Overview

• Kaitlin “Kate” Saar, 41, embraced her mother, Maria Paulina Gonzalez Seguel, at her Smithtown home on Wednesday after Gonzalez flew from Chile to JFK, with a visit planned through Oct. 18 as the families weigh time in both countries.
• Connecting Roots coordinated the DNA testing and reunion, part of the nonprofit’s work to reconnect Chilean adoptees with relatives separated during Augusto Pinochet’s rule.
• Associated Press figures cited in coverage estimate about 20,000 Chilean children were taken and adopted abroad, with only around 5% reunited with birth families so far.
• Family accounts and Connecting Roots describe patterns in which mothers were told infants had died or were cremated, with reports of sedation and involvement by hospitals, clergy, lawyers and officials.
• A human-rights attorney in Chile found Saar’s birth certificate and social media profile that led to direct contact, despite adoption papers stating a voluntary relinquishment that the family now disputes.