Cribs, Crimes and Corruption

The Santa Barbara Independent Mozes’s Money Headed to Victims

2009-11-02T06:03:00.000-08:00

The Santa Barbara Independent Mozes’s Money Headed to Victims

Adoption Agency Director Guilty Of Grand Theft

2009-10-30T06:29:00.000-07:00

Adoption Agency Director Guilty Of Grand Theft

Another Low-Life Scamming APs

2009-10-29T12:24:00.001-07:00

Queen Of Greed, Christen Brown, Shot Down By Judge Eskin

2009-10-28T13:35:00.000-07:00

Although the wait has felt interminable, it was almost worth it to read Judge Eskin's decision regarding Plaintiff Christen Brown's attempt to get the money reserved for victims of Orson Mozes' adoption scams. Judge Eskin ruled that Brown

1. does not have a legitimately acquired interest in the confiscated assets;
2. is NOT AN INNOCENT SPOUSE/PERSON; and
3. the claim for child support by Brown does not have priority over the (monetary) restitution owed to the victims of the defendant's crimes.

AMEN! I took great pleasure in Judge Eskin's keen observations regarding Brown's involvement in Adoption International Program and his verbal lashing that she placed her own desires before her child's (Zoe) interests!

Here are a few of my favorite comments by Judge Eskin

"The evidence is overwhelming that the source of the seized assets was the defendant's (Orson) operation of a fraudulent business between the years 2003 and 2007, while he lived Claimant (Christen), and she (and their children) enjoyed the benefit of his earning which were derived from the crimes..."
"Claimant failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that she was an 'innocent.' This court cannot determine the extent of her criminal culpability, but the evidence does support this Court's conclusion that she was (probably) complicit in the criminal activities."
"...she undoubtedly had knowledge of the crimes despite her protestations to the contrary and was probably complicit in the criminal activities."
"The testimony of Claimant was extremely damaging to her position. The factors used to assess credibility of witnesses lead this Court to conclude that her testimony was inherently unbelievable. Although she earned a master's degree in counseling psychology from Boston University, published a book and coached clients for speech and media presentations, at times, she presented herself as clueless about the operations of AIP between 2004 and 2007..."
"Her explanation for the mid-hearing visit to Kathleen Lynch defied credulity, and her attempt to explain her involvement in the e-mail exchange with AIP client Vanessa Donaher in November 2005, when she agreed to refund her money while denying she had any knowledge of complaints by AIP clients borders on ludicrous."
"It is this Court's opinion that this clever language constitutes a fraud perpetrated on the Court in the dissolution proceedings..." [Note: This was in reference to specifics in their divorce] The judge also makes a statement that Christen basically put herself before her daughter and should have used proceeds from the sale of the house to support their daughter.

In my opinion, this is all confirmation of what the victims have felt in their hearts all along: Christen is a greedy piranha and only cares about $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ ~ she knew exactly what was going on and could care less about APs or orphans. All she ever cared about was maintaining her luxurious lifestyle...even to the point where she placed maintenance of that lifestyle above the needs of her own child!

Daily Sound: Adoption scammer hears from his victims

2009-07-24T05:05:00.001-07:00

Daily Sound: Adoption scammer hears from his victims

Shared via AddThis

Christen Brown is a GREEDY PIRANHA!

2009-07-15T06:16:00.000-07:00

Christen Brown, Orson Mozes' ex-wife and the co-owner and Executive Director of the adoption agency (Adoption International Program) that bilked nearly a hundred PAPs out of their life savings and the children proved once again, in my opinion, that she is a GREEDY PIRANHA!

The Santa Barbara District Attorney's office found and froze assets that Mozes was attempting to hide totaling approximately $300k. Mozes is being ordered to pay restitution to his victims; unfortunately, that amount exceeds $700,000.00 so these victims will sadly only get a small percentage of their loss.

Mozes was scheduled to be sentenced yesterday. However, it was postponed. WHY? Because the GREEDY PIRANHA, Christen Brown, filed a motion claiming that SHE should get 100% of the money that they recovered from her ex-husband for child and spousal support. This woman does not care AT ALL about the pain and suffering that HER company inflicted on these victims. She is so greedy and selfish that she does not want a single penny to get away.

This is a woman who is now living in yet another multi-million dollar home (currently for sale for $2,395,000.00): http://www.michaelcalcagno.com/properties/2078LasCanoas/index.htmlOh yes! This poor woman is really suffering without her husband! In my opinion, I am sure that plenty of the victims' life savings paves her sidewalks.

The sentencing will now take place on Thursday, July 23rd. Deputy DA Paula Waldman will read all of the victim impact statements, and present her recommendation to the judge as to what should happen with the monies recovered from Mozes. She does not support Christen's opinion that she should get the money. For now, we will have to wait and see. If her claim is denied we are sure she will file an appeal because Ms. Greedy Piranha won't stop until she is sure she has kicked every one of the victims while they are down.

News Footage on Orson's Plea

2009-07-03T07:09:00.000-07:00

Local Article on Orson's Plea

2009-07-03T06:53:00.000-07:00

Adoption scammer pleads guilty
By COLBY FRAZIER — July 3, 2009

A former Montecito businessman who swindled $800,000 from 59 hopeful parents through his adoption business, pleaded guilty in Superior Court yesterday to 17 felonies and a white-collar crime enhancement.

Wearing a light-blue shirt, dark pants and a tie, with shackles around his hands and feet, the defendant, Orson Mozes, said plainly that he was guilty, and acknowledged he felt “very comfortable” with the plea bargain he had negotiated with prosecutors.

Although the man won’t be sentenced until July 14, Senior Deputy District Attorney Paula Waldman said he most likely would be sentenced to three years and four months in state prison, with three years of parole. Mozes, 57, also faces a civil lawsuit in the state of Pennsylvania that was jointly filed by 17 of the adoption scam victims. Additionally, Mozes conceded to forfeit $300,000 in cash and gold coins that were seized from his Florida home. The funds will be used to repay the victims, some of whom, Waldman said, are owed amounts as high as $75,000.
The prosecutor said the plea represents justice for dozens of families who, in some cases, not only were stolen from but also felt as though their own child was taken away.

“There’s just so much heartbreak around this case …” she said. “I enjoyed hearing him say that word, ‘guilty.’”

Through his business, Adoption International Program, Waldman said Mozes would place Eastern European children up for adoption. When prospective parents would see the children’s pictures on the company’s Web site and inquire, she said Mozes would ask for money, a deposit of sorts to ensure the children weren’t offered to other parents.

But it didn’t end there. She said Mozes would string the hopeful parents along. In many cases, victims would travel to various countries to meet their child, only to discover that someone else had adopted the child.

Even so, Mozes would apparently explain his way out of these situations, saying that other children were available and could be adopted. In at least one case, Waldman said a couple traveled abroad three separate times only to be told on each occasion that the child they had come to love already had a home.

“He’s very smooth and makes for a very good con artist,” Waldman said. “I’m not sure how much remorse that he feels.”

Although Mozes had been in the adoption business since the 80s, Waldman said the 59 felony counts of obtaining services by false pretences occurred between 2004 and 2008.

Those 59 felony counts all represent people who were duped out of money and never received the child they were promised. However, Waldman said 16 of the couples successfully adopted a child through Mozes, though in most cases it was never the original child they had settled on.
During the investigation, Norma Hansen, a District Attorney investigator, said Mozes, after hearing authorities knew about his string of fraud, pointed out he had also overseen legitimate adoptions.

After divorcing his wife in 2007, Mozes, either to get away from his former wife or realizing authorities were closing in, fled to Miami, Fla.

While there, Mozes moved in with a woman who he said yesterday he plans to marry while in prison. Waldman said the woman allowed Mozes to move in and she even opened his bank accounts under her name.

According to court documents, Mozes was using the aliases Jack Rose and Jerry Brosse.
Had it not been for three arrests, one for driving without a license and two for shoplifting — Hansen said he got caught stealing candy and produce from a convenience store — it’s unclear when or if Mozes would have been caught. And even with these arrests, Miami authorities didn’t realize anything was amiss until after Mozes had been released on bail for the third time. But shortly after the third arrest, Waldman said police there realized Mozes was wanted in Santa Barbara and had been featured on the TV program America’s Most Wanted. He was arrested a short time later at his girlfriend’s apartment.

Authorities seized $300,000, a hefty chunk of which was in gold coins, court documents show. Waldman said a trunk of cash was also taken.

Waldman said the only hurdle to giving this money back to the people it was stolen from is Mozes’ ex-wife, who could claim some of the money belongs to her. Waldman, however, doubts any claim by the ex-wife would hold up.

But even if the entirety of the $300,000 goes to the victims, it’s still far less than Mozes took. Waldman said it’s unclear where the remainder of the funds will come from, though more civil suits could be filed.

As part of the plea agreement, Waldman said the 42 remaining felony counts levied against Mozes would be dismissed. The special allegation he pleaded guilty to was a white-collar crime enhancement, which comes into play when a person steals more than $500,000.

Aside from the good news the plea brought victims (Waldman said she’d heard from many who felt closure and were satisfied with the terms), she said the case is sentimental for many in District Attorney’s Office.

When the office first got the case, the late DA investigator Laura Cleaves was the lead investigator. Cleaves was killed by a drunken driver in May of 2008 while driving home to the Santa Ynez Valley after a late night at work. Cleaves’s vehicle was struck by a black Mercedes near the Highway 154, Santa Ynez River over crossing.

Waldman, choking back tears, said Cleaves was working late that night on the Mozes case.
“I believe that Laura is smiling right now,” she said. “The day she was killed she was working hard on this case.”

JUSTICE: Orson Pleads GUILTY!

2009-07-02T16:43:00.000-07:00

The following e-mail came from the Santa Barbara DA today:

Today around 2:30pm, Orson Mozes plead "guilty" to 17 counts of violating Penal Code section 532(a), felony obtaining money by false pretenses. He also admitted the truth of the special allegation charged under Penal Code section 186.11(a)(2), aggravated white collar crime taking over $500,000.

On July 14, 2009 at 1:30pm in department #12, he will be sentenced to 3 years and 4 months in State Prison .

I don't want to post personal details of the restitution because that is the victims' personal information, but I will say that as far as we are concerned, Orson must pay us back for our loss and the court has the assets available to distribute the restitution to his victims. This was a great relief since it was unknown if any monies would be available for restitution.

I feel SO INCREDIBLY grateful to Laura Cleaves, Norma Hansen, and Paula Waldman for taking the pain and suffering of all of Orson's victims seriously and for seeking justice. This is a true victory. Nothing will EVER take away the pain and heartache we endured and we will NEVER stop loving and missing our boys.

Orson Extradited to California

2009-03-06T17:48:00.001-08:00

Orson was brought back to California Thursday night and will now have to answer to the 62 felony charges against him. This video shows him stating his innocence and talking about the joy and peace he has in himself. Sickening. I hope this joy and peace comforts him in his jail cell each night.

In Case You Missed It...

2009-02-01T14:20:00.001-08:00

If you missed the show you can watch it on demand. Go to the America's Most Wanted website and there is a button that says "Watch Full Episodes". This was Episode 2219, Season 22: Ep 19. We are thankful to America's Most Wanted for a great job on this segment and all their hard work!

