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In Bulgaria, David Lomas investigates why a disabled child who went on to become a Paralympic skier, was abandoned in an orphanage following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Investigative journalist David Lomas travels the world to track down separated New Zealand family members, and reunite them.

Primary Title
  • David Lomas Investigates
Episode Title
  • The Girl Who Came Back From The Dead
Date Broadcast
  • Tuesday 21 April 2020
Start Time
  • 19 : 30
Finish Time
  • 20 : 30
Duration
  • 60:00
Series
  • 1
Episode
  • 2
Channel
  • Three
Broadcaster
  • MediaWorks Television
Programme Description
  • Investigative journalist David Lomas travels the world to track down separated New Zealand family members, and reunite them.
Episode Description
  • In Bulgaria, David Lomas investigates why a disabled child who went on to become a Paralympic skier, was abandoned in an orphanage following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Classification
  • PGR
Owning Collection
  • Chapman Archive
Broadcast Platform
  • Television
Languages
  • English
Captioning Languages
  • English
Captions
Live Broadcast
  • No
Rights Statement
  • Made for the University of Auckland's educational use as permitted by the Screenrights Licensing Agreement.
Subjects
  • Television programs--New Zealand
  • Families--Separation--New Zealand
  • Families--Reunions--New Zealand
Genres
  • Reality
Hosts
  • David Lomas (Presenter)
Contributors
  • David Lomas (Director)
  • David Lomas (Producer)
  • Warner Bros. International Television (Production Unit)
  • MediaWorks (Production Unit)
  • NZ On Air (Funder)
(WOMAN SPEAKS FRANTICALLY IN BULGARIAN) WOMAN: What is she saying? Where were you? Where were you? I want to tell you many, many things. (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC) (CALL TO PRAYER ECHOES) MAN: Do you have any memories or anything? www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2020 (MAN WEEPS, INDISTINCT CHATTER) (INTRIGUING MUSIC) I'm David Lomas. I've flown to Queenstown, and I'm driving across the spectacular Crown Range, heading to Wanaka to meet 31-year-old Elitsa Hall. (INTRIGUING MUSIC CONTINUES) She was born in Bulgaria and then adopted to America. For the last 12 years, New Zealand's been her home. (EXPECTANT MUSIC) (BIRDSONG) Every day like this here? Actually, yes. So, tell me your story. I lived in an orphanage in Bulgaria where I spent the first five years of my life, and, um, I was adopted... to an American family and met them in Seattle, Washington. And how can I help you? I'm trying to find my birth parents now. I'm trying to get answers, really, of those questions I've longed my whole life ` where I came from, why things happened the way they did. (GENTLE, CURIOUS MUSIC) (BIRDS CHIRP, CHATTER) Your first few years in the orphanage ` do you remember much about them? I don't remember much from the orphanage. I do believe that my disabilities did hinder me, and I was... put in a crib for most days. So I do remember looking up at the ceiling from my crib. Besides that, I don't remember much. I was born with a lot of disabilities nobody was really familiar with, and I needed a lot of care. My right leg was shorter than the other one. It had a cleft foot ` no knee joint as such. So when I came to the US, they explained to me it would be easier for me to walk with a prosthetic. So they amputated it just above the knee. I was born with several... missing fingers. They're there, but just not fully grown. Luckily, I was able to get toe-to-hand transfer and then just different things ` to my eye, to different attributes. Do you know why they gave you up? I have theories that I've heard. Chernobyl happened the year before I was born. So that was possibly a reason why kids born at the same time as me have similar disabilities. I believe that my biological parents had their reasons, and I've always respected that. I just wanna now know why. (SOFT, INTRIGUING MUSIC) 5-year-old Elitsa landed in the United States not speaking a word of English. She was initially