Finding Farideh

Farideh, an Iranian-born girl who lives in the Netherlands with her dutch family, wants to finally find out who are her real parents in Iran. She was left alone in Imam Reza’s Holy Shrine in Mashhad, Iran, when she was a 6-month baby. She was picked up and delivered to one of the nurseries in Mashhad before being transferred to Ameneh Nursery in the capital, Tehran, Iran. A Dutch couple adopted her and brought her to their home in Amsterdam, Netherlands.She published her story to a number of local newspapers in Mashhad, and was hopeful that her real parents read the story and contact her. After this, 3 families in Mashhad, who apparently have had a similar situation (i.e. leaving a 6-month baby in Holy Shrine), contacted her, claiming that they feel she is their missing daughter.Farideh was told by her parents that visiting Iran can be “dangerous” and therefore, it is not advisable to go back to her home country. Nevertheless, being eager to find her actual parents and see her country and people, she decided to fly to Iran for a short visit after 40 years. In Tehran’s international airport, where she first arrived, all 3 families were present to welcome her home. Upon arrival, she was also welcomed by an Iranian girl, who was her host and translator while staying in Iran. Together, they took a train to Mashhad, Farideh’s home city, where they wanted to take DNA tests to find out which of those 3 families are Farideh’s real family.In Mashhad, blood samples of Farideh and 2-3 representatives of each family were taken, and they were told that final results will be released in a month. During this month, Farideh visited residence all of these families and got familiar with their own stories. All these families had “feelings” and could see “signs” indicating that Farideh is one of their own.After a month, final test results came out and each family was called one by one to be informed about the test outcome. The doctor told all families that there is no match between your DNA and Farideh’s. This made all of them disappointed and upset, but didn’t break the “bond” between them, as they were all emotionally touched. She came back to the Netherlands, bringing with herself a lot of unforgettable memories from home.