AMW Reminder

2009-01-28T14:29:00.001-08:00

The segment on Orson Mozes will air this Saturday, January 31st on FOX at 9/8C.

It happens in domestic adoption and foster care too

2009-01-04T12:23:00.000-08:00

Click on the title of this post to read the article. The article briefly mentions that private agencies are involved in the lawsuit. In case anyone is wondering which private agencies, the case header for the lawsuit is informative. The private agency names are in blue text.

PAUL BRYAN; BONNIE BRYAN, husband and wife, individually and as parents and natural guardians on behalf of their minor child KB, and KB,
Appellants

v.

ERIE COUNTY OFFICE OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES; PAUL
CANCILLA, individually and as an employee of Erie County Office of Children &
Youth; CARMEN E. MERRITT, individually and as an employee of Erie County Office of Children & Youth; RENIE SKALKO, individually and as an employee of Erie County Office of Children & Youth; CINDY BAXTER, individually and as an employee of Erie County Office of Children & Youth; CINDY LEWIS, individually and as an employee of Erie County Office of Children and Youth; BARRY KOHLER, individually and as an employee of Erie County Office of Children & Youth; BRIGITTE SULLIVAN, individually and as an employee of Erie County Office of Children & Youth; BETHESDA CHILDREN’S HOME; ELIZABETH MALLORY, individually and as an employee of Bethesda Children’s Home; COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WELFARE, WESTERN REGION OFFICE OF CHILDREN, YOUTH and FAMILIES; MICHAEL J. KAZMER, individually and as an employee of the Department of Public Welfare Western Region Office of Children Youth
and Families; HARBORCREEK YOUTH SERVICES; MERRITT L. KLEINER,
individually and as an employee of Harborcreek Youth Services; and JOHN PETULLA, individually and as an employee of Erie County Office of Children & Youth and DPW Bureau of County Children and Youth Programs

http://www.bethesda-home.org/about/about.html is a Lutheran Social Services agency.

http://www.hys-erie.org/about_us.htm is a Catholic agency.

(helps to know who's who)

To quote the legal opinion (and this is one smart judge!)

"I simply can not agree that no reasonable juror would find that placing a known sexual abuser in a home with minor children, with no warning to the foster parents (and with reassurances), is tantamount to “deliberate indifference.” Rather, I believe a reasonable jury could quite easily conclude that such conduct “shocks the conscience.” As the Bryans quite correctly note, it is “shocking” that a “government employee would knowingly place a sexual predator into a home with a nine-year-old unsuspecting child, and give the [foster parents] a false document, which omits the predatory history of the child.”

Bonnie has become a super friend to me over the years and I am very happy to see an injustice righted finally. There is a lot more that I know but it's not my place to share this information. Bonnie and I have a lot of common, including our private agency defendants.

In case anyone is wondering why I posted about this lawsuit, check out who the state child welfare agency is. Same state that licensed Adoption International Program and Main Street.

Jay P. Deratany, the attorney for the Bryans, is part of the reason IL has their Adoption Reform Act. Here are some of the provisions:

The Act provides basic protections for families including: a Bill of Rights for Biological Parents and Adoptive Parents; assurances that agencies disclose policies, fees, and other relevant material prior to a child’s placement in advance of adoption; and requirement that the fees agencies charge are reasonable. The law further requires all child welfare organizations providing adoption services to be 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations, and bands unlicensed companies from advertising adoption services in Illinois. DCFS is also required under the law to license any entity providing adoption services for compensation, and to establish a statewide adoption complaint registry.

The statute also prohibits waivers of liability in contracts.

Be nice if other states followed this trend. It would also be nice if IL would implement the law fully. Other than an out-of-date page on licensed adoption agencies on the IL DCFS website and agency posting annual reports on their websites (some are inaccurate when cross checked with court records stating the agency hasn't been sued when they indeed have), other protections for members of the triad are a lot of pretty words on a piece of legislation. The statewide adoption complaint registry, never started. DCFS whined they needed millions of dollars to set up a toll-free number to ring in their agency licensure department. HUH?

IL also has a foster parent law, same tune, different words.

America's Most Wanted Update

2009-01-02T19:47:00.001-08:00

Due to the recent capture and arrest of Orson Mozes, the segment on America's Most Wanted will now air on January 31, 2009 at 9/8 C on FOX.

Orson Mozes Captured

2008-12-30T17:26:00.000-08:00

I realize it is hard for the media to keep all of our children and time periods straight, but the ten days spent bonding with our child only refers to the time we spent with Stas. Stephen was the third child and we spent a month bonding with him.

A TRULY Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-12-29T14:21:00.000-08:00

Click on the title of this post to read the newspaper article. Orson is FINALLY in JAIL!!!!!!! A tip was called into America's Most Wanted and they arrested him today in Miami. This is truly a VERY, VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Article on Lawsuit Against Main Street Adoptions

2008-12-28T07:52:00.000-08:00

Click on the title of this post and it will take you to the article about the lawsuit against Main Street Adoptions. Joni Fixel is the attorney handling the case :)

Video on Orson Mozes

2008-12-27T10:13:00.000-08:00

More Orson Mozes Press: Naples News

2008-12-26T16:18:00.000-08:00

One of ‘America’s Most Wanted’ may have slipped through Collier’s legal system

By RYAN MILLSOriginally published 05:46 p.m., December 26, 2008Updated 05:46 p.m., December 26, 2008

NAPLES — Authorities are investigating whether a fugitive featured on the television program “America’s Most Wanted” was arrested in Collier County in November, but then bonded out and slipped away before anyone knew his true identity.

Norma Hansen, a criminal investigator for the district attorney’s office in Santa Barbara, Calif., said she has evidence that 57-year-old Orson Mozes, who is wanted in California on 62 counts of theft by false pretenses for running an international adoption scam, was arrested in Collier County on Nov. 15 using the alias “Jack Rose.” The Florida Highway Patrol made the arrest.
Rose was charged with possession of a forged or stolen driver license and driving without a license, but posted an $8,000 bond and skipped town before his court appearance.

Hansen said Mozes was then arrested twice in Miami-Dade County, in mid-December using the alias Jerry Brosse, but bonded out and slipped away each time.

“Our sheriff’s department’s warrants bureau got a call from the Miami-Dade warrants bureau saying, ‘We had this guy in custody on the 21st, but he bailed out,’” Hansen said.

The aliases “Jack Rose” and “Jerry Brosse” are showing up on Mozes’ criminal history, Hansen said.

A warrant for Mozes’ arrest was signed on April 1, in Santa Barbara. According to an affidavit, Mozes operated an international adoption agency, Adoption International Program, from his California mansion.
He told prospective parents that he could “hold” children for them in foreign countries, primarily Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Russia. The prospective parents then sent the agency a fee, generally between $7,000 and $11,000, to “hold” the child, the affidavit said.

After paying, a majority of the parents were told “Your child is no longer available,” reports said. On at least 10 occasions Mozes promised the same child to multiple adoptive parents, investigators said.

The affidavit lists 62 victims with an estimated loss of more than $1 million.
Paula Cade, a paralegal for the Michigan law firm handling the civil lawsuit against Adoption International Program, said Mozes was illegally posting photos of Kazakhstan children on Web sites.

“Somebody would see child number 47 and they’d say ‘I want to adopt child 47,’” Cade said. “Six or seven people wanted to adopt child 47, and Orson took money from all these people.”

Mozes “disappeared” in June 2007, according to the affidavit. His ex-wife told authorities he took $500,000 at the time he “took off.”

He was featured on America’s Most Wanted in August.

“We had no idea where he was, if he was even still alive,” Hansen said.
Around 6 p.m. on Nov. 14, Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Roberto Castilla pulled over a white, four-door Mazda traveling at 85 mph in a 70 mph zone in the westbound lanes of Interstate 75 near the Collier toll plaza, according to an arrest report.

The driver handed Castilla a California license with the name “Jack Rose.” He said he was “heading to Tampa to see his girlfriend’s father,” reports said.
The license didn’t check out, however, coming back to a Manruque Bucio Torres. When asked for another form of identification, the driver handed over a Social Security card that also didn’t check out, coming back to a Miguel Rico, the Florida Highway Patrol reported.

The driver was arrested and booked into the Collier County jail.
He posted bond and was released instead of appearing before a judge. A bench warrant was issued for his arrest after he failed to show at his Dec. 8 court date.
“We had no control over the FHP establishing a bond for him,” said Jim Williams, chief of investigations for the Collier County Sheriff’s Office. “If the trooper established a bond for him, as soon as he is able to make that bond ... he’s free to go.”

Williams said the Sheriff’s Office does not set bond for charges a driver is arrested on, instead requiring an appearance before a judge to buy time to determine the driver’s identity.

When reached on his cell phone Friday, Florida Highway Patrol spokesman, Lt. Chris Miller, said he was unaware of the arrest. He said it would only be second guessing to say how Castilla identified the driver of the Mazda.

“If the arresting officer felt like he had identified that individual, then he would go by the bond schedule,” Miller said, referring to standard bond procedures.
Williams said he believes the Mazda driver’s fingerprints were run through the Sheriff’s Office’s computer databases, and were not flagged. He said the Sheriff’s Office is working with state and federal authorities to determine if Jack Rose is, in fact, Orson Mozes.

“It potentially could be,” Williams said. “He’s got numerous AKAs, but we need to have confirmation of fingerprints from the FBI that it is who we think it is.”
Because Mozes’ previous arrest record is from the 1970s, authorities said it is possible his fingerprints are not in automated databases.

“How did they let him bond out without determining who he really was?” Cade asked. “That’s what bothers me about this. That’s what bothers a lot of my clients, too.”

Anyone with information about Orson Mozes’ whereabouts is asked to contact their local authorities, or America’s Most Wanted confidential hotline at 1-800-CRIME-TV.

Orson Mozes Arrested in Florida - and RELEASED - TWICE!!!

2008-12-26T07:17:00.000-08:00

Crime Tracker Alert: Most Wanted Criminal in SWFL?
Posted: Dec 24, 2008 9:44 PM EST
Dec 24, 2008 09:44 PM EST
Updated: Dec 26, 2008 8:09 AM EST
Dec 26, 2008 08:09 AM EST

On Fox's "America's Most Wanted," John Walsh tracks fugitives. But not everyone is brought to justice, like Orson Mozes. He's wanted in Santa Barbara County, California for running an adoption scam and stealing at least a million dollars from dozens of innocent people.

"I don't think any words could give it justice," says Dawn DeLorenzo of New Jersey. She says she's one of Mozes' victims. "We first came into contact with Orson Mozes when we decided in April of 2006, after a few unsuccessful fertility treatments, to look into adoption," explains DeLorenzo. Dawn and her husband say they gave Mozes' agency over $26,000 in fees to adopt three orphans overseas in Kazakhstan. The couple went abroad and spent thousands more, but never got their money's worth. The adoptions fell through and so did their dreams. "You start imagining your future together with that child," laments DeLorenzo.

