A woman who was told her baby had died shortly after its delivery in 1992 has turned to the European Parliament in an effort to learn whether she had been misled by medical professionals.

Ruth Appleby, who delivered her child via Caesarean section in a hospital in Northern Spain, has since learned that a number of infants had been removed from their mother's care, before being trafficked and sold into adoption - something which the North Yorkshire woman now fears happened to her own baby.

By urging the European Parliament to conduct an investigation with the help of Spanish authorities, Ruth has succeeded in making some headway in her case which had, until recently, reached a standstill.

Commenting on the matter, a spokeswoman for the Parliament said: "The petition will be referred to the committee's new working group on children's rights.They also decided to send a letter to the Spanish authorities in order to encourage them to take the next step."
 


Ruth recounted the horror she has endured over the past few years while attempting to come to terms with the fact her child may have been taken against her will.

Determined to learn more about the circumstances surrounding her child's demise, Ruth had her daughter's remains exhumed in 2010 and insisted the skeletal remains belonged to that of a much older infant.

Following the heartbreaking exhumation, Ruth learned of the stolen baby scandal in Spain which set into motion further doubts as to the legitimacy of the doctor's claims in 1992.

Opening up about her experience, Ruth said: "It just started all sorts of doubts. For 19 years we believed that she had suddenly been taken ill and inexplicably died. It leaves a huge vacuum."

Spain's Ninos robados (stolen children)  is a horrifying practice which began under the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco and was aimed at removing children from families deemed 'undesirable'.

With statistics suggesting that approximately 30,000 infants may have been taken since the establishment of the shocking practice, a number of organisations have since been formed in order to reunite stolen children with their birth parents.

 

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