31 March 2011 Last updated at 01:44

In pictures: Spain's 'illicit trade' in babies

At 38, Antonio Barroso discovered he’d been bought as a baby. He now suspects he was stolen from his real mother - a victim of Spain’s alleged illicit trade in newborn children.

Antonio’s support group, Anadir, receives dozens of calls and letters from potential victims every day. Spanish prosecutors are now investigating claims that a nationwide baby trade continued until the 1990s.

Mar Soriano (R) on stage with a woman who was given to Franco supporters after her parents were murdered in Argentina.

Campaigners like Mar Soriano (R) in Madrid believe the practice began under General Franco's right-wing dictatorship. In the 1940s children were removed from left-wing families in the name of ideological 'cleansing'. Mar argues the motive later became profit.

Blue ribbons are for missing boys; pink for girls. Mar believes her own sister was stolen. The records say she died of an ear infection; the family were not allowed to see her body. Hundreds of women across Spain have similar stories.

In Terrassa, Salvador Martin and his daughter Ana are convinced her younger sister was stolen when her mother died after giving birth. They think another family must have a girl who looks like Ana

The baby’s death certificate states that she was stillborn but Salvador saw his daughter alive. So in December he exhumed the family grave. The baby inside was a boy and no relation. “I’ve lost 36 years. I don’t want to lose a day more. I want to meet my daughter,” Salvador says.

Dolores Diaz Cerpa’s daughter was born in Seville in 1973. Dolores saw two cots and was told she'd had twins. Nurses later insisted Eva was the only child, but Dolores never believed that. When she requested her medical records she was sent papers for a boy.

Dolores hopes someone, somewhere might recognise Eva and help find her missing twin. “I just want him to know I didn’t abandon him,” she says. “That he was stolen from his cot.”

Anadir is creating a DNA database for those who suspect they’re the victims of child-traffickers. A formal criminal investigation is now underway, but so much time has passed - and so many records are missing - that these tests may be the only way for parent and child to be reunited.

The vast majority being tested so far are mothers. Scientist Amaya Gorostiza (L) says the database can only work if children also come forward. “Where parents bought children, it’s important they tell them now because their documents are often falsified and they don’t know,” she explains.

Victoria Bueno Neira has given her DNA sample. She was told her son died shortly after birth in 1962. The cemetery has no record of him; the family later received his call-up papers for military service. “I had my other children at home,” Victoria says. “I was too afraid to go to the hospital.”

Dolores Diaz’s home in Seville is filled with family photographs but she’s convinced one face is missing: that of the twin boy she’s always been sure she gave birth to. “I want to meet my son before I die,” Dolores says. “Now I have this feeling I’m going to find him.”

Europe

In pictures: Spain's 'illicit trade' in babies

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