So where is Orson Mozes? "He's most likely somewhere in Florida," says Criminal Investigator Norma Hansen of the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office. More Specifically, he could be somewhere in South Florida or Southwest Florida. "Up until a couple of days ago we weren't even really sure if he was alive or still in the country," explains Hansen. Using the alias "Jack Rose," Hansen discovered Mozes was arrested in Collier County in November for having a fake driver's license and fake social security number. Despite his felony warrant in Santa Barbara County, he was able to bond out and walk the streets. Hansen says she doesn't know how he was able to slip through the fingers of law enforcement. "Not being law enforcement in Florida, I don't know what the procedure is before someone's released- if they check their fingerprints."
Investigator Hansen also found out Mozes was arrested just last Sunday in Miami for petty theft. Just like Collier County he was able to bond out of jail.
Hansen says, "It's very frustrating for me, but more so for all the victims."

As for Dawn DeLorenzo, she has mixed feelings. She explains, "We're very happy to know that he's still in the country. (But) disappointed that for some reason he was allowed to go. I don't know what happened there- who dropped the ball, but I'm sure that they're going to get him."

If you see Orson Mozes or know his whereabouts, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office wants you to call police immediately. He is not considered armed or dangerous. He is considered a flight risk.

Posted By: Rosemary Connors
rconnors@fox4now.com

Lisa Novak GUILTY: A Victory for All PAPs & APs

2008-12-13T17:38:00.000-08:00

This is a true victory for all PAPs (and APs) who were lied to, mistreated, and victimized by their adoption agency. I believe the message is becoming loud and clear: You cannot use orphans to bilk people of their money, their dreams, and their sanity! This woman deserves EVERYTHING that is happening to her ~ and more! I think there are many more guilty verdicts in the future!

Jury Begins Deliberations in Novak Trial (Claar Foundation)

2008-12-09T16:00:00.000-08:00

By Heath Urie (Contact)
Originally published 08:00 a.m., December 9, 2008 Updated 01:46 p.m., December 9, 2008

The fate of a former Erie trustee accused of stealing money from prospective parents who used her former Boulder-based adoption agency is now in the hands of a jury.

Lisa Novak, 48, began her trial on multiple theft and fraud charges last Monday. The trial was expected to last up to 12 days, however Novak's defense attorney, Lance Goff, did not call any witnesses and both sides were able to rest their cases on Monday.

Novak did not take the stand in her own defense. Her attorney told jurors that Novak's company policy was clear that fees from prospective parents were not refundable.

Prosecutor Michael Foote began his closing arguments Tuesday by telling the jury that the trial has been "sad."

“This trial was a sad one to sit through for many different reasons," he said. "It was sad to see someone like Lisa Novak stoop so low on so many occasions. It was sad to see so many of her clients betrayed."

Foote said Novak lied to clients.

“All they wanted to do was to bring a child into their family," he said. "Instead, they had to deal with Ms. Novak who was deceptive and manipulative all the way.”

Foote said Novak was the "president, CEO and accountant" of Claar Foundation, and that she was responsible for the decisions of the company.

Novak cannot hide behind a "corporate shield," he said.
Foote told the jury that Novak took her clients' money to sustain her own paycheck, knowing she could not return it or deliver on promises to hopeful families.

“Ms. Novak refuses to take responsibility for that manipulation," Foote said.

"Somebody needs to stand up and tell Ms. Novak this is wrong.”

“She won't do it herself. Ladies and gentlemen, that someone, is you.”

Novak's attorney, Lance Goff, began to deliver his closing arguments shortly after 12:20 p.m.

“This is a business failure case," Goff told the jury. “Every business that fails will be left with creditors. Every one of the complainants in this case is a creditor or potential creditor of Claar Foundation.”

Goff said all the clients who signed on with Novak's former company agreed to certain policies, including that refunding money was never an option.

“Claar Foundation's fee policy is very clear," Goff said. "All fees paid are for services rendered and are non-refundable.”

The panel of jurors were sent to deliberate Novak's fate beginning at 1:30 p.m.
Novak faces nine counts of theft and one count of fraud by check.

Novak is suspected of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from parents hoping to adopt children from other countries. Her former Boulder-based Claar Foundation is at the center of the allegations, with prosecutors saying she used the foundation to help settle a lawsuit brought by her brother.

Focus on Children Defendants to Plead Guilty

2008-12-09T15:54:00.000-08:00

By Pamela Manson
The Salt Lake Tribune
December 09, 2009

Former operators and employees of a Wellsville adoption agency accused of fraud in connection with the adoptions of Samoan children are expected to enter guilty pleas in the case.

In a hearing Tuesday afternoon before U.S. District Judge David Sam in Salt Lake City, a prosecutor and defense attorneys for the Focus on Children defendants say they are working out the final details on plea deals for five of the seven defendants in the case.

The judge scheduled hearings for Jan. 6, when plea negotiations are expected to be complete. Four defendants -- Karen Banks, Scott Banks, Coleen Bartlett and Karalee Thornock -- are slated to enter guilty pleas at a morning hearing. The fifth defendant, Dan Wakefield, will appear at an afternoon hearing.

The U.S. government has been unable to extradite the other two defendants, Samoan citizens Tagaloa Ieti and Julie Tuiletufuga, and they are not part of these negotiations.

The lawyers involved in the case declined to give details of the plea agreements.
A federal grand jury in Salt Lake City issued a 135-count indictment in 2007 charging the defendants with fraud and immigration violations.

The indictment claimed the Focus on Children workers duped parents in Samoa into giving the agency their children, falsely saying they would return to them when they turned 18.

In addition, prospective adoptive parents in the United States allegedly were falsely told that the youngsters were orphans.

U.S. immigration laws required the children to be orphans, defined as abandoned by both parents or left with one parent who cannot provide care.
The alleged conspiracy involved about 80 children.

The defendants all pleaded not guilty. Lawyers for the Bankses, who operated Focus on Children, said four of Samoa's most prestigious attorneys had given sworn affidavits describing how Samoan birth parents were repeatedly told they were giving up legal rights to their children and should not expect to see them again.

Focus on Children ceased operations in Utah in the summer of 2007.
pmanson@sltrib.com

America's Most Wanted Airing Sat. 1/3/2009

2008-12-08T12:50:00.000-08:00

So, the America's Most Wanted piece about Orson will air on Saturday, January 3rd at 9/8 C on FOX. You have to check your local listings to see what channel it shows on in your area. God willing, someone will know where the scumbag is and call in.

Sue Hedberg ~ More Scum in the International Adoption Pond

2008-12-03T18:54:00.000-08:00

Oviedo agency faces multiple complaints
By Amanda Welch December 03, 2008

OVIEDO - Minnesota couple Mike and Lesley Harmoning spent an emotionally draining five years trying to have a child before they decided to adopt.
In September 2007 they chose Celebrate Children International, a Christian international adoption agency in Oviedo, to handle the adoption. Harmoning said everything ran like clockwork - at first.

By January 2007 they were sent pictures of their newborn daughter Daphne, a Guatemalan infant. By March, they had visited Daphne in her home country, and in April, the adoption was reviewed by the Guatemalan attorney general's office, the Procuradur a General de la Nacion, or PGN.

But then Harmoning found out there were problems. They were told by CCI that their case had been sent back later that month, but that the corrections were made and their case was re-submitted to the PGN in May.

In e-mails Harmoning kept from CCI, the adoption agency told her the case had been rejected from PGN again in June. And then again in August. And again in September. When October came around with no word from CCI, Harmoning said she began to wonder.

"It was really just like this gut instinct that something's not right here," she said. "They're not being up front with me. They're not sharing information without me asking."

It took nearly a year from the first time Mike and Lesley Harmoning saw pictures of their daughter Daphne before the adoption was finalized. And they're not the only couple to complain about how Oviedo CCI handled their case.

During October last year, the Florida Department of Children and Families' central region licensing office received 10 other anonymous complaints about CCI. They were taken by DCF's lead licensing specialist, Amy Hammett, and obtained by the Chronicle through a public records request.

Besides the Harmonings, three other families from the file have confirmed their documented stories with the Chronicle, but wanted to remain anonymous.
Hammett conducted investigations at CCI's office on Oct. 26 and Oct. 30 of last year. She interviewed CCI's director, Sue Hedberg, to address complaints about the length of the adoption process, the contractual restraints, Hedberg's income, and the use of psychological evaluations as scare tactics to force inquisitive clientele to quiet down.

Because the complainants requested anonymity, Hammett said she had to rely heavily on her interviews with CCI director Sue Hedberg. The result was one-sided findings that were almost wholly attributed to Hedberg. Hammett did recommend that CCI improve its record keeping and communication with clientele.

The Harmoning family filed a complaint against CCI after a series of events. Because of the contract they signed with the agency, the only contact the Harmonings had up to that point was with CCI.

CCI's adoption contract does not allow adopting parents to contact anyone overseas without the adoption agency's consent. This restraint, the contract explained, was to prevent miscommunications and inaccurate information from crossing borders.

Harmoning said she called the PGN anyway and was told that the case had not been re-submitted since May.

In e-mails, she confronted CCI with this information. The adoption agency's e-mailed response admonished Harmoning for breaching contract, warning her that because of her "anger," that, "there may be some extra steps warranted before completing this adoption."

CCI's contract also allowed the agency to request extra measures at its discretion, such as parenting classes and psychological evaluations.
"That's when I was devastated," she said. "I'm thinking, 'Something is wrong with my case ... I don't know when my daughter is coming home.'"

So the Harmonings hired an independent organization to check on their case. In an e-mail sent to the Harmonings on Oct. 15, 2007, the organization, Adoption Supervisors, confirmed that the case had not been re-submitted to the PGN since May.

That month, Harmoning filed her complaint against CCI with DCF, becoming one of the 10 that sparked the investigation.

The extent to which DCF can control adoption agencies relies on Florida statutes and DCF administrative code, which address virtually nothing about international adoption and is being updated for the first time in 15 years.
DCF spokeswoman Sarrah Troncoso said DCF hopes to make Florida compliant with the Hague Adoption Convention, which set standards to prevent human trafficking, abuse, pay-offs and profiting in international adoption.

In January of this year, Guatemala stopped all new adoptions to the U.S. indefinitely because the U.S. is not compliant with the Hague Convention.
There is no entity that oversees the adoptions from beginning to end. Instead, various agencies, such as DCF, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Embassy, assume responsibility for different parts of the process.

The broken-up system has thus become prone to children falling through the cracks, as with Maria Fernanda and her younger sister, Ana Christina.
Earlier this year, an anonymous complainant accused CCI of nearly adopting out the two girls, who had been stolen from their mother, according to Guatemalan press and the complainant's account.

The girls had since been given back to their mother, but the complaint spurred a second investigation of CCI on April 14. Hammett found that the girls were the Guatemalan government's responsibility, but that CCI had once again been negligent in record keeping and communication.

Although DCF controls licensing for Florida adoption agencies, Hammett said there was not enough evidence to warrant suspending or revoking CCI's license.
But if DCF adopts standards set by the Hague Convention, CCI could be shut down.

