After 45 years apart, Gabriela—now known by her birth name Creuza Pereira Dos Santos—has reunited with her biological mother Maria and her siblings in Brazil, uncovering a history of illegal adoption and falsified documents that left her growing up in Sweden believing she had been abandoned in a basket as an infant, according to court documents and personal accounts.
The Search and the DNA Match
Gabriela arrived in Sweden at six months old in 1981 after being brought over by her adoptivföräldrar (adoptive parents), who had been connected to a Dutch lawyer by a Swede living in Brazil. According to what her adoptive family was told by the lawyer, the infant was supposedly found naked and wrapped in a torn blanket in a church garden basket, and was subsequently cared for by a pastor’s family and nuns before the adoption was processed. Growing up with open communication about her background, Gabriela always held a desire to learn about her origins. Six years ago, she took a DNA test through MyHeritage and later posted in Facebook groups, where a mention of the lawyer’s name led someone to link a broadcast about illegal adoption schemes involving the exact same attorney.
That discovery sent Gabriela into an identity crisis and a mild depression before a critical breakthrough occurred in the spring, nearly five years later. She received a DNA match notification from a cousin in the Netherlands who happened to know about a family member losing a child to an illegal adoption. Soon after, the cousin organized a multi-hour video call introducing Gabriela to her mother, sisters, brothers, and other extended relatives. To confirm the relationship definitively, Maria took a DNA test in Brazil, and on July 2, 2025, the results confirmed they are mother and daughter.
The Reality of the Adoption
During her reunion trip to Brazil at the end of June, accompanied by her own daughter, Gabriela traveled to Porto Seguro and Teixeira de Freitas to meet her family amidst celebrations featuring firecrackers, cake, and Brazilian flags. It was during this trip that her biological mother shared the true account of what happened in 1980 and 1981. According to Maria’s account to Gabriela, three Dutch women running a nursery attempted to persuade her to give up her child, and when she refused, they took the infant anyway. Maria stated she cried and tried to get her baby back, but was told the child was already adopted, shortly before the death of Gabriela’s father left the family in extreme financial distress.
Investigation into the official paperwork revealed extensive falsifications orchestrated by the Dutch lawyer. Gabriela’s birth certificate stated she was born at a hospital in São Paulo at the end of May 1981, whereas she was actually about six months old at the time and born elsewhere, with the paperwork signing date registered as her birthday. Court documents from the time show that the adoptive parents were instructed by the lawyer that this procedure was necessary to bring the child out of the country, and while they were honest with the Swedish district court about the paperwork, the organization Brazil Baby Affair noted that this method was systematically used during the era to register foreign children as an overseas couple’s biological offspring.
Did You Know? Around 60,000 children from various countries have arrived in Sweden via international adoption since the 1950s, though numbers have dropped sharply to just 50 children in 2025 through Swedish adoption organizations, according to statistics from the Swedish Agency for Family Law and Parental Support (MFoF) and Statistics Sweden (SCB).
Future Outlook and Context
This individual case mirrors broader systemic investigations into historical international adoptions. In the fall of 2021, a state adoption commission was appointed to investigate irregularities, document falsifications, and child thefts following reports by Dagens Nyheter. Furthermore, government investigators proposed a complete halt to international adoptions in June 2025 after uncovering widespread child trafficking and missing parental consent primarily during the 1970s and 1980s. For Brazil, international adoptions surged during the 1980s before new regulations in 1990 banned private adoptions, mandating that they proceed strictly through state agencies and regional courts prior to the country adopting the 1993 Hague Convention in 1999.
As Gabriela processes her journey and her new connection to Creuza Pereira Dos Santos, she aims to raise awareness about the hidden dark sides of international adoption. Meanwhile, Gabriela continues to advocate for transparency, urging that families ask critical questions so that children are not systematically stripped of their origins.
Frequently Asked Questions
How did Gabriela discover her biological family after 45 years?
Gabriela took a DNA test via MyHeritage six years ago and later connected with a Dutch cousin on the platform who recognized her case as part of an illegal adoption and organized a video call with her biological relatives.
What did official adoption documents falsely state about Gabriela’s birth?
Her birth certificate claimed she was born at a hospital in São Paulo at the end of May 1981 and listed her Swedish adoptive parents as her biological parents, whereas she was actually about six months old and born elsewhere in 1980.
What regulatory changes occurred in Brazil following these adoption practices?
In 1990, Brazil banned private adoptions, requiring them to go through a state agency and regional courts, and later adopted the 1993 Hague Convention in 1999.
How do you think widespread access to commercial DNA testing will continue to reshape historical adoption investigations in the coming years?
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