terrified of her parents, Gary and Janice Storey, but came to love them and her three brothers and, later, a younger sister. After just three months in the United States, she was speaking English, and at school, she thrived. Elitsa eventually went on to graduate with a master's degree in human resources. I feel like my disability is actually a blessing ` to be able to show the word that anything is possible. At 15, Elitsa was selected for the US Disabled Ski Team. It was while competing in Europe that she met and fell in love with New Zealander Adam Hall, himself a rising young skier. Lucky place to call home. Adam is one of New Zealand's most successful Paralympians, having won three gold medals. He's a full-time skier, and Elitsa's a caseworker with dementia patients. They're married and are expecting their first child. You good? Discovering more about why she was born with disabilities and if they were caused by the fallout from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster has become more important for Elitsa since she became pregnant. US REPORTER: The biggest nuclear accident in history. Some radiation... The radioactive cloud that passed over Eastern Europe led to concerns for people's health, with tens of thousands of women aborting babies, fearing they would be born with disabilities. Although scans of Elitsa's unborn baby girl show all is well, Elitsa still wonders what caused her disabilities. (INTRIGUING MUSIC) International adoption took off in the early 1990s as people reacted to news reports on the plight of children in orphanages in struggling former Soviet bloc countries. Can you ask them ` what do you have to eat? Tens of thousands of children went overseas with new parents. While there is no record of any New Zealanders adopting from Bulgaria, almost 1000 youngsters came here from Romania and Russia. New Zealand immigration rules did not allow Kiwis to adopt children with severe disabilities requiring ongoing medical treatment. However, in the United States, there was no similar restriction. Elitsa was fortunate. She was one of the first children with disabilities to be adopted out of Bulgaria. Hello. Is that Alexenia Dimitrova? I've contacted one of Bulgaria's top journalists, and she agrees to help me. But Alexenia warns that while Bulgaria is no longer behind the iron curtain, it is still a secretive place. (INTRIGUING MUSIC) So I return to Wanaka. At the moment, I don't have any answers for Elitsa, but I realise this could be her only chance to get some. She is six months' pregnant. Soon, she won't be able to fly. 'So I take a risk.' We might be able to find out about your family but not necessarily find your birth parents. All right. Here we go. Here we go. Um... I mean, to be fair... Oh, OK. I got to hold it together. I mean, to be fair, I don't know... where they are in life. I have no idea. And... I just... I just want to know some answers, I guess. Would you be happy to go to Bulgaria and go on that journey? I mean, it could turn to gold, but we also might not find out anything. I'm absolutely happy to go to Silistra and just see what we can do. (CHUCKLES) (CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC) (ENGINES WHOOSH) Two weeks later, I fly into Bucharest in Southern Romania. It is the nearest airport to the Bulgarian city of Silistra, where Elitsa was born. It's a two-hour drive south to the Danube River, the border between Romania and Bulgaria. 35. A car ferry takes me across the Danube to the river port city of Silistra. (MYSTERIOUS MUSIC) (INTRIGUING MUSIC) The wave of unrest that swept through the European Communist Bloc in the late 1980s also hit Bulgaria. Since 1990, the country has embraced democracy, but it is still not ready to reveal all its dark secrets. I have very scant information to start my search ` just the names of Elitsa's parents. Mother, Silvena Moskova Devisilova, and father, Sergey Liubenov Antonov. I have just three days to get answers before Elitsa and Adam join me. My hope lies with Bulgarian journalist Alexenia Dimitrova. Hello. You must be Alexenia. That's me. Lovely to meet you. Good to meet you too. 