The state department designated an independent organization, the Council on Accreditation, to determine which U.S. adoption agencies are compliant with the Hague Convention. Of the more than 200 adoption agencies that the COA has thus examined, only 18 were denied accreditation, COA president and CEO Richard Klarberg said.

CCI was denied in May. The COA was not able to release the details of CCI's denial, but Klarberg said agencies are denied when there is "clear and convincing" evidence that they have violated conditions set by the Hague convention, regarding the adoptability of children.

If DCF requires international adoption agencies to be Hague-accredited, then non-accredited agencies, such as CCI, will have to cease international adoptions.
CCI has facilitated 1,200 adoptions, Hedberg said.

During a September phone interview, Hedberg was aggravated with the complaints and the accreditation denial. She said that the government exerting more control over international adoptions will deprive needy children of homes in the U.S.

"I know we are doing a wonderful thing," Hedberg said.

DCF is currently reviewing its code and hopes to propose changes to a reform committee in January, spokeswoman Troncoso said.

Its Central Florida licensing office is now investigating another CCI complaint about money mismanagement.

Daphne has been at home in Minnesota for almost a year, but Lesley Harmoning no longer communicates with CCI. She still believes she was lied to during those five months last year.

"Sue [Hedberg] to this day will not say that's how it happened," Harmoning said. "She tells me my case was in there the whole time, and I'm wrong about this."

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T07:15:00.001-08:00

State Accuses Commonwealth Adoptions of Fraud

2008-11-25T19:59:00.000-08:00

State accuses Tucson adoption agency of fraud
Attorney general alleges $215,000 in unpaid refunds; Commonwealth says it's been working with families

By Dale Quinn
arizona daily star
Tucson, Arizona Published: 11.19.2008

The state accused a Tucson-based international adoption agency of consumer fraud Tuesday, claiming in a lawsuit the company failed to refund nearly $215,000 to adopting families.

Commonwealth Adoptions International Inc. shut down earlier this year after it was denied the accreditation required by many countries to place children with foreign families.

Families who had already begun the adoption process, some of whom paid thousands of dollars, were denied repayment, documents filed in Pima County Superior Court show.

Commonwealth President Marina Mayhew, Director of Operations Dawn Hill and board members Jim Sellers, James Mayhew, Dan Bish and William Hundelang are each named in the lawsuit.

Mayhew said in an e-mail that Commonwealth was surprised by the accusation and that the company has been working with families so they wouldn't be affected by the closure.

According to the complaint filed by Attorney General Terry Goddard, Commonwealth engaged in a pattern of misrepresentation and deceptive practices when it offered domestic and foreign adoption services to families.

The company entered contracts with families and claimed it would provide adoption services in exchange for fees. Instead, Commonwealth pooled the money, using cash paid by one set of parents to pay for other families' adoptions, the lawsuit says.

More than 20 families asked for refunds when Commonwealth failed to provide those services, but after going out of business the agency said the money had already been used for other families' adoptions, according to the attorney general.

In the e-mail, Mayhew said she hadn't seen the complaint.

The agency learned in July that it had been denied accreditation required by the Hague Convention — a treaty that governs international adoptions, signed by the United States and nearly 75 other countries. The aim of the treaty, which went into effect April 1, is to prevent the illegal trafficking of children and to ensure that international adoption is in the best interest of the child.

"We have been working on transitioning families to other adoption professionals since that time," Mayhew said. "At present, out of 340 families in process at the time of (the) closing announcement, the overwhelming majority have been transferred to other adoption agencies without interruption or having to pay additional fees."

The agency has sought consultation from a bankruptcy attorney but has postponed filing for Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy, Mayhew said. The company put off filing so its volunteer staffers could continue transitioning families to other agencies, she said. Commonwealth had been in business for 15 years and successfully processed more than 2,000 adoptions, Mayhew said.
Commonwealth had offices in Florida, Pennsylvania and Texas, as well as in Tucson at 1585 E. River Road.

● Contact reporter Dale Quinn at 573-4197 or dquinn@azstarnet.com

PAPs Let Daughter Go After Suspicious DNA Results

2008-11-22T16:25:00.000-08:00

Please click on the title of this post to read the story.

They All Fall Down...

2008-11-09T17:50:00.000-08:00

Adoption Agency Called A Brazen Fraud

DETROIT (CN) - Six couples say Main Street Adoption Services, of Lancaster, Pa., took them for more than $250,000 and never delivered any of the babies they promised. Some plaintiffs say they flew to Guatemala, and were put off with lies and misrepresentations. The 12 plaintiffs - six couples - also sued Main Street CEO Nina Heller, director Bob McClenaghan, and agent Marcia Del Carpio. All of them misrepresent themselves as experts in international adoptions, the plaintiffs say.Most of the plaintiffs say they contacted the defendants or were contacted by them defendants through the Web site precious.org. They claim the defendants run Main Street as a "brazen criminal activity," knowing they face "little to no threat of civil action by the adoptive parents because of the constant threat of the Defendant MS stopping any adoption that is currently in the system." They accuse the defendants of fraud, extortion, soliciting bribery and RICO violations. They are represented in Federal Court by Joni Fixel of East Lansing. Click on the title of this post to read the lawsuit.

Project Oz - One of Far Too Many Unscrupulous Adoption Agencies

2008-10-20T13:06:00.000-07:00

Empty wallets, empty cribs for parents of failed international adoptions
BEN MOOK
Daily Record Assistant Business Editor
October 19, 2008 7:22 PM

