For 28 years, NYC man thought his mom abandoned him. When he found her through a newspaper ad — she revealed the truth

For nearly three decades, John Campitelli lived with the belief that his birth mother had abandoned him. Raised in New York by adoptive parents, he carried a story written by others, but the truth was very different, and it came rushing back the moment he embraced her in Italy 28 years later. Campitelli was one of thousands of Italian children sent to the United States between 1950 and 1970 under a Vatican program known as the "orphan visa," as reported by 60 Minutes. In reality, many of these children were not orphans at all — they were the sons and daughters of unwed mothers pressured into surrendering their babies.

Historian Maria Laurino, whose new book "The Price of Children" investigates the scheme, uncovered evidence that mothers were often misled into signing away rights, and in some cases, told that their children had died. Campitelli was born in Italy in 1963 as Piero Davi. His mother, Francesca, was unmarried and handed him to nuns temporarily, believing she could reclaim him later. Instead, her name was erased from the records, and he was reclassified as "abandoned since birth." That false designation made him eligible for adoption in America. "They knew damn well where she was. This is an outright lie," Campitelli told 60 Minutes, which also featured his story on their Instagram @60minutes.

The program flourished because of a 1950 US law that widened the definition of "orphan" to include children with one parent who could not provide care. Campitelli’s experience was part of a larger pattern that still echoes today. Around the world, millions of children have been separated from their families under the label of "orphan." Yet research shows that this label is often misleading. A 2023 survey from the Global Slavery Index estimates that 5.4 million children currently live in orphanages worldwide, and nearly 80% of them are not true orphans at all. Many still have one or both parents alive but are cut off because of poverty, stigma, or institutional rules.

For Campitelli, the turning point came in 1991 when an Italian newspaper published his appeal. Someone recognized his mother, and after nearly three decades, he spoke to Francesca for the first time. "She said, 'Are you Piero?' Well, no, I’m John. 'Oh no, you’re really Piero. I’m your mother,'" Campitelli recalled. Months later, he flew to Italy to meet her. "I didn’t need a photograph. I just had to look at her. I knew who she was," he said. Campitelli moved to Italy and learned the language to connect with his family, yet the scars remain. "I felt my whole life was based on a lie," he said. "They cut all relationships I could possibly have with my birth family and shipped me overseas. I became a package for them."

Apart from Campitelli, another adoptee, Mary Relotto from Ohio, also discovered as an adult that she had a large Italian family. Meeting her mother, Anna Maria, felt like looking into a mirror. "Not only does she look like me, but she acts like me. It was like meeting an older version of myself," Relotto said. For survivors like Campitelli and Relotto, the reunions brought answers but not closure. Laurino, who spent years in the archives, said, "They believed the children were being raised well in America. But the price was paid by the women who lost them."

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