'But when we meet, she's frustrated.' Uh, it's a nightmare, because you give me so little information. It's tricky to find a man in Bulgaria with only three names. So Sergey Antonov is a common name? I hope that's not Elitsa's father. It is not related to her. He's much older than him. And the mother ` anything there? The mother was an interesting case too. I didn't find any name under those three names, Silvena Moskova Devisilova, but probably she married again, and she changed her family name. So I tried her only with two names, and I found a lady ` not here, but 100km west in a town called Ruse. I'm not sure this is our lady, but this is the first and second name like ours. So I found her address, and I ask a friend in Ruse to go to the house to check is this our lady, if she lives here and so and so. So hopefully later tonight, my friend will call me back to say what she found out. Elitsa Hall, a Wanaka Paralympian, wants to find her Bulgarian birth parents. I've come to the Bulgarian city of Silistra to see if I can find them and to discover more about what caused Elitsa's disabilities. This morning, I'm meeting Elitsa's adoptive parents, Gary and Janice Storey, who have broken a holiday in Europe to be here when Elitsa arrives. It's their first time in Bulgaria, and I'm curious to hear from them more about the daughter they adopted sight unseen. Did you know then that she disabilities? They told us she had one leg slightly shorter than the other and walked with a slight limp, which wasn't exactly accurate. She ran away at first in the airport. We were in SeaTac Airport, and she took off, and she was a lot faster than I thought at first. (CHUCKLES) Has Elitsa surprised you, the way she's developed? Yes. The skiing was surprising, that she took to skiing as she did and took it as far as she did. She's been all the over the world. She's just that self-confident. I hope that her parents are what she wants and finds them and completes that thought process that either opens or closes something for her. I'm not really sure what it's gonna do. But I'm happy she's doing it. Later that day, I catch up with Alexenia. Her frustration has now turned to optimism. She believes a quirk of history means the names we have for Elitsa's parents may be wrong. Is it possible those names to be... changed name of Bulgarian Turks? In 1984, in an attempt to forcibly assimilate the hundreds of thousands of ethnic Turks in Bulgaria, the communist government closed mosques, banned people from speaking Turkish and, significantly, ordered all Turkish people to adopt Bulgarian names. After communist rule ended, people were free to return to using their old Turkish names. It now makes our job even harder. We are looking for two people who could possibly have entirely different names. (SPEAKS BULGARIAN) But Alexenia has some promising news from the friend in Ruse who was checking a potential address for Elitsa's mother. (SPEAKS BULGARIAN) She knocked the door, nobody in the house, but she talked to some people around, and they told her they presumed that the older lady called Silvena in fact has a Turkish name similar, but she's not currently there. She's in Germany. So she has a Turkish name? Exactly. Yeah. So my presumption was... was true. I mean, according to the neighbours, it's probably this lady. If it's ours,... it's in Germany. Which is bad news. Which is bad news, but we might try to find her in Germany. The next morning, Elitsa and Adam have arrived in Silistra. Look at the colours. 'It's a bit nerve-wracking just coming back after all these years,...' There's Romania over there. Yeah, I see it. '...knowing that I was in this city before.' It's pretty cool. It's cool. I have a big day planned for Elitsa and her family. They'll visit two orphanages, and I'm hoping it'll trigger some memories for Elitsa. In the meantime, Alexenia and I will continue searching official records. Well, I hope we have luck in this building. Yeah, I very much hope so. (BIRDS CHIRP) This is the orphanage where Elitsa spent her early life. In the 1980s, thousands of children were in orphanages in Bulgaria. (GATE CREAKS) The state especially encouraged children with special needs to be put in homes so mothers could continue to work and contribute to the communist way of life. Do you have any memories or anything? No. 