After their youngest daughter went off to college, Elizabeth and Thomas Rozenbroek decided to make one more addition to the family, paying $25,000 to adopt an 8-year-old Guatemalan girl recommended to them by the owner of an adoption agency. The adoption, facilitated by Project Oz Adoptions Inc., was finalized in December 2005. However, within a few months, the child began to exhibit signs of severe aggression — choking the family dog and attempting to gouge out its eyes, breaking windows and even pulling a knife on a family member. By the time the girl had turned 10, she had been hospitalized for a host of psychiatric problems and police had been called to the Rozenbroek’s Calvert County home no fewer than five times due to the child’s behavior. “It’s just not a good situation, obviously, but it’s what we’re faced with,” Elizabeth Rozenbroek said. “She’s so violent and, as horrible as it is to say, I can’t trust her in the home. So, we have a child who we’ve legally adopted who has been in psychiatric care now more than she’s been in our home.” The child is in long-term residential care now, and the couple (who split up due to stresses from the adoption, Elizabeth Rozenbroek said) have little contact with her outside of a few hours of visitation allowed intermittently and at the discretion of the facility. The Rozenbroeks are among the plaintiffs in a civil racketeering lawsuit against Project Oz and its owner, Kerry Palakanis, filed in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt. The Rozenbroeks contend that Kerry Palakanis never told them about the child’s psychiatric problems or the fact that she had been removed from her original adoptive parents’ home in California because of severe aggressive behavior toward a sibling. A novel approach As an international adoption “facilitator,” Project Oz’s purpose is to put potential parents in touch with the birth mother, an orphanage or other agency to find an adoptable child. The agency is then paid to guide the paperwork through the complex, time-consuming process. For an additional fee, they would take parents to the child’s home country for required visits before adoption. The plaintiffs claim that Palakanis preyed on desperate parents and fleeced them for thousands of dollars in fees with little or no effort put into completing the adoptions of mostly Guatemalan children. “You have heartbroken families with empty bank accounts and empty cribs,” said Joni Fixel, the East Lansing, Mich., co-counsel representing the families with Gary Huggins of Gaithersburg. “What we have are families who are just devastated financially and emotionally.” In their civil lawsuit under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, the plaintiffs paint a picture of threats, extortion and lies during the adoption process. A civil RICO lawsuit is similar to the criminal version made famous by prosecutions against mob figures. With a civil RICO case, however, a criminal conviction is not necessary and treble damages are possible. Barbara McArtney, a New York attorney and board member of Parents for Ethical Adoption Reform, said suing under civil RICO was a novel approach that many advocates of adoption reform were keeping an eye on to see if it is successful. “With civil RICO, it is untested at this point,” McArtney said. “But, right now, parents have no recourse when they get screwed over. It’s just this weird little niche that doesn’t fit anywhere in the law.” Repeated attempts to contact Palakanis were unsuccessful. Robert L Ferguson Jr., with Ferguson, Schetelich & Ballew P.A. in Baltimore, is representing her. Ferguson declined to comment on the case, but said his client planned to respond to the allegations and fight the lawsuit. Incomplete adoptions The Rozenbroeks’ story is just one of eight the complaint sets forth. Andrea and Christopher Campo hired Project Oz to facilitate a Guatemalan adoption in May 2006, a few years after losing their infant daughter. Shortly after contracting with Project Oz, the Campos learned they could adopt a three-day-old Guatemalan girl, Esther, as soon as the necessary paperwork cleared. According to court filings, that never happened. Now, nearly two-and-a-half years later, the Campos have no idea where their daughter is, and have spent not only the original $25,000 fee to Project Oz but an additional $25,000 or so in efforts to complete the adoption. “It’s a sad story that started this, and it hasn’t gotten any better since,” Campo said. “Suddenly, there’s nobody, we’re left here alone, and our child is floating around in Guatemala somewhere and we don’t even know how she is doing.” The Campos have not given up hope, but Andrea said they realize the odds are stacked against them and they have few options left. “Here you think you’ve paid for professional assistance, and next thing you know it’s dumped back in your lap,” Andrea Campo said. “Now we’re looking at international immigration and adoption law on our own. And, what do I know about international adoption law?” Another plaintiff, Theresa Prosper, claims she hired Project Oz to facilitate a Guatemalan adoption in 2006. After completing a home study and signing a required statement that as a single mother she was heterosexual, she soon received notice that she could adopt a two-week-old girl, Geneva. As what was supposed to be a six-month process dragged on, Prosper started asking questions on Internet chat rooms about Project Oz. That, she claims, brought down the wrath of Palakanis, who suddenly started making demands such as requiring parental counseling. “I had already raised three children to adulthood,” the 42-year-old Prosper said. “Now, all of a sudden, after I post something, I need counseling on how to be a mom?” Prosper claims that after reaching a dead-end with Palakanis and Project Oz, she had to hire additional specialists in Guatemala to complete the adoption. Shortly after Geneva’s second birthday in September, the adoption was completed and Prosper was reunited with the daughter she first met when she was only a few weeks old. “It’s been an emotional roller coaster,” Prosper said. “And, now I want [Palakanis] to pay for what she’s done. She has taken from people desperate for a family, who have spent their last dime to bring a child home.” A multibillion dollar industry The case highlights the nebulous world of international adoptions, a multibillion dollar industry fraught with potential problems for parents. “I wish I could say I’d never heard of things like this,” Towson lawyer Carolyn Thaler said. “But I’ve heard it enough that it’s frightening.” Thaler is a member of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, an association that works to reform adoption laws. While not involved in the lawsuit, she said it can be tough for prospective parents to vet agencies and facilitators on their own. The adoption process itself can be difficult because parents invest so much time, money and emotion in the child that agencies can wield that to their advantage. “People get in a position where they’re almost blackmailed,” Thaler said. “They’re afraid if they open their mouth and speak out that they might be left empty-handed.” “A lot of people just don’t really know where to go,” added Huggins, co-counsel on the case against Project Oz. “And these agencies are very good at making these people feel like they are the ones who messed it up.” Huggins, of Huggins and Huggins Law, said he expects the case could grow further and might end up as a class-action lawsuit. He said it could also lead to other lawsuits against agencies which have operated the same way. “There are charlatans out there and a lot of them know how to play the game,” Huggins said. “How many [Project] Ozs are out there? That’s the big question.” “I don’t know yet how deep this goes,” he added, “but I’m confident this thing has legs.” Raising questions The Maryland Department of Human Resources, the licensing body for adoption agencies, is also named in the lawsuit. The parents claim the state was negligent, since it licensed and re-licensed Palakanis despite the fact she had filed for bankruptcy in 1996 in Maryland, was involved with an agency that had its license revoked in Pennsylvania and was the subject of a civil breach of contract lawsuit in Prince George’s County in 2006 that ended in binding arbitration. “If Maryland had done their background checks, it would have raised questions about whether or not [Palakanis] should be trusted with tens of thousands of dollars,” said Fixel, the Michigan lawyer. “If they’re not going to bother even checking, then why have licenses?” The state has filed a motion to dismiss, claiming sovereign immunity under the Eleventh Amendment and the Maryland Tort Claims Act, among other grounds. It also notes that the state’s role in licensing agencies does not make it responsible for the licensee’s actions, or create a duty to specific individuals who deal with the licensee. In an e-mail response to questions about the licensing, DHR spokeswoman Paula Tolson said all agencies undergo a comprehensive application and review process that includes a look at business practices, the staff’s qualifications and criminal background checks. Tolson said the two-year renewal process mirrors the original process. First licensed in 2003 in Calvert County by the Maryland Department of Human Resources, Project Oz grew over the next few years to add satellite offices in Pennsylvania, Illinois and North Carolina. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency, Project Oz was required to file income statements with the IRS. From its inception through 2006 (the last year it filed), Project Oz reported working with more than a thousand clients while collecting millions of dollars in fees. Project Oz’s average adoption fee was around $25,000, which McArtney, the New York reform advocate, said was in line with the industry average. The agency earned a reported $1.8 million in revenue during 2006, and $4.5 million between 2002 and 2005, according to its filings. According to the IRS form, Palakanis was paid $65,000 in 2006 as the CEO of Project Oz. In 2005, she earned $122,000. Today, Project Oz has ceased to exist. The final chapter in its five-year existence came on Sept. 19, when the state of North Carolina revoked the license of its sole remaining office. Palakanis herself resigned in July 2007, although a later investigation determined she didn’t turn over all her files or the agency’s checkbook until the end of the year. The agency’s board of directors closed the Calvert County office in August 2007 and moved Project Oz’s headquarters to Concord, N.C. Amy Davis, a North Carolina adoption attorney, took over as executive director. About that same time, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services started receiving complaints about Palakanis and initiated an investigation. In February, North Carolina notified Project Oz it was revoking its license for “serious” violations of licensure rules. Davis, who had stepped down briefly but returned by December 2007, appealed the decision and tried to correct the deficiencies, according to North Carolina authorities. Last month, both sides agreed to close the agency, which by that time had a mere $4,000 in the bank and dozens of prospective parents with adoptions pending, the lawsuit says. In revoking Project Oz’s license, North Carolina cited “extensive evidence of mismanagement of the agency” by Palakanis along with a number of regulatory violations. But, because of Davis’ efforts to keep the agency afloat, they barred her from opening a new child-placing agency in the state for just one year instead of the maximum of five years. Davis declined to be interviewed for this story. Caveat emptor Even with state oversight, prospective parents are largely left to their own devices to figure out where to turn and how much to pay. The Maryland Department of Human Resources makes it clear on its adoption Web page that it has no control over agencies’ fees. “All private agencies charge a fee for their services,” the department says on its Web site. “There is no limit on the amount an agency may charge.” The U.S. State Department also cautions parents about the risks associated with adoption. “It is buyer beware to some extent,” said William Bistransky, a representative of the State Department’s Office of Children’s Issues. On the State Department’s Web site, the “Frequently Asked Questions” section goes into greater detail. “The State Department has received a growing number of complaints concerning adoption facilitators operating in various countries. Licensing of agents and facilitators is done in accordance with local law,” the FAQ says. “Unfortunately, not all foreign governments require that agents and facilitators be licensed,” the site says. “Accordingly, it can be difficult to hold facilitators accountable for fraud, malfeasance, or other bad practices in general.” Stephen J. Cullen, a principal at Miles & Stockbridge P.C., agreed that in general, in his experience, the business of international adoptions is fraught with corruption and fraud. “It’s absolutely outrageous what’s been going on,” Cullen said. “These are parents who are desperate to help a child and you have people preying on them and charging exorbitant fees, if not using extortionist tactics as well.” Cullen represented a California woman who sued Project Oz in Prince George’s County in 2006. The case was settled in binding arbitration; Cullen declined to comment on the case and is precluded from discussing it and Project Oz as part of the agreement. Court records, though, indicate that Cullen’s client alleged she hired Project Oz in March 2005, paid them $25,845, and received a letter in August 2005 terminating the agreement due to “lack of communication and cooperation.” The Guatemalan adoption was never completed, according to the original complaint in the court’s file. Hague Adoption Convention Bistransky said the implementation of an internationally agreed-upon set of standards will add more layers of protection for parents and children involved in cross-border adoptions. The standards, known as the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (or the Hague Adoption Convention), were officially adopted in the U.S. in April. Since then, international adoption agencies need “Hague” accreditation to bring children back from countries, such as Guatemala, that adhere to the convention. While the Department of State does not perform the actual accreditation — it is done through either of two independent entities — it does believe the changes will be beneficial. Complaints and compliance issues are handled by the accrediting agencies, which the State Department’s Bistransky said would add another layer of protection for customers that did not exist before. “I think this will go a long way to prevent these unscrupulous activities,” he said. “We’ve gone from buyer beware to a system where you still have to do that, but there are more safeguards in place.” Even with the Hague changes, though, McArtney is afraid there will continue to be problems. In addition to her advocacy work, the New York lawyer is the director of Graham’s Gift Children’s Foundation, primarily a home-study agency that does not do child placements — although at one point McArtney considered getting into that field. “The problem is, you have these agencies — some who go in with the best of intentions — and they see the money you can make and just can’t back out,” she said. “It’s an unmonitored money flow left and right.”

Christen Brown's Pathetic Attempt to Dismiss Case

2008-09-21T15:15:00.000-07:00

Christen Brown's attorney filed a Motion to Dismiss - thankfully, but not surprisingly, it was denied. This woman is a character! She wants people to believe that she had "nothing" to do with AIP in spite of the fact that she is the EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR of the corporation and the fact that Orson Mozes could not have operated an adoption agency with her - as she was the one with the credentials to get licensed. Even if we fell for the pathetic excuse that she "had no clue" what Orson was doing...last time I checked - ignorance was not an excuse for breaking the law. Orson Mozes would not have been capable of defrauding numerous victims if it were not for the actions of Christen Brown.

It is laughable that she holds herself out to be "altruistic" in her efforts to salvage the company after Orson "disappeared". In an effort to conjure up sympathy , her attorney, describes her "selfless" efforts to keep the company afloat by investing her "own" money. We should have pity that she spent money to "attempt" to hold off a deluge of lawsuits by investing "her own money" in her own company? Boo-hoo. And all while living in her shabby little 3.5 million dollar house. Poor, poor Christen. PLEASE!

My biggest question is this: Why is she so unhelpful in the investigation to find her husband if she is suffering so much over his actions? Would you be a pretty pissed off woman if your husband truly robbed you and left you holding the bag? And yet, she has been described by the DA's office as being less than helpful. Do you mean to tell me that she has NO WAY of tracking down her husband - the father of her child? Once again - PLEASE!

Waiting Angels Lawsuit: New Pleadings

2008-09-19T12:25:00.000-07:00

The Amended Complaint can be read HERE. The Answer to the Amended Complaint can be read HERE.

Adoption News You Can Use

2008-09-19T09:38:00.000-07:00

New legal pleadings for Adoption International Program (Orson Mozes, Christen Brown and Kevin Anderson) and Project Oz (Kerry Palakanis) have been uploaded to Scribd.com. These are all official court records and thus public. Dawn gets the honor of explaining what happened in court RE: AIP.

In other news, Masha Allen has filed a law suit against the agencies involved in her adoption by a pedophile. At this time, I have not downloaded the pleadings from PACER, but hope to obtain copies soon. http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-njdce/case_no-1:2008cv04614/case_id-220087/. I wish Masha the best.

AIP pleadings:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6111009/AIP-SJ-order1-091508

http://www.scribd.com/doc/6110994/AIP-Response-MTD-082208

http://www.scribd.com/doc/6110977/AIP-Motion-to-Dismiss

http://www.scribd.com/doc/6110964/AIP-Amended-Complaint-Part-1-062008

http://www.scribd.com/doc/6110953/AIP-Amended-Complaint-Part-2-062008

Project Oz Civil RICO complaint:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/6111162/POZ-Civil-RICO-Complaint-Filed

RE: Project Oz - be prepared to cry as you read this complaint.

Article in Conceive Magazine

2008-08-16T18:39:00.000-07:00

The fall 2008 issue of Conceive Magazine just hit the stands. If you click the title of this post you can read the article that we were interviewed for. Joni is quoted as well as Maria Fullana-Jornet and her husband Carlos Iudica. My husband thinks it makes us sound like idiots. I think it is a good article. What do you guys think?

Interesting Article in USA Today

2008-08-14T07:17:00.000-07:00

If you click the title of this post it will take you to the article. I am always amazed by the readers' comments. People are so judgemental, especially when it comes to adoption! Would you ever think of telling a person when they should get pregnant or who they should have a child with? NO! Yet, strangers feel it is acceptable to tell PAPs where they should adopt from and openly share their opinions about all aspects of their journey to parenthood.

Adoption Blessings Worldwide Documents

2008-07-25T18:26:00.000-07:00

All of the documents relevant to Adoption Blessings Worldwide, owned by Tedi Hedstrom (as well as her former company, Tedi Bear Adoptions) can be viewed HERE.

THANK YOU ALL!

2008-07-23T14:24:00.001-07:00

We are amazed and feel so blessed by the outpouring of support! We can't thank you all enough. This enables us to move toward being "paper-ready" by getting our home study updated and to reapply for our I171h and get our fingerprints. This is truly an act of faith as we have no idea what the future holds. We feel incredibly blessed by all of your support!

Reaching Out for Help...

