In Chile, a man whose mother was forced to give him up for adoption just minutes after he was born formed a nonprofit with the goal of reuniting families that had been split apart.

Seven months after her birth, Chilean-born Sara Rosenblatt was adopted by a Jewish family living in the region of Washington, District of Columbia (DC). She is now 43 years old.

She had a Chilean aunt and uncle as well as a Chilean sister, but Rosenblatt was brought up to believe that she was an adopted child despite the fact that she had been given up for adoption.

In an interview for an article that will be published in this week’s issue of PEOPLE, Rosenblatt says, “I remember at a very young age already having questions for my family, namely my mother.” It was always her that I told my secrets to.

She claims that when she was growing up she “knew that there was going to be some extra understanding when it came to my identification” because she noticed early on that she didn’t look quite like her adoptive brothers.

Rosenblatt finally found the answer she had been looking for this year when her adopted brother sent her a news article about newborns in Chile who had been taken from their families without their consent.

It’s like seeing just the top of the iceberg; you have no idea what else is hiding underneath the surface. “On the surface, there is something that may be interpreted as information; nonetheless, you can’t help but wonder whether there is more.”

Rosenblatt, a mother of two, soon linked forces with a charitable group in Chile and Connecting Roots, an organization founded by Texas firefighter Tyler Graf…

With his help and the use of a MyHeritage DNA kit that produced positive results earlier this year, Rosenblatt was able to track down her long-lost sister as well as her mother…

In addition, after meeting her biological sister Rosa in the month of May in Chile, Rosenblatt experienced an immediate connection with her.

Rosenblatt recalls that at initial inspection, they proclaimed, “This is most definitely my sister!”

Graf, who is now 39 years old, discovered that he, too, had been taken from his home in Temuco, Chile, not long after his birth. He came into the world in 1983.

The news that he had passed tragically so soon after his birth was broken to his biological mother. They had spent decades apart, but owing to Graf’s network of Chilean fireman friends and the efforts of two local organizations, they were able to find each other again.

It is estimated that between 8,000 and 20,000 babies were taken from mostly poor mothers in Chile and placed with families in North America, Europe, and beyond during the 1970s and 1980s through an illegal adoption network. This policy was orchestrated by Gen. Augusto Pinochet, who was in charge of the country at the time.

Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship made an effort to lessen the country’s widespread poverty.

Rosenblatt recalls that he had pondered the possibility that his biological mother might have been under the impression that he had passed away.

Rosenblatt asserts that the get-together has fundamentally changed the way the rest of his life will unfold.

She continues, “Now that I’m an adult and a mother, I’ve come to the conclusion that I buried a lot of scars that I ought to have dealt with in a more in-depth manner.”

“I have participated in counseling in the past. I may have benefited from the assistance of a therapist both when I was a youngster and again when I was an adult. This has been a self-healing process that has taken place.

She goes on to say that “going through this process has been tremendously fulfilling.” I am aware that I will have to endure this, but I also am aware that I will not be alone.