For four decades, Giannis Kaganis lived a life built on deception. Raised with affection by his adoptive parents, given a new identity by the state, he remained unaware that his biological mother was grieving for a child she was told had died. In reality, Giannis was being raised by another family — handed over with nothing more than a basic receipt. His search for the truth uncovered an illegal adoption network that operated like something out of a kidnapping thriller.

The Contradictions

In the town of Arta, behind a now-closed jewelry store, Giannis lived for years with a silent question burning inside: “Who am I really?” Official records listed Arta as his birthplace, but in truth, he had been born at Alexandra Maternity Hospital in Athens. And this was just the beginning of the contradictions in his life.

His story doesn’t begin with a happy childhood memory but with a revelation. When Giannis was five years old, his adoptive mother, Paraskevi, gently told him the truth — that he was not her biological child, that he had been “found” at a care home (P.I.K.P.A.). A well-meaning friend had advised her to tell him early. The intention may have been good, but the wound left was deep and lasting. From that day, Giannis felt a void — something was missing that even the love of his adoptive parents and life in a small provincial town couldn’t fill.

As he grew older, the need to find out the truth about his origins intensified.

The Shocking Trigger: A Story from Volos

At age 35, Giannis came across a chilling news story: two young people in Volos, strangers planning to marry, were found to be biological siblings, adopted by different families. A registrar caught the connection just in time, sparing them from tragedy. That story changed Giannis’s life.

Now a father himself, the idea that his own daughter might one day unknowingly face a similar fate deeply disturbed him. He went to the Athens Registry Office and requested his birth certificate. For the first time, he held a document that could shine a light on his past — clearly listing the full name of his biological mother. That name became his compass.

The Adoption Story

His adoptive mother had once told him how they had tried for three years to adopt a child. When the call finally came, it was from the director of the PIKPA institution on Tsocha Street. But there had been an unexpected twist: a relative of the Kaganis family visited PIKPA to ask about the delay, and due to a mistaken identity, the director believed the visitor was linked to a high-ranking official — pushing their application ahead of others.

Thus, the Kaganis couple jumped the waiting list and were sent to different PIKPA branches looking for a baby. Eventually, at the Daou Pentelis branch, they were shown ten babies. Paraskevi chose Giannis — a baby with features similar to hers.

And then something unimaginable happened:

They were handed the baby with a simple receipt and told, “If he doesn’t suit you, bring him back.”

The Fight for the Truth

Years later, Giannis took the decisive step: he obtained his birth certificate from the Arta Municipality. A note on the document referenced an original registration in Athens. When he located it, the details were suspicious — the address listed wasn’t a residence, but the address of Alexandra Hospital, where he had been born. And where his mother had been told that her child had died two days after birth.

More troubling still was the signature of the person who declared the birth — there was no name, only an enigmatic initial.

With only his mother’s name as a clue, Giannis began a long, painful investigation. He searched institutions, public offices, and registries across Greece. No photo, no file. Until, finally, he was led to a small town.

The Moment of Truth

There, he found his biological mother’s brother. Giannis approached him discreetly, asking if his sister had ever experienced a traumatic event or loss decades ago. The uncle paused — and then, a gateway to the past opened.

He recalled January 13, 1981 — the day his sister gave birth and was told her baby had died. Giannis revealed who he was. The man froze. With teary eyes and a trembling voice, he said:

“You can’t be alive… They told us you had died.”

The Fainting Spell

The shock was unimaginable. The man who had just learned that his nephew was alive embraced him and took him to his home. There, they were awaited by his wife—Giannis’ aunt—who was the only member of his biological family to have seen the baby alive just hours after his birth at the “Alexandra” maternity hospital.

With emotion in his voice, her husband said: “Hold him in your arms and I’ll tell you who he is.” The moment she touched him, she nearly collapsed, fainting. She couldn’t comprehend that the baby they had been told was dead had returned to them as a grown man. Immediately, they notified Giannis’ biological mother, who was living in Athens. She arrived at the house a few hours later.

The scene that followed defies description: she collapsed to the ground, sobbing, pinching herself and pulling at her hair to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. Her child was alive. And she had spent four decades believing she had lost him forever. Once she managed to stand, she tried—however she could—to explain. She told him that two days after giving birth, hospital staff told her her baby had died.

No explanation, no medical report. Just a declared fact. Her brother—Giannis’ future uncle—had gone to request the baby’s body so it could be buried. A head nurse, a midwife, and a priest responded that stillborn babies were buried in mass graves.

When he insisted, they threatened to call the police if he didn’t leave. According to Giannis, everything points to the fact that a deal had already been struck: the baby was to be illegally given to another family in exchange for money. He was a child without “defenses”: his mother was underage, unmarried, and vulnerable. His biological father had died in a car accident just one month before the birth. But apparently, the deal fell through for some reason, and Giannis was left in limbo at an institution.

A document from the Athens Court confirms the forged consent of the biological mother in the adoption.

The Trafficking Ring

Giannis Kanganis was abandoned as a newborn in an institution, while his biological mother and relatives mourned his imaginary death. For decades, they believed the child had died, without ever receiving proof or explanation. With persistence and a deep hunger for truth, Giannis managed—on August 30, 2023—to obtain the adoption decision from the Court of Arta. Even though his request to access the full adoption file was rejected twice, the truth slowly began to emerge.

One key document stated that his biological mother had appeared before the Athens Multimember Court and consented to the adoption. When Giannis told his mother this, she reacted strongly and flatly denied it: she had never appeared in court, never gave consent—because she had simply believed her child was dead.

Adoption with a Simple Receipt of Delivery

Through his months-long investigation and with the support of his partner, Kallithea Kossyvaki, Giannis managed to prove that the entire adoption file was based on falsified information. He is firmly convinced that behind his case lies a well-organized ring that, in exchange for money, took newborns from vulnerable women—underage, unmarried, unsupported—and handed them over to other families using forged documents and fraudulent procedures. A key role in his investigation was played by the Social Services of Arta, who handled the case with sensitivity and persistence.

The final piece of the puzzle came on May 19, 2025. Giannis received confirmation from the General Archives of the Athens Multimember Court that the supposed court decision about his mother’s consent had nothing to do with his case: it belonged to a completely unrelated case between two companies over a commercial dispute!

Giannis’ life had been built on deception. A judicial fraud had stolen from him not only his biological mother, but also an entirely different life.