Long journey home: Family reunification and the disappeared children of El Salvador

Background: During El Salvador's civil war (1980-1992), hundreds of children were separated, often forcibly, from their biological families and turned over to orphanages or given up for adoption overseas. Years later, many of these children—-now adolescents or young adults—-were reunited with their biological families. Understanding the reunification experiences of these “disappeared” children helps shed light on the process of family separation and reunification as a result of war, natural disasters, immigration, and in some circumstances, international adoption.

Methods: Ethnographic fieldwork was conducted in El Salvador from 2005-2009. Data consisted of field notes and semi-structured interviews with disappeared youth who had been reunited with their families (n = 26; ages 24 to 34 years) and their biological relatives (n = 14). Thematic content analysis of the interviews is ongoing; preliminary results are presented here.

Results: Most disappeared children were separated from their families during infancy or early childhood and later reunited as adolescents. Living in orphanages or with adoptive families, once reunited, many youth attempted to shed their former identities and formulate new identities and family concepts. Some developed close long-term ties with their biological families and almost all described difficulties with the relationships. Nevertheless, youth unanimously reported that reunification had been beneficial.

Conclusion: Family reunification was a challenging, long-term, and ultimately beneficial process, highlighting the extreme dislocation caused by family separation and the healing potential of reunification. Further research on reunification across settings is warranted to help design interventions and policies that prevent unnecessary separations and ease reunifications.