From as early as 1940 to as late as 1990, thousands of mothers in Spain were told just after they had given birth that their newborns had died.
Many of the babies in fact hadn't died, according to a new documentary from the BBC, but were instead taken by doctors, nurses and priests to be given or sold to other families.
Time Magazine reported earlier this year that court documents filed in Spain claim that some babies were sold for about $8,000 each, and that the doctors and nurses who delivered the babies were sometimes the ones who sold them to other families.
Now, "Spain's Stolen Babies," a documentary by BBC journalist Katya Adler that airs on Tuesday, examines the scandal more closely.
"There are men and women across Spain whose lives have been turned upside-down by discovering the people they thought were their parents actually bought them for cash," said Adler, according to The Daily Mail. "There are also many mothers who have maintained for years that their babies did not die -– and were labelled “hysterical” –- but are now discovering that their child has probably been alive and brought up by somebody else all this time."
The Daily Mail reports that as many as 300,000 babies could have been stolen over fifty years.
The BBC reports that Anadir, an 800-member strong support group, has created a DNA database to help reunite children with their birth parents.
Watch the video at the top for more.