TAIWAN: DNA TESTS RE-UNITE AUSTRALIAN TEENAGER KARTYA WUNDERLE WITH HER BIOLOGICAL MOTHER WHOSE BOYFRIEND SOLD HER IN TAIWAN 17 YEARS AGO

Record ID: 916216

  • Title: TAIWAN: DNA TESTS RE-UNITE AUSTRALIAN TEENAGER KARTYA WUNDERLE WITH HER BIOLOGICAL MOTHER WHOSE BOYFRIEND SOLD HER IN TAIWAN 17 YEARS AGO
  • Date: 7th January 2015
  • Summary: TAIPEI, TAIWAN (JUNE 16, 1998) (RTV) AUSTRALIA TEENAGER KARTYA WUNDERLE AND HER WS ADOPTIVE MOTHER NOLA WUNDERLE ARRIVING FOR PRESS CONFERENCE CU JOURNALISTS WIDE SHOT OF NEWS CONFERENCE SV JOURNALISTS SCU KARTYA WUNDERLE SAYING: "IT'S VERY EMOTIONAL. WE JUST WALKED IN AND I SAW HER STOOD THERE, EVENTUALLY WE HUG EACH OTHER AND START TO CRY." (ENGLISH) WS CUTAWAY PRESS CONFERENCE SCU WUNDERLE SAYING: "MY (BIOLOGICAL) MOTHER'S BOYFRIEND TOOK ME AND SOLD ME. WHEN SHE FOUND I WAS MISSING, SHE LOOKED FOR ME." (ENGLISH) SCU CUTAWAY PHOTOGRAPHER SCU WUNDERLE SAYING: "SHE (MY BIOLOGICAL MOTHER) GAVE ME A NECKLACE, PERFUME, WATCH AND SHE BROUGHT A PHOTO ALBUM OF HERSELF. AND MY SISTER BROUGHT A PHOTO ALBUM OF MYSELF. SHE HAD A LITTLE BABY PHOTO OF HERSELF THAT LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE ME." (ENGLISH) WIDE SHOT OF NEWS CONFERENCE (2 SHOTS) SV WUNDERLE DISPLAYING THE WATCH THAT HER BIOLOGICAL MOTHER GAVE HER CLOSE-UP OF THE WATCH/ SCU CAMERA OPERATORS (2 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 6th July 2005 18:34
  • Keywords:
  • Location: TAIPEI, TAIWAN
  • Country: Taiwan
  • Topics: Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVA23FRBEQ3L1RNRUP9PNYSAV92X
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: An Australian teenager has been reunited with her biological mother whose boyfriend sold her daughter in Taiwan 17 years ago.

    At a news conference on Tuesday (June 16), Kartya Wunderle gave details of the meeting she had with her biological mother in a Taipei police station.

    Kartya Wunderle, born as Lin Mei-li, was adopted by Australian parents at the age of 11 months.It later turned out she was one of more than 60 infants who were sold to baby-smugglers for more than 1000 United States (U.S.) dollars.

    DNA tests have matched Kartya with a woman surnamed Wang.

    Early Tuesday morning, mother and daughter finally came face to face, but the meeting took place behind closed doors, away from the press.

    Kartya said her biological mother, who was too press-shy to meet with reporters, told her through police interpreters that she had been wracked with guilt over the adoption and apologised for not being able to raise her.

    Kartya slowly filled in details in a press conference that she had puzzled over since her youth -- about the biological father who sold her into an illegal adoption when her mother left her unattended.

    Kartya showed to reporters a watch her mother gave her as a present when they met.

    Accompanied by her adoptive mother Nola, Kartya came to Taipei two weeks ago to find details about her real identity and the truth about her past.

    Nola Wunderle, who has said she was unaware that the adoption of Kartya was illegal, has supported her daughter's quest to find her Taiwan roots and was happy at the outcome.

    Nola Wunderle said she has had 17 years with Kartya and that her daughter could stay in Taiwan to be with her birth mother if she so chose.

    Kartya expects to return eventually to Australia but said she would stay in Taiwan for two months to "learn some Chinese" and "build up relations with my biological mother".

    Reports of missing children, including those believed abducted, have risen sharply.Police statistics show that 1,325 children under the age of 12 were reported missing in 1997, up from only 26 reported cases in 1988.
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