00:05It's breakfast time in Darwin.
00:07I'm going to get some cheese. I want some cheesy scrambled eggs.
00:11I'm a hungry brother.
00:13And Gabby Beckley is serving up for her two kids.
00:16Breakfast of champions right here.
00:17Gabby knows what it's like to be in a loving, supportive family.
00:22But growing up, there were big questions about her adoption.
00:25Who were her biological parents and why was she put up for adoption?
00:31You kind of feel like you're a boat in the ocean without an anchor.
00:35At 19, her adoptive parents helped her find her biological mum and dad.
00:41Something few adoptees get to do.
00:44My heart felt complete that day.
00:48But there was an upsetting revelation.
00:50She was promised money and saris by the people in Sri Lanka organising the adoption.
00:58But she didn't receive any of those things.
01:02Being left with nothing in the same destitute position she was when we were born made her life still really
01:11hard.
01:12Gabby's since learnt of many more adoptions with murky pasts.
01:16There was a lot of people that got rich by selling children.
01:24Across the country, another adoptee is trying to uncover her past.
01:29Kimbra Butterworth plans to visit Taiwan with her husband.
01:33But the chances of finding answers are slim.
01:37All this is like fake.
01:39Unlike Gabby, the family names on her adoption papers are forged.
01:43That's a big thought for me, that I may never find my family.
01:48That's Kimbra as a baby.
01:50The woman holding her is Julie Chu, who was sentenced in the 1980s for running a baby trafficking syndicate.
01:57But the Australian government never notified Kimbra's family.
02:02Instead, it was the media.
02:06Decades later, Kimbra sought answers from South Australian authorities.
02:10And my mum just broke down and started sobbing.
02:14Government never contacted them.
02:16Never checked up on them.
02:17Never gave them information.
02:18Never did an investigation to affirm or deny.
02:23Just to give the public a bit of exposure.
02:26While adoptees like Gabby and Kimbra had supportive Australian families,
02:31others like Lanelle Long did not.
02:34My adoption was facilitated by my adoptive parents in Australia,
02:39where they hired a lawyer privately in Vietnam.
02:42They essentially paid him to source and find a child.
02:46Despite growing up in Australia, the adoption was never official until she was almost an adult.
02:53Her Australian father abused her.
02:56The adoption later annulled.
02:58He was found guilty and he's actually on the sex offender registry.
03:04She's dedicated her life to helping others.
03:07These adoptees, they struggle with all sorts of abuse.
03:11You know, whether that be emotional abuse, whether that be sexual abuse, physical abuse.
03:15We want there to be a thorough investigation as to what has occurred,
03:19who should have been responsible, where the gaps are.
03:22The federal government is investigating the murky past of international adoptions,
03:27but the focus is on the South Korean program.
03:31That's despite calls from adoptees like Lanelle, Kimbra, Gabby and even the Korean community
03:37that the entire program needs to be scrutinised.
03:41It does hurt because you do want to be acknowledged.
03:44The Federal Social Services Minister says the Korean inquiry is an important first step.
03:50We're certainly not ruling out looking at other programs in the future.
03:56But without a commitment to do more, adoptees like Gabby fear their stories will be sidelined.
04:03Having that acknowledgement will give so much healing and grace to people.
04:09It will help them move on and move forward with their life.
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