LA LÍNEA
At least five families have reported doubts about what happened to their babies supposedly stillborn or that died shortly after birth in La Línea in the 1960s. The latest case, reported last week, sheds no more light than the previous four. Carmen R.L. says she gave birth to a child who was placed next to her, though she had been warned by her doctor that there were problems. "We had only recently arrived in La Línea and had no family there," she adds. The child was removed and she was told that it had died and that everything would be taken care of, including burial at the San José cemetery in La Línea. "We were very grateful at the time, yet I remember that November 14, 1968, as one of the worst in my life," says Carmen. But recently her daughter saw a programme (Espejo Público on Antena 3) that aroused her suspicions.>
At least five families have reported doubts about what happened to their babies supposedly stillborn or that died shortly after birth in La Línea in the 1960s. The latest case, reported last week, sheds no more light than the previous four. Carmen R.L. says she gave birth to a child who was placed next to her, though she had been warned by her doctor that there were problems. "We had only recently arrived in La Línea and had no family there," she adds. The child was removed and she was told that it had died and that everything would be taken care of, including burial at the San José cemetery in La Línea. "We were very grateful at the time, yet I remember that November 14, 1968, as one of the worst in my life," says Carmen. But recently her daughter saw a programme (Espejo Público on Antena 3) that aroused her suspicions.>
"My daughter told me that the case of Cristina Díaz Carrasco was very similar to mine, and only a year apart. Frankly, I didn't want to know, but she insisted. I had never been to the cemetery in La Línea to see my child's tomb, because I never felt strong enough," continues Carmen. "But finally I went, only to find that my son was not buried there. The gravedigger there told me that I must have the date wrong, but I don't. A mother wouldn't do that. But my son's burial was never registered at that cemetery in November of that year."
Carmen then met another woman of La Línea with a similar case. They went to the Municipal Archive, but found nothing on or near the date. She has requested informatiuon from the Civil Registry on whether it states that the child was born or that she aborted the child. "It would take some time," she was told.
"I am devastated. I had always believed that my son had died, but now I'm not so sure," she says.
Five families in similar circumstances are now studying the possibility of requesting a judicial enquiry on the subject. One of the women says that she believes there are more of them in the area, adding that they are now inclined to think that their children were born normally and taken away for adoption.
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