'When we pulled up to the old building, I knew right away it was where I'd been.' I wanna see if I can get in. (GENTLE PIANO MUSIC) Careful with this glass. Holy moly. Definitely overwhelming. What's in that room? Crazy. It's almost like a prison-y kind of feeling around us. I can't imagine what life would have been like living in a facility like this. Like, if you, you know,... stayed in Bulgaria. It would've been a completely, completely different life. Completely. I don't... I can't even think about where I would be if I was still here. I wouldn't have met you. Oh, I know. It's crazy. It's really mind-blowing. (POIGNANT MUSIC) That afternoon, the family head across town. The second orphanage that I have lined up for Elitsa and Adam to visit is a working children's home. They have arrived with surprise gifts for the kids, but I've helped set up an even bigger surprise for Elitsa. Yes. Mm-hm. (CHUCKLES) Yeah? Yeah. Mom, she remembers me. Yeah. Yeah. (SPEAKS BULGARIAN) Because you could not spell, like, doctor, you say Dokke. Dokke. (SPEAKS BULGARIAN) (LAUGHTER) (SPEAKS BULGARIAN) Welcome. Thank you. (BULGARIAN BAGPIPE PLAYS) (GENTLE MUSIC FADES IN) This is a very special sign here. (SPEAKS BULGARIAN) And this is your name in Bulgarian. That's awesome. And the doctor, who is the director of the orphanage, just told me that she ask a old lady who took care of you when you were a baby to come here to see you. Is she here? And she (INDISTINCT) here since she wanted to see you. OK. Would you like to meet her? Absolutely. OK. (POIGNANT MUSIC) Hi. Hello. (CHUCKLES) My little girl. My little girl. You are so grown up. Oh. Oh, she's got pictures. Oh. WOMAN: Elitsa. Yeah, that's me. (CHUCKLES) (WOMAN SPEAKS BULGARIAN) I want to tell you many, many things. Everybody loved you. Oh my gosh. Can I ask another question? About` Yeah. I don't know. We don't if it is because of Chernobyl, or... Is that what was affecting my disabilities? Good question, yeah. (SPEAKS BULGARIAN) You don't know? (SPEAKS BULGARIAN) Chernobyl ` she doesn't know about Chernobyl. But other problems could be that your mum, during the pregnancy, had some health problem and probably took some pills. She doesn't know also. But the good thing which she mentioned is that as far as she knows, there's no genetic problems... among your parents. OK. They were 20 or so. She doesn't know them. Did you tell her you're having a baby? (CHUCKLES) Ah! (LAUGHTER) WOMAN: Bravo. Bravo. Very good surprise. (CURIOUS MUSIC) Hi. Most of the children who are here are not orphans. They, as happened to Elitsa, are in state care because they have disabilities. Many will spend their life in care. It's been a profound experience for Elitsa to hear from staff that she was loved and nurtured in her early years. Alexenia and I had no joy searching public records yesterday. Today, we are hoping for better results. Good morning. Morning. How are you, David? I bought you coffee already. Thank you so much. Probably, I need it. I work all the night long. What have you been up to? I found her. You've what? I found the mother. I believe so. I found the mother. How on earth did you do that? I found her on Facebook. I made the combination between her Turkish and Bulgarian name and so and so. OK. So, see, this lady is from Silistra. Yeah. And she lives in Germany. The same one my friend in Ruse said about her that she lives in Germany. That is her, isn't it? I'm sure it is. Well, I've got a friend who's very good at German. OK, good. I could get Karcher to try and track down her address and also try and find some of her friends and, um... and try and see if we can get her that way. Yeah, sounds great. Sounds great. Oh, hi, Karcher. It's David here. I was wondering if you could do me a really big favour. I'm in Bulgaria, and I'm trying to find a woman in Germany. If Karcher May, a German-speaking researcher, can confirm our