many cases without their consent or knowledge, and given to adoptive parents. those children are now in their 30s and 40s and are asking questions about their origins and about a secret that was kept from them for four decades. cnn has documented several cases of adoptions like these, including that of travis tolliv tolliver, who was also raised by american adoptive parents and didn't meet his biological mother until he was 41 years old. >> i was wanted. i wasn't given up willingly like i thought for all these years. so, that makes my heart feel wonderful. >> reporter: in 2015, chilean authorities named a special prosecutor to begin investigating a list of these so-called irregular adoptions, a list that is reported to include nearly 600 families. there is an organization that helps families find each other and there's an even larger list. >> we have 3,000 people that are looking for them.