Inside Georgias Stolen Baby Scandal, Where Parents Were Told Their Newborns Had Died Only For Them To Be Secretly Adopted
@sartaniaanoo/TikTokAmy Khvitia and Ano Sartania, twins who were separated at birth as part of Georgias decades-long child trafficking scandal.When Amy Khvitia was 12 years old, she was watching Georgias Got Talent on television when she noticed something strange about one of the competitors: She looked exactly like her.At first, this was simply written off as a coincidence. Years later, however, Khvitia posted a TikTok video that eventually made its way to the girl she had seen on TV, Ano Sartania. The two got in contact and decided to meet and when they did, it became clear that they were twins.While this incident may seem unbelievable, people from the country of Georgia know stories like it all too well. Although investigations are still underway, a growing body of evidence suggests that thousands of mothers were separated from their children at birth. The babies were then sold to adoptive parents, and the mothers were told that their newborns had died. This seemingly continued until 2005 and as many as 100,000 babies may have been involved.What Happened To These Twins?This kidnapping and child trafficking ring operated fairly consistently. In most cases, a pregnant mother would give birth in a hospital, only to be informed that her infant had died. Parents who asked to see their childs body would either be shown a frozen corpse from the mortuary or learn that the hospital had already buried the baby.In the case of Khvitia and Sartania, their mother fell into a coma after birth. When she awoke, she was told that both of her daughters had passed away.Got Talent Global/YouTubeAmy Khvitia first spotted her identical twin sister, Ano Sartania, on Georgias Got Talent in 2014, but she thought she was just a doppelganger. Hospital staff were seemingly in on the crime, as were corrupt government officials who falsified the necessary paperwork. Khvitia and Sartania would later discover that their birth certificates listed their birth dates several weeks apart, even though they were twins born on the same day.In some cases, potential adoptive families would then be contacted about an unwanted newborn at the hospital and asked to pay a fee to take the baby home. While its unknown exactly how much money each person involved pocketed, this was a lucrative arrangement for the hospitals, as the payment could be equivalent to a years salary.Its also unclear exactly how much the adoptive parents knew. Khvitias mother claimed that she thought everything was above board since hospital staff were involved, but that may not have been the case in every situation. This horrific web of crime was uncovered by Georgian journalist Tamuna Museridze as she searched for information about her own birth.Lost Children Are DiscoveredIn 2021, Museridze set up a Facebook group meant to connect adopted children with their biological families. She had recently learned that she was adopted, and she was desperate to uncover the truth about her past.BBC World Service/YouTubeTamuna Museridze, the journalist who helped uncover Georgias stolen baby scandalBut her social media page soon turned into something far different from what shed intended. As Museridze told JAMnews in 2023, We were once approached by a woman who was looking for her husbands biological parents, and through our group we found that her husband was registered as stillborn, but in fact he was sold to foster parents in another city.As similar tales started to roll in, Museridze realized that shed uncovered something sinister. But while her page has helped reunite hundreds of families, theres still a considerable amount of work to be done. No one is sure how many children were abducted during this scheme, but Museridze estimates the number is between 100,000 and 130,000. The Georgian government has done some work to investigate these cases, though theyve hit many roadblocks. Much of the paperwork associated with these deaths is now missing, many of the hospitals linked to the practice have closed, and some of the potentially guilty parties have passed away. While some arrests have been made, its believed that there were many more people involved who have yet to be prosecuted. Geo AssistanceThe location of Georgias former Gurjaani maternity hospital, which was implicated in the stolen babies scandal.Apart from investigating the cases, the government has made an effort to ensure this does not happen again. Adoption in Georgia is now heavily regulated, with international adoption only allowed under specific conditions. All births are also assigned a unique personal identification number, making it difficult for the existence of a child to simply be erased.But no matter how many measures have been put in place to prevent this from happening again, many Georgians are still left wondering, Do I have a twin out there who I dont know about?After reading about Georgias adoption scandal, discover how adoption agency manager Georgia Tann trafficked children in Tennessee for years. Then, meet the Jim Twins, two brothers from Ohio who were separated at birth.The post Inside Georgias Stolen Baby Scandal, Where Parents Were Told Their Newborns Had Died Only For Them To Be Secretly Adopted appeared first on All That's Interesting.
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