Vatican sent children born out of wedlock to America as orphans for adoption
For decades, unwed mothers in Italy were pressured to give up children born out of wedlock. Thousands were sent to America. Now some families are reuniting and looking for answers.
Updated on: July 12, 2026 / 7:00 PM EDT / CBS News
This is an updated version of a story first published on Oct. 13, 2024. The original video can be viewed here .
During the 1950s, the Catholic Church in Belgium separated thousands of newborns from their unwed mothers and put them up for adoption, often without the mothers' consent. The women were shamed into surrendering their babies by their families and a powerful church. In 2024, Pope Francis apologized for those forced adoptions. But Belgians weren't the only victims. From 1950 to 1970, the Vatican sent 3,500 Italian children to America on something called an orphan visa. The trouble was most were not orphans. Like their Belgian counterparts, they too were the children of unwed mothers. Many mothers later went searching for their children, only to discover they had been sent across an ocean. As we first reported in 2024, thousands of American adoptees are still struggling to piece together their lost lives.
It was a day he'll never forget. American adoptee John Campitelli was 28 years old when he was reunited with his Italian birth mother. He'd been searching for her for more than a decade—a mother he'd been told had abandoned him.
John Campitelli: My mom said you know, 28 years have gone by. I've never been able to bake a cake for you for your birthday. She says "I don't care what month it is, I'm gonna bake you a cake. We need to celebrate cause our prodigal son has finally come home.
John Campitelli was born Piero Davi in 1963 in Italy. His mother, Francesca, was unmarried and forced by her family to give him up. He was sent to a Catholic-run institution for the children of unwed mothers. Shunned and disgraced, Francesca handed her baby to the nuns. Immediately, her name was stripped from the birth records. With the stroke of a pen, Piero Davi became an orphan. Campitelli showed us the church documents that changed his life.