol on 22 April with a suitcase and ticket to Medellín in his hand. 'I mainly went to Colombia with the idea to see if I could get more information about my adoption file. I only had a name and a place of birth', he says.

But once he arrived in Colombia, Kruis's search went a lot better than expected. 'First I went through all the authorities there and asked whether they know the person who bears the same name as the name that was in my adoption report. So, for example, I visited the population register and the police. And in a miraculous way we managed to connect quite a few puzzle pieces within a few days," says the PVV councilor from The Hague.

'Moment you fantasize about all the time'

'There were really thirty links in between. But I sat down again and again to see what information I had and what I still needed to, if I have to explain it in a Colombian way, walk certain lines," Sebastian chuckles. 'That resulted in me finding out where my mother lived the day before I was to fly back to the Netherlands. She turned out to live in a shelter for homeless elderly people,' he says. "That's really the moment you fantasize about all the time."

After a brief search of twelve days, Sebastian found himself in front of his mother's house. “I first introduced myself to her as Alvaro, because that's actually my real first name, and I put an arm around her shoulder. After that, my mother and I talked for about two hours and walked around the grounds," he says happily about meeting his mother. 'It just had to be done with a translator. I did not expect that I would already find my mother and therefore I am not that far with my Spanish lessons. Now I can only order three beers and a glass of cola in Spanish', the resident of The Hague laughs.

New search coming soon

According to Kruis, his life has not changed much now that he has found his mother. 'In advance I was a bit afraid that this quest would turn my whole life upside down, but it's actually not that bad. But of course it all happened only two weeks ago. It also happened absurdly fast. I went from no information at all about my mother to a meeting with her in a matter of days. So maybe after a while I'll really realize how valuable this quest is for my life.'

But what is the Hague party leader with Colombian roots going to do now? “I'll be back soon to start a new search for other relatives. My mother also gave up an older sister and younger brother, so it would be great if I could find those too. And of course, just like everyone else, I was fathered by a father, so I want to work with that too," he says with a laugh about his new search plans. "And on Twitter I will keep the people interested in my search informed," he adds.

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