“Who am I? The Changing Face of Adoption”

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Andreas was born in Freiburg and was one week old when he was adopted by foster parents. His birth mother is from Spain and was living illegally in Switzerland when she had Andreas at the age of 19. Carmela Odoni

Jacintha came from Sri Lanka. When she was one year old her father died and her mother left her with an orphanage. Jacintha then went to live with a foster family in Switzerland. Carmela Odoni

Martin was born in Switzerland and was adopted soon after his birth. When he was a teenager he discovered that he had been adopted and rebelled against his parents. He felt foreign, unloved and unwanted. Carmela Odoni

Sakuntala entered an orphanage in Sri Lanka when she was very young. She was adopted by a Swiss family when she was five years old. She has many memories of Sri Lanka as well as violent dreams. Carmela Odoni

Sinat was born in Ethiopia. When she was four years old, her teenage mother could no longer look after her and her younger sister Medan. Adoption was the only solution for her mother. Carmela Odoni

Amadé was looked after by a nurse when he was born in Sri Lanka. When he was five weeks old he was then adopted by a Swiss foster family. Carmela Odoni

Eve comes from South Korea. When she was a young child she fell ill and was taken by her elder sister to a military hospital. Terre des hommes organised her adoption with a Swiss family. Her mother believed she would only stay away from home until she was better again. Carmela Odoni

Urslé was adopted when she was a two-month-old child staying at Basel Hospital. Her birth mother was 17 at the time and as an underage child was unable to look after Urslé. As she didn't want to let her parents bring her up, Urslé was given for adoption. Carmela Odoni

Aymara was abandoned as an infant and sent to a children's home in Bolivia. Nothing is known about her biological parents. At the age of four and a half she was adopted by a Swiss family. Carmela Odoni

Georg was born in Lugano. His mother originally came from Sweden and under pressure from her family had to end all contact with his father. She then married a Swiss man, who adopted the young boy. Georg only learned about his adoption after the death of his adopted father. Carmela Odoni

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The Bernese photographer Carmela Harshani Odoni is exhibiting a series of black-and-white portraits of adopted people at the Bern Polit-Forum which shows how diverse adoptions are in Switzerland. The photographer also covers a dark chapter in Swiss history - forced adoptions.