2008-07-21T13:55:00.000-07:00

Joe and I were not ready to share this information until now and our hand is being forced somewhat by need. During our meeting with the Ambassador and Head of the Consular Dept. we were told that Stephen and his brother would be available for adoption in the near future. We found out today that they are free and clear for adoption immediately. While we would not have to redo our entire dossier, we would have to update our home study and reapply for the I171h. This is a HUGE leap of faith for us as we are not being promised anything - they cannot hold the boys for us and there are still MANY questions which they are seeking answers for us.
However, to even get the ball rolling costs money that we do not have. As I have shared before - we have lost over $75,000.00 due to the crimes of Orson Mozes. We do not even have available credit or we would use that. We are reaching out to the adoption and blog community for help. We do not know what will come, but we feel God is at work in our lives as well as Stephen and his brother's lives right now. We are taking a HUGE risk by allowing our hearts and minds to even consider this possibility. Our wounds are hardly healed and we may have our hearts torn apart again. But our love for Stephen is, and always, remains. He is our son. He will always have a place in our hearts...and it will be a true miracle and for God's glory if he is finally able to come home. Would you consider helping us and being a part of this journey of faith?

Another One Bites the Dust: Adoption Blessings Worldwide (Tedi Hedstrom) To Surrender License

2008-07-17T15:38:00.001-07:00

Another one bites the dust: Tedi Hedstrom, owner of Adoption Blessings Worldwide, is surrendering her Georgia license on July 31st. Her attorney stated:

In a statement released by her attorney, Rick Rumrell, Hedstrom says she's been "....praying that God give her direction in regards to the future...with Adoption Blessings Worldwide.... It is with great regret that Adoption Blessings Worldwide and Tedi Hedstrom will be formally closing its doors to adoption services."

Hopefully, this will be the end (permanently) of Tedi Hedstrom. This is the second time she has had to surrender her license. The first time she was forced to surrender her Florida license after numerous DCH violations and complaints from PAPs. You can see and read about her former violations and read all of the Cease and Desist notices and press at the Cribs and Crimes Scribd Page HERE. The most recent DCH Statement of Deficiencies (June 2008) can be read HERE.

Other documents of interest are the Annual Re-licensure Study conducted in 2006 and again in 2007.

Joni Fixel, the attorney representing the victims of Adoption International Program, Inc. (Orson Mozes, Christen Brown, and Kevin Anderson) as well as the attorney who handled the case against Waiting Angels , is representing the victims of Adoption Blessings Worldwide. You can contact her at http://www.fixellawoffices.com/ if you have any questions or feel you may be the victim of a fraudulent adoption.

Fall 2008 Conceive Magazine

2008-07-14T02:57:00.003-07:00

I did an interview for the fall 2008 issue of Conceive Magazine that will be on the stands soon. The article is about avoiding adoption scams. Hopefully, those who read it will avoid the heartache that far too many of us have endured. Choosing a reputable agency is key. Unfortunately, sometimes the information comes too late and once they have your money you are committed to the point where it would be difficult to walk away.

One of the things that Ambassador Idrissov (Kazakhstan) was concerned about was how to determine which agencies are "good" and which are not. Does anyone know how Russia determines who is "approved" to facilitate adoptions in their country?

Productive Meeting With Ambassador Idrissov

2008-07-11T06:27:00.000-07:00

Joe and I were invited to meet with Ambassador Idrissov yesterday in Washington, DC. It was a long drive, but worth it. It was a very productive meeting. Ambassador Idrissov, as one could imagine, is very proud of his country and heritage. He does not want crooks like Nigmat and other unscrupulous coordinators to mar the image of his country. There are many people in Kazakhstan who care deeply for the orphans that are unfortunately not in the spotlight. He is dedicated to making changes and rooting out these incidences of corruption.

He is very concerned with the amount of money that agencies are charging American parents because it is not in line with the actual costs of an adoption in Kazakhstan. One of the major problems in the United States (which is the only country that Kazakhstan has these problems with) is that the U.S. does not have one governing regulating body. In all other European countries there is a centralized system and private adoption agencies do not exist.

Since the Ambassador obviously cannot change how the American adoption system works he has the difficult challenge of discerning which agencies are "above board" and which are not. The key to that is transparency. This is indeed a difficult task as some of the very agencies charging inordinate amounts are Hague accredited!

Also present at the meeting was Almat Aidarbekov, Head of the Consular Section. Almat was very cordial and sympathetic to the process that American parents go through in order to adopt. He was able to provide us with factual information about Stephen and his baby brother. Joe and I are not ready to make any public statements about this information, but promise to share as soon as we feel comfortable.

Meeting with Ambassador Erlan A. Idrissov

2008-07-08T09:48:00.000-07:00

Well, Joe thinks I am crazy, but I am going to drive to Washington, DC and meet with Ambassador Idrissov on Thursday morning. They can only spare a half an hour so I am not quite sure what can be accomplished in such limited time, but for me it is something I have to do to gain closure.

We got the same answers over and over and over again about our son, Stephen and while I have no idea if the Ambassador has any new details to offer I am willing to go this one last "mile" so to speak for closure.

One of my MAIN concerns is that Nigmat is still making millions off babies ~ which means the director of the baby house and someone in the MOE is also being paid off. If the only thing that comes out of this meaning is a commitment on the Ambassador's part to stopping Nigmat I will be glad. Jail time for Nigmat would be glorious!

I Am More Than My Infertility

2008-07-06T07:01:00.001-07:00

Marina Lombardo, the co-author of I Am More Than My Infertility posted about our blog (click the title of this post to read it.) I just finished reading her book and it is a MUST read for anyone dealing with the challenges of infertility. You can purchase the book on Amazon or you can purchase it directly through their website at http://www.iammore.net/. Marina Lombardo writes a column called Emotionally Speaking for Conceive Magazine which she describes on her website:

My column in Conceive Magazine is a place to share your stories, ask your questions, and learn from one another’s experiences. Wherever you are on your journey, you have only to reach out to realize you have lots of company. As women, one of our greatest strengths lies in our willingness to share our stories, connect with others…and marvel at how the threads of our experiences bind and connect us all. Let “Emotionally Speaking“ be a place for you to reach out, and a reminder that doing so is an essential part of this truly transformational journey.

It is such a blessing that infertility is an issue that therapists like Marina are devoting their practice and expertise to. Perhaps adoption loss will soon be an area of practice in the field that will help guide adoptive parents through the stages of grief of this unique loss.

OMG! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!

2008-07-01T17:00:00.000-07:00

I am totally freaking out right now! I have been e-mailing and snail mailing the Dr. Phil show for a year now...and WE GOT A CALL THAT THEY ARE INTERESTED IN OUR STORY! OMG!

Are You Drowning in Paper Clutter?

2008-07-01T11:08:00.000-07:00

I normally don't write about products, but I absolutely LOVE this scanner! It scans things in a snap (hence the name - lol) and instantly converts it to a PDF. You can scan and organize all of your paperwork sooo easily! I just scanned all of our taxes for the last several years and organized them by year in their own "file cabinet" just for taxes. I am scan happy now and I am determined to get all of my paperwork scanned and organized this summer. I purchased mine for just over $250.00 on eBay.

Bloggers Unite to Confront AP

2008-06-28T05:27:00.000-07:00

This is an important issue in the blogosphere and if you are a blogger you should take notice. The Associated Press has issued take-down notices for several blog posts that quoted their articles (even though credit was given and it was directly quoted.) They are unconcerned with fair use and are looking to charge up to $12.50 per word for bloggers who quote their articles! Please read more about this and sign the petition.

Reply from Embassy...

2008-06-27T16:05:00.001-07:00

Dear Mr. and Mrs. De Lorenzo,

First of all, many thanks for your recent letters. As I mentioned before, your situation and similar cases, being of course very sad and regrettable, is a source of valuable information for the Embassy in our efforts to identify and eliminate weak points of the adoption process.

I would like to note, however, that you seem to misunderstand some of our messages.

The Embassy is working on the “adoption reform” at our end i.e. in the US. That is to say – we are trying to make sure that prospective parents have easy and transparent access to proper information on the adoption process, that the US adoption agencies allow no unscrupulous practices in their work with Kazakhstan and serve their clients in an effective manner, and that the Embassy itself is an effective body serving the best interests of, first and foremost, our kids and their parents.
There are our colleagues, professionally dealing with adoption issues, children protection and anticorruption struggle, who are doing their best to make the adoption process on the ground, ie in Kazakhstan (which is fairly good today, I will give you some examples below) even better.
My email related to your blog was also misunderstood, I believe I should have better explained my thoughts. From your letters we understood that you had a very negative experience in Kazakhstan and you of course would like to share your impressions with other parents-to-be. That is your inalienable right, of course, and my letter was not in any way related to that issue. What disappointed me personally was your reference to our efforts as “lip service”. We have just started the improvement process and all its results are yet to be seen and I believe it is at least unfair to refer to it at this initial stage as nothing more than words.

Besides, thank you for your questions below. Some of them are quite reasonable, whereas some of your messages look like an attempt to put additional pressure on us. We made it very clear in the news bulletin that we will not yield to any kind of pressure and will keep on improving the process according to our own vision. It was my personal intention to explain to you our efforts as your letter was the only critical response to the news bulletin, however we will carry on improving the adoption process in the best interests of children and parents, with or without your support. The government and its agencies, which deal with adoption on a day-to-day basis, understand all the challenges and problems, and see opportunities for improvement much better than any external observer.

Yesterday you mentioned that you had no confirmation of the receipt of your letter from our office, yes we never waste time on just confirming the receipt of letters – we WORK on them and then get back to senders with results in hand. Those who prefer to check if their correspondence is delivered, just send us emails themselves and we confirm it that way.

As far as your particular case is concerned we hope to receive info from Kazakhstan quite soon, and then we will set up a meeting when Ambassador’s schedule permits. If you can send us copies of your court papers, please do so. The more info we have in hand, the better.

Just to show you that adoption in Kazakhstan can be a pleasant experience, and it usually is, let me use just a couple of extracts from the emails that we started receiving from American parents after the release of the bulletin (no names, of course).

“My wife and I have tremendous respect for the adoption system in Kazakhstan, it is truly unique in its emphasis on ensuring a healthy transition for the child, as well as significant gratitude for the caregivers who looked after our daughter in the first two years of her life… We would appreciate any opportunity to give back to the country we have come to love and feel grateful to”.

“If it wasn't for Kazakhstan, I wouldn't have my much-loved daughter. Once I traveled to Kazakhstan, the coordinator …was great. After my glowing experience with the agency, coordinator and country, … have decided to adopt from Kazakhstan”

Best regards as ever,

Zhanbolat

Our Letter to the Embassy

2008-06-27T07:57:00.000-07:00

June 27, 2008

Dear Mr. Zhanbolat Ussenov:

In your recent e-mail you requested our support for the efforts being made toward a more transparent adoption process in Kazakhstan. While we applaud the Kazakhstan government for these beginning steps in limiting the corruption in the adoption process, we feel it has come too late to help the adoption of our sons. However, we are committed to our goal in educating prospective adoptive parents (PAPs) and being a catalyst for the end of corruption within the Kazakhstan adoption process. In an effort to demonstrate our support I have created a new blog titled KIN: Kazakhstan Information Network at www.kazinfonet.blogspot.com. It is our hope that this blog will provide prospective adoptive parents (PAPs) with clear, concise, and factual information about the adoption process in Kazakhstan from a neutral party.

