One of Franco’s ‘stolen babies’ reunited with her Biological Family after DNA

Ines Madrigal, a 50-year-old Spanish woman and one of Franco dictatorship’s “stolen babies” has been reunited with her biological family after undergoing a DNA test in the United States.

The Spanish woman was one of the victims of the widespread trafficking which took place under General Francisco Franco’s dictatorship from 1939 to 1975. Franco came to power after defeating the Republican left-wing party in the Spanish civil war. During his regime, he tried to purge Spain from Marxist influence, which explains how the practice of taking babies away from left-wing families was conceived.

‘I have four siblings, who are marvellous people and have opened their arms to me,’ Madrigal said at a press conference in Madrid.

‘At last I have completed the puzzle of my life. Now I know who I am and where I come from.’

Madrigal’s reunion with her biological family, came a year after a court found 86-year-old gynaecologist, Eduardo Vela, guilty of abducting and giving her to another woman in 1969. He was however cleared of the charges, as the court held that the statute of limitations had expired.

The Spanish woman’s disclosure of her newfound relatives telling her that her mother gave her up willingly, may however impede her chances of getting a verdict against Vela when Spain’s Supreme Court hears her appeal to last year’s ruling at a future date yet to be determined. Backing this assertion, a statement from the state prosecutor’s office in Madrid added that the new twist in the case leaves doubt of Madrigal being stolen.