The Tyranny of Adoption Fraud
What a day it has been for several families who have joined together to voice their experiences with adoption fraud! I’ve spent the day talking to many of them. The agency that hurt them was one that had previously been a participant on our website. Needless to say, they aren’t any longer. In the past 18 months, Precious.org has removed more than 10 adoption providers from the site. Jason Damkoehler (Precious.org President who took over the site in November 2005) cut five agencies from the site on his first day. “Financially it was a bad decision for us,†said Jason, “but this isn’t about finances and it never will be. It’s about children, 143 million of them that need a home, and it’s about the parents that are looking for them. We’re just here to clear a path between the two of them.â€
After many months of heartache these families are being heard and their stories will be told. It is the hope of these families and their supporters that the outcome of today will produce justice. As the outcome of this investigation unfolds, the affected families will no doubt continue to need the support and encouragement of the adoption community. We salute the groups of people that have come together within this community to productively bring the truth to light. In dialoging with a handful of the women involved, I was able to express to them our heart regarding this type of fraudulent activity.
At Precious.org, we get hundreds of thousands of visits a month and dozens of letters every day. It’s an incredible community of people. During our 13 years, that community has grown immeasurably. We recently got a letter from a mom whose 3-year-old boy they found on Precious is now 16! Unbelievable! In order to advocate for safer adoptions we added our new Agency Watch feature available on the front page of Precious. If you become aware of any positive or negative feedback or experiences about an adoption provider, we encourage you to let us know. We work closely with several government agencies helping watch for abuse.
My husband and I are adopting. We have been in the process for over a year and a half. We have, as in many cases, only seen pictures of our son. Simply having these pictures has created within us a parent’s heart for this child. He is our son, though we have yet to meet. If something were to happen now where this child could not become ours, I would mourn as if there had been a death. This has happened to several families because of adoption fraud. It pains me to know that there are a very small number of people out there that take the honorable calling of connecting orphan to family and corrupt it. I know that I have stated this before, but this is so harmful to children, families, and the fantastic agencies and organizations that work each and everyday to care for and provide for orphans.
Adoption photolistings have been fairly unmonitored and have had minimal regulations for the past years. More recently, there has been a small but steady movement to bring regulations to photolistings that will protect children and families while at the same time continue to help children find their families through adoption. When the Hague Convention goes into force at the end of 2007 the Central Adoption Authority will monitor all adoption agencies as they must be accredited under the Hague Convention. Until this occurs, however, adoption agencies are regulated by the state in which they hold a license to practice.
We announced before that we are beginning to require that all of our partner agencies on Precious hold a valid license to practice. Even though the Hague will take effect later this year, we believe it is extremely important to provide our prospective parents with as much assurance as possible that the member agencies on Precious.org are good and trustworthy organizations. Although a license will not solely determine this, it certainly helps. In the coming weeks only agencies and organizations, which hold a license, will be allowed to participate in our waiting child photolistings and be recognized as a partner agencies. This is also to protect our terrific agencies that deserve to have their names and programs listed with other agencies that adhere to the same standard of practice.
We encourage you to read a wonderful and timely article written by Sue Anderson on the RainbowKids.com website. It points out the importance of organizations taking steps to do all that is within their power to provide safeguards that will protect children and families. Although online resources like Precious.org and RainbowKids.com are not able to monitor each and every agency action, we are all responsible for taking steps to make our member agencies a reliable and trustworthy voice for adoption on the web.
We applaud organizations that have gone ahead with paving the way for replicable regulations for adoption photolistings on the Internet and we join you in the movement as you continue.
Today, from my heart I also applaud the families that are taking a vocal stand against adoption fraud. I know you are no doubt exhausted from the experience. It is my sincere hope that you will be given wisdom during this time to increase your ability to have your message heard. I know that God has a loving heart for orphans. He mandated His people to care for them and love them. May this loving and just God be present with you all today and as you continue to love the orphan and stand up for the their rights and your own.
July 6th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
Thank you for removing this agency from your site. Our family was victim to their fraud and suffered because of them. I am glad that you have taken this step to protect other families.