suspicions, then we'll board a plane to Germany first thing tomorrow morning. But will a mother who abandoned her disabled newborn baby agree to see her now? www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2020 Wanaka mother-to-be Elitsa Hall is in Bulgaria trying to find her birth parents. But it seems her mother may now live in Germany. That is her, isn't it? I'm sure it is. Overnight, back in New Zealand, I've had Karcher May, a German-speaking researcher, try to make contact. Hi, Karcher. Hi, David. Have you had any luck? I found Silvena on Facebook. She didn't reply to my messages, but I was able to find her street that she lived on. I couldn't find a phone number, though, so I went back on Facebook and chatted to a few of her friends. So you've spoken to her German friends? I did indeed. Both of these friends have come back to me with an answer, and, yeah, Silvena is not interested, unfortunately. She said no. I'm disappointed. While I have an answer for Elitsa, it's not the one she was hoping for. She came to Bulgaria looking for both her birth parents. Sadly, now I have to tell her that one does not want to know her and that the other is proving impossible to find. I think it was. The last couple of days have been really warm, so... Hello. Hello. What've you guys been up to? Oh, just looking around, walking around in the city. Yeah? Yeah. Well, Alexenia and I have been doing a bit of work, and, um,... I have to be honest; it's not good news. (SOMBRE MUSIC) We have worked out who your mother is,... and, um,... she actually lives in Hamburg in Germany. OK. But she says she doesn't want to know you. OK. She just said, 'It's in the past, and it's better left there.' (GENTLE PIANO MUSIC) OK. Wow, OK. (CHUCKLES) That's OK. (GENTLE PIANO MUSIC CONTINUES) Would you like to see what your mother looks like? Oh my gosh. OK. Sure. So, this is her. Have a look at that. Aw. Wow. Really? Is it? Really? Wow. Wow. (CHUCKLES) That's cool. Wow. Wow. Cool. Alexenia and I are going to keep trying to find your father, and hopefully he'll have a different attitude. Yeah. This morning, Bulgarian researcher Alexenia Dimitrova is trying city hall for any records for Elitsa's father. Was Sergey Antonov also an ethnic Turk? Hey, David. Hello again. I was worried. Where have you been? Yeah, it was a long research. Sorry. Yeah. And? And some news. There's a man who is called Sergey Liubenov Antonov, who responds to a Turkish name called Mehmed Lutfi Rufi. So he's Turkish too, then? I very much hope this is our person. Do you know where he is? He's supposed to live, according to the electoral rolls, in Vokil, 50km from here. It's one hour driving. So I would suggest to go there. OK. Could this Mehmed Rufi really be the elusive Sergey? Or will I be giving Elitsa more heartbreaking news? (INTRIGUING MUSIC) We head south to the small farming town of Vokil. With no actual address, Alexenia and I will just have to do some old-fashioned legwork. (INTRIGUING MUSIC BUILDS) (SPEAKS BULGARIAN) (MAN SPEAKS BULGARIAN) (SPEAKS BULGARIAN) (SPEAKS BULGARIAN) OK. Dobry. (SPEAKS BULGARIAN) Thank you. What happened there? She doesn't know him, but she suggested to go to the mayor's office. (TENSE MUSIC) The mayor should be here, yeah. OK. (SPEAKS BULGARIAN) (ALEXENIA AND MAYOR CONVERSE IN BULGARIAN) Hello, sir. My name is David from New Zealand. (SPEAKS BULGARIAN) (SPEAKS BULGARIAN) He told me he has to 'ask my assistant', and she will come now. (ALEXENIA SPEAKS BULGARIAN) (TENSE MUSIC) (SPEAKS BULGARIAN) This lady knows the man, and they live in one of the same street, but for many years, this man lives in Belgium, yeah? So, that's` Elitsa's dad lives... lived here? She knows him, but he's not living here. He's lived for many years in Brussels, in Belgium. Is there any way we can get hold of him? (SPEAKS BULGARIAN) (BOTH CONVERSE IN BULGARIAN) (TENSE MUSIC CONTINUES) (BOTH SPEAK BULGARIAN) So, what happened? What happened in there in the end? So, the mayor promised that he'll try to find Mehmed's phone number in Brussels and will promise to call me later tonight. Hopefully he'll call me back later