Our continued support is contingent upon a face to face meeting in the very near future. We hope to communicate positive news during upcoming media interviews regarding the efforts being taken by the Kazakhstan government to protect the rights of all members of the adoption triad. Some questions that we have after reading the press release are:

What monitoring procedures does the Kazakhstan government have in place for weeding out greedy orphanage directors who play God with innocent children’s lives?

Where is the transparency of the steps in the adoption process? Are PAPs made aware of the waiting period where family members can come back to take the child from unsuspecting adoptive parents?

What process does the government have to ensure that PAPs won’t be asked to pay “extra fees” and that type of corruption will be eliminated?
Where or what is the process of monitoring the orphanages so our children are not left homeless and helpless in the orphanages?

Is there a process to investigate individual adoptions to look at unique situations that would allow for an appeal process to complete adoptions where money has been paid to these orphanage directors who refuse to allow the adoption to complete?
Is there a process to ensure that no government officials are financially tied to unscrupulous agencies from any country? What are the punishments for those found to be profiting from failed or false adoptions?

Is the Kazakhstan government willing to post a list of agencies that they have found to use unscrupulous procedures in adoption? What is the mechanism for preventing these agencies from working again in country?

Is the Kazakhstan government willing to speak to those PAPs who have paid money to people in Kazakhstan but had to leave their children behind? Are they willing to help us complete these adoptions which are in the best interest of the children and their future?

We are aware that there are changes needed in the United States to move toward a centralized system, but the current system in Kazakhstan doesn’t appear to be in the best interest of the children. We are glad to hear of changes being made to the current Laws on Family and Marriage and are interested in hearing about the proposed changes.

We also believe that the Kazakhstan government misunderstands how the current adoption process in Kazakhstan provides fertile ground for the exploitation of children and corruption on both sides.

Joe and I look forward to meeting with the Ambassador in Washington, D.C. and hope that we can have these questions answered or assist in the proper reform of the adoption process in Kazakhstan. Please be aware that this communication will be posted on our blogs as we have a loyal following of PAPs and parents who have completed adoptions in Kazakhstan who share our concerns.

Yours truly,
Dawn and Joe De Lorenzo

Bravo Dawn and Jeff Jarema!

2008-06-25T04:53:00.000-07:00

Kazakhstan Government Paying LIP SERVICE

2008-06-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

This recent bulletin issued by the Kazak government enrages me. Here it is and I respond to the points that I have a major contention with:

Special Issue No 7, June 20, 2008
Information Note on International Adoption from Kazakhstan

The Government of Kazakhstan is committed to monitoring the process of international adoption in Kazakhstan as well as keeping a close eye on the living conditions of adopted Kazakh children abroad. How about monitoring their own orphanages where there are greedy orphanage directors playing God with innocent children's lives?

Kazakhstan considers adoption to be one of the best forms of tutelage for children who for any reason lack parental care, although the priority is given to biological parents or, in their absence, to child's relatives. If a child cannot be adopted by its relatives, adoption by Kazakhstan citizens is the next preferred option. And if that is also not possible, only then can a Kazakh child be adopted by foreign families. As the economic well-being in Kazakhstan continues to grow, the number of domestic adoptions in the country is increasing, whereas the number of international adoptions is falling correspondingly. Since the Marriage and Family Code was enacted in 1999, 30,184 children have been adopted in Kazakhstan; of that number 23,012 children have been adopted by Kazakhstan citizens, 6,791 by foreign citizens and 281 by relatives from abroad. The United States is by far the most popular destination for adopted children from Kazakhstan (in 2000-2007 American families adopted more than 5,000 Kazakh kids, with highest number of US adoptions in2004). In 2007 Embassy of Kazakhstan to the US registered 515 American families intending to adopt Kazakh children.

The Consular Section of the Embassy of Kazakhstan closely monitors the international adoption in Kazakhstan by US citizens as well as the living conditions of Kazakh kids. The step-by-step process of international adoption in Kazakhstan is briefly as follows: Future parents wishing to adopt a Kazakh child contract with a duly licensed agency to collect all the required documents and prepare a dossier which should be submitted to the Consular Section of the Embassy of Kazakhstan. Having checked and verified all the documents (which takes up to one month) the Embassy sends the dossier to the Foreign Ministry where the processing procedures also last for about a month. Afterwards, the dossier goes to the Education Ministry which, after another month-long procedure, passes it to proper regional agencies (Education Departments and orphanages) and their review of the dossier takes up to one month. Having received a positive feedback from the regional agencies the Embassy issues a special visa for parents-to-be (visa category – private, purpose of travel – adoption). Such a visa can be issued only by invitation of Kazakhstan's Education Ministry or a regional Education Department. Traveling to Kazakhstan for adoption purposes with any other kind of visa (e.g. tourist, business) is strictly prohibited. All in all, processing of a dossier in proper Kazakh agencies can take up to 5 months.

In Kazakhstan, prospective adoptive parents must personally choose their future child and spend at least two weeks with him/her to get to know each other closer and learn the child's personality and habits. The final decision on adoption of a child is then taken by a Kazakh court based on the application submitted by the prospective parents. Adoption cases are considered by courts on an ad hoc basis in accordance with Kazakhstan's civil procedural law. After a proper court order is issued, a registrar's office and migration police issue the adoption and birth certificates and a Kazakh passport for the adopted child. This is quite an understatement of the exact process in country. There is NO mention of the waiting period after the court approves the adoption - the period of time when your child can be ripped away from you!

Fees payable to Kazakh agencies in the course of the adoption process are as follows: The Consular Section of the Embassy charges up to $180 per dossier for consular registration (issuing a certificate to confirm registration, attesting translation and documents in the dossier). State agencies in Kazakhstan charge no fee for dossier processing. Without the extra "fees" I doubt ANY paperwork would be processed - everyone in the adoption process there is in it for the money and knows that American parents will pay whatever is asked to have their child! There could be some expenses for issuing the power of attorney for the parents' representative in Kazakhstan; consular fee for a new passport for the adopted child as well as the registration fee at the Consular Department of the Foreign Ministry (all in all, about 12,000 tenges or $100). Besides, there are also some legal expenses related to court proceedings, which are quite reasonable. Parents may make a voluntary financial donation to the orphanage if they choose to do so.

One of the main principles of adoption in Kazakhstan is the protection of the rights and interests of both adopted children and adopting parents. Sorry, but this is TOTAL BS in my opinion. They could have cared less about us - and if they cared so much for our sons they wouldn't be rotting away in orphanages! Kazakhstan recognizes the important role played in the adoption process by such facilitators as duly licensed adoption agencies, but firmly believes that these agencies have no right to make commercial profit through the genuinely noble and humane process of adoption. If they care so much they would have looked at our unique situation/circumstances and helped us get our sons! And what about the scum orphanage directors who take money?

According to Kazakh legislation, to adopt a child, foreign citizens are allowed to work with a representative (coordinator) in Kazakhstan, whose rights and obligations are defined by Kazakh laws.Our review of the current system of adoption of Kazakh children by American citizens has revealed a number of problems which may lead to violation of the humane principles of adoption. One of the main reasons for such a situation is that, unlike in other countries, in the United States there is no single authorized government agency which would oversee the entire process of adoption, including the control over annual reports on the living conditions of adopted children. They have a centralized system, but it is NOT set up with the best interests of the children in mind! The people who work within this system are pond scum who profit through coercion.

The main players on this field are numerous duly licensed private (not-for-profit) US adoption agencies. Usually, American citizens wishing to adopt Kazakh children refer to such adoption agencies for assistance and sign contracts with them. The Embassy has found out that in many cases parents pay upfront 50 percent of the overall agency fee only for preliminary consultations on a Kazakh adoption (in average, overall fees could be more than$25,000) and the most part of the sum is non-refundable. We have learned about some cases of unscrupulous behavior by some agencies. For example, there have been situations where parents had to collect and prepare all the necessary documents themselves and the agencies simply provided them with the list of documents for a dossier which is posted and easily accessible on the website of the Embassy of Kazakhstan. Ummm - this is what ALL the agencies do! I do not know of any agency that completes the paperwork for you unless it is for an additional fee.

It seems also that some adoption agencies are trying to make undue commercial profits by dealing with such routine matters as consular registration, documents translation and processing, and sometimes agencies even try to gain benefits from changing the region in Kazakhstan where a child is going to be adopted from. For instance, one agency put in its contract a $840 charge for consular registration with the Embassy of Kazakhstan, whereas the Consular Section of the Embassy charges no more than $180 for the registration (the Embassy does not charge American Parents any other fees). Besides, the contract says that the "family understands that fees related to the adoption process abroad might be changed and are out of Agency's control. Therefore, the Agency does not take responsibility for such changes and is not liable for additional expenses." Such a provision makes it possible for the agency to charge extra fees for alleged "fast-tracking" of adoption process in Kazakhstan. Kazak officials are also profiting from these extra fees!

Analysis of documents submitted by various agencies showed that some of them deliberately concealed invalid data and ill-validated documents in dossiers to speed up registration with the Consular Section of the Embassy. For instance, one dossier contained a forged copy of doctor's license; there were other forged documents. Some agencies even tried to use unethical methods to "fast-track" registration with the Consular Section. We also have learned that some agencies made attempts to "monopolize" the international adoption for US citizens in Kazakhstan and even threatened other agencies that if they did not start working under their aegis, these agencies' activity in Kazakhstan would be blocked through their coordinators on the ground. This points to the fact that there are corrupt people WITHIN the Kaz system profiting from unscrupulous American agencies.

We believe that the reason for all the above shortcomings and violations is the lack of transparency in the activity of a number of US adoption agencies as well as in the lack of knowledge by American parents about the adoption procedures in Kazakhstan, related fees and other expenses. So, no fault lies within their own country? Therefore, it seems that adoption of Kazakh kids by American parents may have become a source of undue commercial profits for some unscrupulous agents, who abuse the humane principles of adoption enshrined in The Hague Convention and Kazakh legislation.

Yet another negative aspect of the issue is that it mars Kazakhstan's image as some agencies use the parents' lack of knowledge to present adoption in Kazakhstan as a protracted and inefficient process full of red-tape and corruption; and request additional expenses on behalf of parents to "overcome" these obstacles. This is the statement that outraged me the most! They had the opportunity to assist our family and the didn't! THERE IS CORRUPTION and there is red-tape and corruption in their system! They could have and should have helped to rectify our situation rather than say "Oh well, you'll have to start all over again" or "just pick another child."

In other words, some agencies and their coordinators in Kazakhstan abuse parents' willingness to pay "any price" to adopt a child as soon as possible, and make undue profits. It is worth repeating here once again that there are no major fees to be paid to Kazakh government ministries or agencies in the process of adoption (except for the above consular and registration fees at the Embassy and the Foreign Ministry as well as minimal legal expenses). Therefore, the Embassy has begun considering certain measures to optimize and refine its work with US adoption agencies. These measures are aimed at protecting the rights and interests of Kazakh children and their adopting parents in the US as well as at maximizing the transparency of the adoption process and eliminating loopholes for making undue profits through the noble process of adoption. Great for PAPs in the future, but what about the ones already screwed and the children already left behind and doomed to a life of poverty, drug and alcohol abuse and prostitution?