July 6th, 2007 at 9:04 pm
I am so glad this site has more restrictions. I found our first referral on this site and fell in love. However, after getting involved with AIP and spending thousands of dollars to hold this child, we were told that her birthmother came back to claim her. This happen to us 3 times. We still have not recovered from the frudulent activity that AIP is now becoming familiar for. We had to take drastic measures to keep our home because I had to be in Kazakhstan for 3 months to complete our adoption, we were mislead and lied to so many times. We want to adopt again but the trauma my husband and I went through caused us both to almost have a mental breakdown. This agency and others like them need to be closed down for good. I am glad to see that you are taking steps toward this goal.
Thank you
Debbie
July 7th, 2007 at 1:20 am
Thank you from the bottom of my heart. We too lsot a referral of a gorgeous girl we found on precious.org. I am grateful that you are stopping the cycle of baby selling and bait and switch by AIP
July 7th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
thank you so much for being a reputable business that people can trust. AIP is a horrible agency. And as soon as they go out of business the better so that these horror stories don’t happen to other prospective families. You did an admirable thing. I just wish other agencies like yours follow suit.
July 7th, 2007 at 2:29 pm
Thank you. My husband and I lost $17,000 and are not getting a sweet little girl that we thought was on hold for us. We found her on precious.org. The agency, RAI, that committed the fruadulent acts have now been shut down. I am thankful that others will not be hurt by these people. It is very hard once you see the photo because you pray for your child daily and you imagine holding her in your arms and loving her. It is very painful, emotionally and financially.
July 7th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
Not only was the response impressive- You demonstrated the support the families need from finding a baby on your site to the possibility of losing a baby. The compassion shown is what adoption is all about.
Personally, I am glad precious.org realizes how powerful this site is to families. Wanting to guide them successfully is a gift.
July 8th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
THANK YOU for removing AIP. We were scammed by them also. For 14 months we thought we were going to adopt twin 2 year old girls we found on your site and two days before we traveled we got a 1-sentence e-mail from Orson stating the children were not available. Turns out the paperwork to make the available had never been done. He posted the photo to get us to commit, then “bait and switched” at the last minute. We did adopt two precious girls in Ukraine, but not without much heartache and pain and needless financial loss due to AIP’s dishonest tactics. We will highly recommend your site to other families interesting in adopting due to your responsiveness to this matter!
Laurel Boylan
July 9th, 2007 at 8:39 am
Thank you for this timely and sensitive response. We also had a heartbreaking failed experience with AIP. We do support the important connections and role the listings and internet sites provide to preadoptive parents. For many children, especially older children, this connection is their only hope of finding a forever family. However, as demonstrated here, it is unfortunate that some agencies post information/make referrals when the child is not available for IA. This is where the problem lies, and we are pleased that you and others are taking actions to prevent this abuse.
July 9th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
Thank you for removing this agency because most families do not receive the children in the photo listings which is devastating.
July 10th, 2007 at 6:11 am
I am sorry that AIP has turned to lies and deceit. I believe originally the agency was set up with good intent. The problem with international adoption is that some people get greedy and will do anything to make money, even if it means hurting people emotionally. I just brought home a baby girl I adopted through AIP. Initially, we found an 8-year old girl on Precious.org. Her write-up we later found out was mostly made up. After being in love with her for months, we were not able to adopt her in Kazakhstan, through no fault of our own, and it was very hard. We were fortunate that there was one other healthy baby girl available to adopt. Our love for her has helped take away the pain. But I still know it was wrong that I was deceived. I feel sorry for others who have been hurt. When you are in a strange country and don’t know the language, you are almost totally dependent on your agency to take good care of you. We had some friends who were also lied to by AIP, and the baby boy that they thought was waiting for them in Kazakhstan wasn’t available when they arrived. Then the coordinator tried to coerce them to take a handicapped baby. It was extremely painful for them. Fortunately, there was one other healthy 2-yr. old boy who was available for them to adopt. But the ends doesn’t justify the means. Deceit should never be acceptable for adoption agencies. Unfortunately, for the desparate parents who just want a child to love, there will be some who will take advantage of them. Be sure and find a good, honest, reputable agency when you adopt. Honesty and good communication with your agency is so important!!