Heartwarming update after man, 33, reveals he was stolen from Argentine hospital as a baby moments after his mother gave birth to him via C-section

A Buenos Aires father of two girls has opened up on how it took him just 48 hours to locate his biological parents, three decades after he was stolen from his mother at birth.

Alejandro Pérez, 36, grew up being told that he had been put up for adoption and finally sought to unearth the truth in April 2021 when doctors asked him and a former partner if they had a family history of sudden death.

Pérez browsed over a file that was handed over by his adoptive parents, which erroneously indicated his biological mother, who gave birth to him via C-section on December 17, 1987, put him up for adoption because she could not care after him.

The content of the manila folder - which he decided not to view when he was 18 because he considered himself to be not 'mature enough' - sparked doubts when he came across an El Territorio newspaper clipping of a 1990 court ruling in which the judge shot down a motion filed by Nélida Benítez to get back her son, claiming a social worker assistant had stolen him from the medical facility in Posadas, Misiones.

'I couldn't believe that there was a complaint from a woman, who was my mother, who asked for my return,' he told Argentine news station TN.

Pictured: Alejandro Pérez with his mother Nélida Benítez, whom he was separated from at birth in December 1987 after a hospital social worker stole him while she rested after a C-section delivery. Pérez grew up believing he had been adopted until his adoptive parents provided him a case file, which led him to discover the truth in April 2021

Alejandro (right) with his father Ramón and mother Nélida

Pérez barely slept for two days thinking about how he was going to locate his mother - until his social media accounts came to the rescue.

His Facebook and Instagram accounts were initially blocked because his messages were being flagged as unwanted messages until he regained access to both accounts and was contacted by a person who knew his sister, Gisella Benítez.

Pérez reached out to his sibling and texted, 'I was inquiring and asking a few days ago about a lady named Nélida Isabel Benítez.'

Gisella Benítez replied that that the family had been searching for him and spent some time living in Buenos Aires without any traces of him.

'Finally, that 33-year search, all the pain and suffering of an entire family could begin to heal,' she wrote.

Pérez and Gisella spent hours on the phone to make sure that he was indeed Nélida's son and spoke to her over video soon after.

Alejandro Pérez recalled it only took him 48 hours to locate his  biological mother after someone on social media shared his sister's contact

In September 2023, Alejandro Pérez published the tell-all book '33 Years In 48 Hours' based on how he was able to locate his biological parents after he was stolen from a hospital in Argentina in 1987

Alejandro learned his mother (left) always kept an extra plate at the dinner table and never lost hope that she would be reunited with him

Footage of the emotional encounter showed Nélida breaking down in tears as her grandchildren comforted her.

'God listened to me,' she said.

'I just found out the truth, about how I ended up given up for adoption, bah, better said stolen, when after those 48 hours of intense searching I made a video call with my mother and she told me everything,' Pérez said.

He got emotional upon learning that his mother always kept an extra plate at the dinner table, hoping that they would one day be reunited.

'My biological family is very Catholic and always ended their prayers with my name. Until, well, one day I was able to occupy that place and eat on that plate that was always waiting for me,' he said.

Pérez penned a tell-all book '33 Years In 48 Hours' that was published last September.

'I believe that each person's identity and roots are the most important thing,' he said. 'Knowing where we come from is the basis of life.'