All five babies were Black. My husband denied them, stormed out of the hospital, and disappeared. I raised them alone—until, 30 years later, he came back… and the truth changed everything.

I never thought the most important day of my life would begin with a scream.

My name is María Fernández. Thirty years ago, I gave birth to five babies in a public hospital in Seville. The labor was long and brutal. When I finally opened my eyes, exhausted and dazed, I saw five tiny cribs lined up beside my bed. …