this evening. Our normality. Our rituals. Our togetherness. (CHOIR HUM SOFTLY) Our normality. Our lives. This is not what we are giving up; this is what we are saving. (LAUGHTER, CHATTER) So when you look around, don't see the emptiness. See the power of our unity. To lose could only take one of us; to win, it will take all of us. (APPLAUSE) Be strong, Aotearoa. Kia kaha. Be resolute. Kia maia. (CROWD CHEER) The stronger we all are today,... (CHEERING FADES, WOMAN CHANTS KARANGA) ...the sooner we will welcome tomorrow. Stay in it. Stay united. (EXPECTANT PIANO MUSIC) Wanaka caregiver and former competitive skier Elitsa Hall wants to find the birth parents who placed her in a Bulgarian orphanage at birth. I've found her mother living in Germany, but she has refused to meet Elitsa. However, information on Elitsa's father, Mehmed Rufi, has led us to the small village of Vokil. Last night, we heard back from Volkil's mayor. He had exciting news. It seems our presence in the village has created quite a stir. Alexenia thought that your father might be here in a town called Vokil, which, as you might've seen on the way in, is quite a Turkish town with the mosque up there. And, um... But your father is not actually here. He's in Brussels. Oh my gosh. OK. (LIGHT LAUGHTER) But your grandmother does lives here. In fact, she's just around the corner. How amazing is that? That's good. Oh. And the other thing I haven't told you ` you also have a brother in this town. A brother? That's cool. (LIGHT LAUGHTER) That's awesome. So, we're gonna go to her house, and you're gonna be welcomed by your grandmother. Are you kidding? Wow. OK. 'The family always believed Elitsa died a few days after birth.' So, you can see the old lady there. And the bloke standing next to her is your brother. Oh, is she OK? OK. She's so emotional that you're coming. Yeah, yeah. 'The arrival of a child they had lost and mourned over 30 years ago is just too overwhelming.' OK. It's OK. (GASPS IN BULGARIAN) Ohh. (WEEPS) (POIGNANT MUSIC) (SPEAKS EMOTIONALLY IN BULGARIAN) 'I was just trying to comprehend what was happening. 'She was actually shaking.' It's OK. It's OK. Your brother. (SPEAKS EMOTIONALLY IN BULGARIAN) It's OK. Oh! (SPEAKS EMOTIONALLY IN BULGARIAN) (SPEAKS BULGARIAN) What is she saying? Where were you? Where were you? Where were you? She's asking, 'Where were you?' She didn't know anything. 'It was one of the most moving things that I've seen in my whole entire life. 'It was just so powerful.' Your brother asked ` why so many years somebody hide you from them? All of them thought that you had died. At birth? Yeah. Oh wow. The only thing they knew that your father was in the hospital, and they told him that you're, uh, with disabilities and within two, three days, you will die. Aw. And nobody knew that you are alive. (SOMBRE MUSIC) (CRIES) (ALL CONVERSE IN BULGARIAN) (CRIES) He said that you look like your mother. Wow. And they feel guilty. And the hospital told the parents and the family that you died... Her mother. ...in Silistra. Silistra. Wow. (SPEAKS BULGARIAN) All of them are shocked that you're alive. Me too. (CONVERSATIONS IN BULGARIAN) (MUSIC FADES) Your brother wants to give you something very special now. (SPEAKS BULGARIAN) This is your first blanket. Wow. The family bought the very first day when you were born, and they knew that you're a girl, and that's why it's pink. 31 years they kept it, and nobody use it. (SPEAKS BULGARIAN) This was especially for you, and they didn't use it. 'I did not allow anybody to touch this blanket, because it was for you, your baby blanket.' So you can use it for your baby girl. It's beautiful. Slowly, the mystery of what happened to Elitsa after her birth is being uncovered. Tomorrow, I head for Brussels to meet Elitsa's dad, Mehmed Rufi. He's passed a message through his son that he wants to meet me before he commits to seeing Elitsa. I'm intrigued. Just what went on at the hospital the day Elitsa was born? And did he know that his daughter Elitsa did not die? Even when you're not outside, you can still move like you are. 