Usually when I read a story about adoptees and privacy, the issue is the adoptees wanting to be able to determine their biological parents. Michael Warren of the Associated Press has an interview with some adoptees in Argentina who do not want to be forced to give DNA if it proves that their adoptive mother, Ernestina Herrera de Noble, committed a crime in receiving stolen babies:
The adopted children of Argentina’s leading newspaper publisher are nearing the end of an epic legal battle over their DNA and preparing themselves for the possibility of a match with families of victims of the dictatorship.
In an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, Marcela and Felipe Noble Herrera accused Argentine human rights groups and authorities of violating their privacy by forcing them to give DNA samples in a politically charged case that could put their elderly adoptive mother behind bars.
The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo allege that Clarin owner Ernestina Herrera de Noble illegally adopted them 34 years ago with help from officials of the military junta. Hundreds of political dissidents were kidnapped and killed after giving birth in clandestine torture centers during the 1976-1983 dictatorship, and human rights groups believe the Noble Herreras’ birth mothers were among them.
Read more in the Chicago Tribune. Yes, I know I always put a “read more” after an excerpt, but really, this time, I mean it: read more of the news story and see what you think. On some level, isn’t this a “right to be let alone” case? In the interview, one of the adoptees says:
“Our identity is ours. It’s a private thing, and I don’t think it’s up to the state or the Grandmothers to come and tell us what is ours,” Marcela said, referring to the prominent human rights group that works to identify infants stolen during the dictatorship.
“Despite this, they have tried for nine years to forcefully impose our genetic history on us,” she added.
Lots to think about with this case.