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Born in Bangladesh: Adoptees search for their past

29:46

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July 5, 2025

Thousands of Bangladeshi children were adopted abroad in the name of a better future — but behind this humanitarian facade lay a web of trafficking, deception, and lost identities. DW uncovers the heartbreaking truth of stolen pasts and follows the adoptees in their search for their families.

The children's birth families were tricked, being told it would help their children's wellbeing, but the whole thing was just profiteering. Now, an NGO in the Netherlands is helping these adopted people to establish contact with their biological families, and to discover more about their roots. Sander Maulmeester was adopted as a toddler almost 50 years ago by a Dutch couple. Today, he knows that things were not conducted fairly back then, and is traveling to Bangladesh to find his biological family.

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About the show

Reporter — On Location

DW’s on-the-ground reporters are always close to the action, be it covering international events or zooming in on some of the quirks of daily life. Camera always in hand, they report on the changes they see taking place in Germany, Europe and around the world.

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