Woman told her twins died at birth – but she has a different theory

A woman who was told her babies died soon after she gave birth believes they may have instead been stolen.

When Ana gave birth to her twins in a hospital in Madrid in 1958 she was already a mother-of-three.

Her pregnancy with the twins had not had any complications but when she arrived at hospital, she was placed in a storage room alone and given a sedative by a nurse, who was also a nun.

At the time, many Spanish hospitals were run by the Catholic Church.

After waking up, Ana was told she had given birth to a boy and a girl, however soon after the nurse delivered the devastating news that they had died.

At the time she was told the funeral arrangements would be organised by the hospital and she returned home to her family.

A woman who was told her twins died at birth believes they were actually stolen (Picture: ITV)

However more than 50 years after the twins’ death, in 2011 it emerged that over decades there had been unexplained high infant death rates at hospitals across Spain in the 60s and 70s.

It was then revealed hundreds of babies had been stolen from hospitals. These shocking events became to be known as the ‘Stolen Baby Scandal’, which is explored in a special episode of the ITV series Long Lost Family tonight.

Reading about the scandal Ana, who moved to London in 2010, realised she might have been a victim too.

The first case of a ‘stolen baby’ in Spain came to light that same year, before a class action was launched with allegations that at least 300 babies were stolen from their families.

As Long Lost Family co-host Nicky Campbell explains in the episode, of which Metro has an exclusive clip from, the origins of the scandal began under the dictatorship of General Franco, who ruled the country from 1939 until he died in 1975.

It’s believed the babies taken soon after they were born mostly came from families that opposed his regime or were considered ‘unsuitable’, like single mothers.

Ana appears on the latest episode of Long Lost Family sharing her story – which is connected to Spain’s ‘Stolen Baby Scandal’ (Picture: ITV)

Taken by priests, nuns and nurses, they were then sold to couples approved by the authorities, with the practice believed to have happened as recently as the 1990s.

But Ana, now 93, believes her children were most likely taken for financial reasons.

‘I don’t think it was political, it was just “oh these people, they have too many kids”. Somebody was asking for babies, they were prepared to pay – so it was unlucky,’ her daughter Maria Elena said.

The mother and daughter have since attempted to try find out more about the twins.

After contacting the cemetery where they were meant to be buried, the pair were told there were no records of the twins being there.

Despite it also being standard practice at the time, there were no baptismal records for the twins too.

The episode also shares the story of Ruth Appleby who was told her first child, a daughter she named Rebecca, died in a hospital in Galicia in 1992.

Her daughter Maria Elena believes the twins were likely taken for financial reasons and sold off (Picture: ITV)

‘I believed for 19 years that my daughter had died. And then, suspicions came to light that my daughter may not have died and was stolen at birth…’ she said.

In 2010 Ruth sought to bring her daughter’s remains to the UK, but during the process it was discovered the skeleton inside was too large to be one of a newborn.

Her and Ana’s stories are explored in detail in the episode, which also reveals if they are any closer to finding their children.

Despite the difficulties they face, Ruth has said they must be hopeful as ‘miracles sometimes happen’.

Long Lost Family airs tonight at 9pm on BBC One.

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