Belgian Woman Reunites with Moroccan Family 45 Years After Hospital Kidnapping

Khadija, who lives in Wilrijk (Antwerp) with her two daughters, Fatima and Yara, thought she had a normal childhood in Mohammedia, reports Nieuwsblad.be. Adopted by a loving couple, she never felt the need to search for her origins, until she left Morocco at the age of 18 to settle in Antwerp after her marriage in 1998. She confides that she had an "incredibly beautiful" childhood. Her adoptive parents, who have since passed away, always hid the truth about her origins from her. "Fortunately they didn’t have to live through this, it would have broken their hearts," she sighs.

Khadija’s story begins in 1979. Her biological mother, Halima, gives birth to a little Samira, premature. Placed in an incubator, the little girl seems to be doing well. But a few days later, the family learns of her death. They are told that the baby has already been buried on the hospital grounds, an apparently common practice at the time. Devastated, the parents return home without the slightest suspicion of the terrible lie that has just been served to them.

In reality, Samira did not die. She was kidnapped by her uncle, Abdelaziz, and sold to a childless couple. Renamed Khadija, she grew up unaware of this drama. It was only years later that Abdelaziz, eaten by guilt, began to sow doubt in the mind of the Fakir family, Samira’s parents. He mentions a radio call from a young girl searching for her parents, a completely fabricated story to mask his terrible secret.

In June 2024, the old man, overcome with remorse, finally gives the Fakir family more precise indications: their daughter would be living in Mohammedia, near a well-known mosque. Khadija’s sister then sets out to search for her. She goes door-to-door, questioning the residents, until she meets Karima, a childhood friend of Khadija. Karima tells her about her friend Khadija, who has gone to live in Antwerp. The shock is immense when Khadija’s sister discovers the Facebook profile of the Belgian-Moroccan woman: the resemblance is striking.

The first contact between the two sisters is full of emotion. "When she asked me if I was looking for my biological parents, an alarm bell rang. And when she said she thought we were sisters, my heart stopped beating," Khadija recalls. Hours of conversation and a video call follow, confirming the incredible truth: they are indeed sisters. "All my life, I thought I was an illegitimate child who had been abandoned by my mother for adoption," Khadija says, still shaken.

Last summer, Khadija flew to Morocco, eager to finally meet her biological family. At the Rabat airport, the welcome is worthy of a movie scene. Her parents, her brothers and sisters, her uncles and aunts, they are all there to welcome her. The reunion is heartbreaking. "My mother could barely eat for two weeks, my father cried almost non-stop," Khadija confides. The family is in shock, devastated by the betrayal of Abdelaziz, the husband of Halima’s twin sister.

Today, Khadija savors every moment with her reunited family. "We talk on the phone almost every day," she says. "My mother showers me with gifts, she feels guilty for not being able to do much for me." Bonds are being woven, little by little. Khadija took her daughter Fatima to Morocco in November. The family, out of respect for her, continues to call her by her adoptive name. "We still have so much to tell each other, so much time to make up for," she confides, her eyes shining with hope and her soul at peace.