Greece
Activist, Search, Support
- The Eftychia Project
- The Eftychia Project (Facebook)
- Greek Adoptions/]Σ.Ε.Α.Σ.Υ.Π (Greek)
- Greek Orphans Seeking Answers (GOSA) Facebook
- Roots Research Center
- Roots Research Center (Facebook)
Blackmarket
- Greek Americans Fear They May Have Been Black-Market Babies, Los Angeles Times, September 29, 2096
- Greece’s Black-Market Babies Come Home–Stolen Children Demand to Know Their Histories, Seattle Times, September 22, 1996
- A sense of belonging, People Magazine, Oct. 28, 1996
- Baby trafficking is thriving in Greece Europe, New York Times, Dec 18, 2006
- Playing My Greek Adoption (various posts on Greek adoptions and bookmarketing (collected by Pound Pup Legacy, July 16, 2008
- Victim of Black Market Adoption Recalls Quest to Find Family, Joanne Giangardella.com, July 7, 2011
- The baby in the box digs for her Greek roots, St Cloud Times, September 11, 2015
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Are we there yet? Eryon, (nd; c 2016)
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Had the adoption agency said yes, I would never have existed, SBS February 16, 2017
- (Greek) Adoptees Anonymous HEC Scholars, April 10, 2017
- Putting together the pieces of Hellenic identity, Neo Komos, February 2, 2018
- Eftychia and Her Big Fat Greek Family Reunited after 59 Years, National Herald, March 10, 2019
- Facebook group for Greek orphans seeking answers Neo Kosmos, April 11, 2019
Greece busts group that recruited pregnant women from Bulgaria in illegal adoption scheme, Sophia Globe, September 26, 2019
- Thousands of Greek children were semi-illegally adopted from Greece to the United States after the war. Now Professor Gonda Van Steen has written a book about the unknown tragedy. Agenda Magasin. November 9, 2019.
- Demanding What belongs to Us: Our Greek Identity by Mary Cardaras, Pappas Post, June 7, 2021
- Opinion: Bring them Back! by Mary Cardaras and Greta Van Steen, Pappas Post, June 16, 2021
- Professor Gonda Van Steen celebrates successful campaign to help Greek adoptees regain Greek citizenship, Kings College London, November 25, 2025
Books
Adoption, Memory, and Cold War Greece by Gonda Van Steen, 2019
From The Day After The Day After, by Andrew Mossin, Ergon, nd
New Book Shares Unknown Story of Post-Cold War Greek Adoptions, Pappas Post, October 19, 2021
Reading Suggestions
- The Materialities of “Adop‑thing”: Material and Other “Witnesses” of Child Adoption from Greece to the United States in the 1950s and 1960s, Disporias, Migrations,historie, 2025
Further Reading on the Topic of Intercountry Adoptions from Greece in the post-WWII and Cold War Period (1948-1960s) compiled by Gonda Van Steen, January 2021. Please send additions and links to
gonda.van_steen@kcl.ac.uk
gondavs@gmail.com
- Greek Adoptees 1950s-1960s, Reading suggestions
- Greek Adoptees 1950s-1960s, Reading suggestions (1) 2
- Greek Adoptees 1950s-1960s, Reading suggestions (1) 3
Update: December 22, 2025
i am one of the adoptee’s pictured in a article from the orphanage trial of 1964. i am wondering how the pictures of the children in the article were chosen. does anyone know how to find out being the greek north paper is no longer in existance?
Good question! I have no idea. I will see if I can find out.
My adoption from Greece was legal!
Born June 2 1960 Alexandra Maternity Hospital
Birth mother Georgia Kotsopoulos from Kalamata
Arrived in America April1961
Have been searching for any information on family
My brother was born in the hospital in Greece on the Fourth of July 1964. Strongly suspect he was stolen and sold. I need to find out whether this is true. My parents left Greece for Australia. I was born here in Australia and I had a horrible upbringing. There’s lots more to tell. However it all stems from the stolen baby. I have this fantasy of finding this brother before I die.
Maria Benazic (samaras).
Have you contacted any of the Greek adoptee support and search groups?
Hello:). Sorry that I have not responded as quickly as I would have liked too. I haven’t contacted any groups as yet, I am struggling with some mental health issues, and I have let a lot of things fall by the wayside. But I intend to get back into it again. I am about to read some references and take notes as my my memory is poor. My mother had the baby in the hospital at Thessaloniki- the stories that I have read really resonate with our experience. Will I be able to find the support group information online? I am no longer in Facebook so I have no idea. Wish me luck!
I was blessed to be addopted at the age of seven, from Patras Greece, in 1956. I like to think I won the Lottery, on the day I landed at Laguardia Airport, in NYC.
I was fortunate to have adoptive parents that were of Greek decent. I’ve never searched for who brought me into this world. All I know is I was born twords the end of revolution after WWII. I’m now 77 years old and thankful to have been housed in the Patras Orphanage. I hate to think of what happened to the lost children of Greece, as depicted in the movie Eleni.
my wife and I adopted two sisters ages 5 and 6 in 1999. When the girls were about 16, we sat down and talked about my life. the focus was simple. 10$ of me was DNA, 90% was my environment. Life is all about how you meet challenges, how you respect others, and above all, how proud you ate about your heritage. I’m an American Citizen, But I’m more Greek than many Greeks born in the USA.