'Cause even when space is limited, you can still move without limits. (INTRIGUING PIANO MUSIC) (WEEPS) In emotional scenes in the small Bulgarian town of Vokil, Elitsa Hall has, for the first time, met birth family. All of them thought that you died. Elitsa, who was believed to have died at birth, was welcomed by her astonished grandmother, her half-brother, 27-year-old handyman Rufi Lutfi, and aunts and cousins. Rufi has agreed to accompany Bulgarian researcher Alexenia Dimitrova and I to Brussels in Belgium to meet Elitsa's birth father, Mehmed Rufi. Mehmed moved here with his wife Gigi more than 20 years ago. He runs a construction company. He did not seem surprised to hear his daughter was alive. I wonder ` what does he know? In front of his wife, son and brothers, Mehmed is about to confess to a 31-year-old secret. So, Mehmed, your daughter Elitsa is looking for you. What happened? Why was she separated from you? (SNIFFLES) (SPEAKS BULGARIAN) Did you have any idea what had happened to Elitsa? (SOBS) 'By 1992, Mehmed was remarried. 'If he'd tried to stop the adoption, 'he would've been responsible for paying the ongoing costs 'for the then-5-year-old Elitsa's care, 'costs he could not then afford. 'He has kept the secret until today.' I have a video here. Would you like to see the video? If you watch now, this will be your daughter. Hello, Sergey. My name is Elitsa. I am your daughter. I'm just reaching out to you from New Zealand. I was adopted to an American family. I've had a great life. I just would love to meet you and get to know you and, yeah, just get to know our history. (CRIES) She's already here in Brussels and will come and meet you this afternoon. Will that be good? Mehmed's brothers have gone ahead. Now Elitsa's father and wife Gigi make the journey to meet his daughter for the first time. (GENTLE MUSIC) (GENTLE MUSIC CONTINUES) (GENTLE MUSIC CONTINUES) OK? (CHUCKLES) Oh, it's OK. Hello. (CHUCKLES) (WEEPS) (KISSES) (WEEPS) (KISSES) It's good? Very good. (LAUGHS) (SPEAKS BULGARIAN) I missed you very much. I've missed you very much, 30 years. (CHUCKLES) (SPEAKS BULGARIAN) It's OK. You found me. It's OK. (KISSES) (CHUCKLES) I have no words. (SPEAKS BULGARIAN) He wants to sit, because he's very emotional. Yeah, yeah, yeah. (GENTLE, POIGNANT MUSIC) You OK? (CHUCKLES) Oh, he's so sweet. (SERGEY SPEAKS BULGARIAN) I would like at least once a year until I'm alive to see me. Aw. He's very happy. Very happy. (SPEAKS BULGARIAN) You're very beautiful. (GENTLE, MOVING MUSIC) It's taken more than 30 years, but now the secrets and lies behind Elitsa's birth and adoption are being revealed. And in Belgium, Elitsa discovers one more intriguing twist in this amazing story ` the meaning of 'Elitsa', a name given to her by Mehmed. He saw a movie about a little girl on top of a mountain. That's how he came about with the name Elitsa. The meaning of it is 'snowflake'. I actually have a snowflake on my wrist. As soon as he told me the story, I couldn't believe it, because just the meaning behind it and our life and what we do and where we live. Yeah, it's incredible. (GENTLE PIANO MUSIC) Elitsa's story started as one of abandonment but has ended as one of love. Baby Gracelyn, born three months after Elitsa and Adam returned from Bulgaria, went home wrapped in a special pink blanket. Mehmed and Gigi have been to New Zealand to visit Elitsa and are planning to return. And in another exciting development, Elitsa's now Facebook friends with Silvena. Her mother's not ready to meet, but Elitsa hopes it'll happen one day. MAN: I was put into state care when I was 3 and a half. Taken from his birth parents in mysterious circumstances. Was it my fault that they adopted me out? Richard's back in Zimbabwe seeking answers. You seem a bit unsure about finding your birth mother. But is he ready for what I find? Do you know where Jeff Halgreen lives? I just wanna know the answer. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2020 Supporting local content so you can see more of New Zealand on air.
Subjects
  • Television programs--New Zealand
  • Families--Separation--New Zealand
  • Families--Reunions--New Zealand