A 48-year-old woman has finally been reunited with her long-lost mum after her grandmother sold her when she was a baby to avoid a scandal because her mother had her when she was just 13.
Ana Paula Tolosa Safigueroa, 48, and her 62-year-old mother, Devora Safigueroa, were finally reunited in their home country of Argentina after almost five decades apart.
Devora confirmed that she gave birth to Ana Paula when she was just 13, and to avoid “the shame” and “social condemnation” that would have been visited on the family in 1970s Argentine society, Devora’s parents took her baby from her against her will just moments after it was born.
Ana Paula was subsequently sold into a family she long suspected was not her biological one, given their different physical features.
The childhood of Ana Paula Tolosa Safigueroa who was sold by her grandmother after birth, found her mother through social networks after 48 years in Argentina. 
Ana Paula Tolosa Safigueroa, 48, who was sold by her grandmother after birth, found her mother through social networks after 48 years in Argentina.
However, it was only when she was 24 that her adoptive parents told her they had bought her from another family.
She told local TV channel TN: “When I was born, the midwife told my mother that I was a boy and that they had given me to some people in Magdalena. It was all a lie, so they could never find me. During my childhood, I was 20 blocks from my real parents’ house.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ana Paula was contacted by a biological cousin on Facebook, who then notified Devora’s daughters – Ana Paula’s sisters – who then told Devora herself.
The cousin found Ana Paula after she shared a post on the social network writing about her long-lost mum accompanied by a photo of herself, which the cousin saw and noticed she resembled Devora’s daughters.
A DNA test performed in August 2020 matched both mum and daughter with 99.9 percent certainty.
Devora was living in the city of La Plata and Ana Paula in the city of Bragado at the time, over three hours away by car.
Devora Safigueroa, 62, whose baby was sold by her mother after birth, found her girl through social networks after 48 years in Argentina. 
Ana Paula Tolosa Safigueroa, 48, and her mother Devora Safigueroa, 62, holding her hands after 48 years in Argentina.
Due to coronavirus restrictions, they could not meet in person, so they spent a month talking via video call until they were finally able to meet and hug.
In addition to Devora, Ana Paula was also reunited with her dad, who cried during the trio’s first video call.
Of their first meeting in person, Devora said: “It’s a dream I didn’t want to wake up from.”
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Story By: William McGee, Sub-Editor: James King, Agency: Newsflash
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