In particular, we believe that these measures will help to optimize the number of US adoption agencies willing and able to work efficiently on behalf of American parents to adopt Kazakh kids. The main criteria for us to evaluate the agencies will be their ability to supply the Embassy with transparent information on the rules and procedures of their work with adopting parents, fees and tariffs involved, as well as their commitment to send to the Embassy regular post-adoption reports on adopted children until they reach the age of 18 as required by Kazakh law. We would like to emphasize that until the above complex work is completed the Embassy will continue as normal receiving and processing adoption documents from all agencies except for those that have seriously violated ethical norms. They should announce these agencies so the poor PAPs dealing with them now know they are screwed!

Authorities in Kazakhstan are also taking relevant steps to ensure transparency in the work of coordinators on the ground who represent the interests of American parents in the country and serve as their liaison with Kazakh government agencies involved in the adoption process. Efforts are being taken to create a databank of such coordinators. We would also like to announce that the Parliament of Kazakhstan is currently considering joining and ratifying the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. Kazakhstan is also drafting a new Family and Marriage Code which will also cover the issue of proper accreditation of foreign adoption agencies' branches in Kazakhstan. All these efforts will contribute to providing greater transparency, fairness and order in Kazakhstan's cooperation with foreign partners (including the US) on international adoption.

Our efforts are also aimed at eliminating the unacceptable and often unscrupulous practice of "fast-tracking" documents in various Kazakh agencies. We recognize that the adoption process is not swift but this is justified by the high responsibility of adoption decisions. We hope for understanding on behalf of parents and adoption agencies. As a matter of principle, the Embassy has briefed the US State Department, through Deputy Assistant Secretary for Overseas Citizens Service Ms. Michele Bond and Consular Affairs Bureau representative Mr. Gerry Fuller, as well as the Joint Council on International Children's Services on the situation around the adoption of Kazakh kids by American families. We are glad that a friendly dialogue and mutual understanding have been established with our American counterparts over this complicated issue. Interestingly, a number of agencies reacted to our efforts in a peculiar way. The Embassy has a copy of an email message that has been circulated by an agency to other agencies and parents stating that the Embassy is groundlessly stonewalling the process of adoption. The message was written in the form of an unambiguous instruction calling for maximum pressure on the Embassy through a wave of complaints to various US institutions, including US Embassy in Kazakhstan, Senators and Congressmen representing the districts where parents and their agents reside. The Embassy would like to point out that it won't yield to any kind of pressure and firmly intends to implement its plans on streamlining and improving the process of adoption in Kazakhstan by American parents.

The Embassy is fully open, however, to holding a face-to-face meeting with adopting parents and adoption agencies to jointly look for ways of providing maximum convenience for parents and full transparency of the adoption process. Ummm, we reached out to them at least a dozen times and they didn't even bother to return our calls or respond to our e-mails and letters! I can only conclude that this is lip service.

The Embassy would also welcome the creation of an association of American parents who have adopted kids from Kazakhstan. Such an association could be instrumental in assisting American parents to find better ways of building relations with their Kazakh kids during the post-adoption period and in many other ways. In its next Information Note on international adoption the Embassy will provide more information on adoption procedures as well as offer some practical advice on cooperation with US adoption agencies working in Kazakhstan and with their coordinators on the ground. We will also offer a set of transparent criteria for adoption agencies which will lay the basis for optimizing the list of most preferred agencies that could be recommended to all American parents intending to adopt children from Kazakhstan.

Ammended Complaint Against AIP, Orson Mozes, Christen Brown, & Kevin Anderson

2008-06-20T03:18:00.000-07:00

New victims were added to the lawsuit against Adoption International Program (AIP), Orson Mozes, Christen Brown, and Kevin Anderson. It is a large file, so the first half can be viewed and downloaded HERE. The second part can be viewed and downloaded HERE.

Orson Featured on America's Most Wanted Website!

2008-06-17T13:25:00.001-07:00

I am so happy to announce that Orson is featured on the America's Most Wanted website! Click on the picture above to go to check it out! Joe and I pray that this helps bring Orson back to the United States to face the courts and pay for what he has done to so many. We are working with AMW on the next steps toward putting this on national TV.

Help Promote Cribs, Crimes, & Corruption...

2008-06-14T10:52:00.000-07:00

You can help promote this blog and my others by rating this blog on Blogged. Thank you for all of your support!

WANTED: Orson Mozes

2008-06-14T05:58:00.000-07:00

Orson will have his very own fugitive profile page on America's Most Wanted on Monday :)

I am pretty confident that Orson reads this blog as well as other victims' blogs. So, here is my message for you Orson: At least one of us kept our promise ~ I promised you that if you lied to us I would devote my life to making you pay. You are a COWARD. You WILL be brought to justice. Even if you never spend a day of your pathetic life in jail ~ you WILL answer for your deeds before the HIGHEST court.

WHAT CAN WE DO????

2008-06-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

This couple is from New York, so Hillary Clinton is the first contact that could be of assistance. PLEASE, let's begin with faxes and phone calls on their behalf: FAX NUMBER is 1-212-688-7444. Her staff liasons can be reached via phone at this number: 1 (212) 688-6262

Family Preservation? Or Murder?

2008-06-07T05:15:00.000-07:00

I found it interesting that, once again, we hear the cliche that "it take a village to raise a child..." in this video. Kudos to the social worker who pointed out that is also takes a village to protect a child. Here is what Patrick T. Murphy states about the "village" in his book Wasted: The Plight of America's Unwanted Children:

Self-described child advocates have sloganized "it takes a village to raise a child" in order to relieve bad parents of blame for abusing their children or of the responsibly, even for overwhelmed adolescent parents who should not have had children in the first place. The argument that "they're just poor victims," as a defense of the crimes and foibles of a minority underclass and a tinier percent of the poor, leaves the public to infer that all poor people are criminals, welfare junkies, and child abusers. The village must protect children whose parents have failed them either purposefully, because of neglect,or for reasons beyond their control. And the village should help poor families with programs, funds, and jobs. The village can indeed provide a family with a friendly environment, but only a parent can raise a child.

In my opinion ~ I don't care if the foster family is black, white, yellow, lesbian, or gay ~ it is NOT in the child's "best interests" to return him or her to a blood relative simply upon that basis. Children should be placed in loving, nurturing, protective environments as soon as possible and the race or sexual orientation of the foster parents should NOT be a factor. What is wrong with this country that we discriminate against loving people who want to parent while encouraging, supporting, and coddling people who abuse the most vulnerable people of all ~ the children? All in the name of family preservation? You can't preserve something that was never there to begin with! Sadly, far too many people would rather allow a child to be abused, neglected or even killed than run the risk of being called racist, elitist, or classist. I would take any of the latter labels over being a murderer!

WOW! America's Most Wanted Contacted Us...

2008-06-06T12:20:00.000-07:00

I am really excited ~ I opened my e-mail to find a message from the production manager of America's Most Wanted who found my e-mail address on About.com. He received a dossier on Orson from Laura (her hard work continues to pay off even in death) and said they are interested in developing more on this case. I am sooo excited that Orson may indeed have to face the consequences of his actions. God, I pray this show is able to bring that low-life dirtbag to justice!

Children Paying the Ultimate Price ~ Their Lives

2008-06-05T17:04:00.000-07:00

The above picture is linked to a story about the lethal lapses in the Illinois DCFS that have lead to the deaths of 53 children. However, these are the cases that make me cringe at the phrase "family preservation" and the cries of anti-adoption advocates for reunification of parents and children after removal by the "system". As Patrick T. Murphy, (1997, p.83) author of a book titled Wasted: The Plight of America's Unwanted Children states "...proponents of family preservation correctly press these issues (the adverse affects of removing a child from their family) to advance their cause. But there is another side of the coin: the nature of the parents."

Murphy offers one of the most poignant illuminations of the other side of the coin:

The trauma a child will experience in breaking a bond with the parent must be balanced against the trauma the child will experience in remaining with a parent, or being returned to a parent who is simply unable to nurture a child, or, worse, uses his or her power to destroy the child....Our natural inclinations are to sympathize with the parent or parents, particularly those mired in the hopelessness of the underclass. But at some point we must consider the child, particularly since the child's time frame is entirely different from ours [emphasis added]. Family preservation has often failed because it has been pushed vigorously by conservatives who see it as a way of saving money, and by liberals who consider only the parents' discomfort. Neither conservatives nor liberals take pains to view the abuse from the child's point of view. (p.84)

Babb's book Ethics in American Adoption admonishes the fact that adoption is not professionalized and cites the fact that "...only 2 percent of master's degree level social workers who were field instructors in the discipline could identify ethical dilemmas in their case studies or based their interventions on ethical issues that had been correctly defined" (p.129). Babb concludes that "if any practice in the country merits regulation, it is adoption" (p. 191). It can be inferred that she includes the entire field of child welfare as the book pinpoints the social worker as, typically the first "professional" in social services to confront a family in trouble usually under the circumstances of child removal.

I support the creation of a specialization in child welfare, foster care and adoption. The teaching profession was not always considered a "profession" and yet took the necessary steps toward professionalization initiated by both the professionals in education and the state. Teacher preparation is standard, including an "apprentice" period and the application for certification and licensure which is dependent on the satisfactory completion of coursework, fieldwork and a state examination demonstrating competency. Our current system appears to be the epitome of what Albert Einstein defined as insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. How many more "lethal lapses" are needed before citizens DEMAND safeguards against the capricious decision-making of laypersons empowered as "professionals" in child welfare with the capacity to sentence children to death?

My Adoption Utopia (LONG)

2008-06-03T17:06:00.000-07:00

First, I am going to start with these assumptions:

Both the natural mother and father agree that adoption is an option for consideration.
The natural parents are not under 18 years old.

I have been researching adoption extensively and like anyone interested in conducting true research I have been exposing myself to multiple perspectives within the adoption triad. Let us begin with the adoption “system” in my adoption utopia. Adoption would be a true profession adhering to a uniform code of ethics as outlined by L. Anne Babb (1999). Ethical principles would therefore govern and dictate the practices of adoption professionals who would hold a degree in Social Work with a specialization in adoption. They would be certified as such a professional and hold a license to practice in their state just as an educator must hold a degree, specialize in an area, pass a state exam demonstrating competency and apply for a license. Furthermore, again using education as a model, the adoption professional would be required to obtain a specified level of CEU’s (continuing education) to maintain their license. Adoption would be a state public service and fees would be acquired in much the same way as public school funding (trust me – as an educator and a certified Principal I know the polemics pervading public school funding too.)
Under the professional ethics of the profession, an adoption professional could not serve members of the triad pertaining to the same adoption. In other words, an adoption professional could not ethically, morally, or legally council both the birthparents and the potential adoptive parents. The clients would each have their own council respectively.

Once the child is born, he or she would have an advocate assigned to oversee that the best interests of the child are considered. There would be no pre-selection of adoptive parents before the birth of the child. There would be a period of time after the birth during which the natural mother or father can revoke their consent to adopt without cause. However, in my utopia it would be no longer than two weeks from the birth. After this time period, up to six weeks, the natural family would have to have just cause and the advocate for the child would have to consider the best interests of the child with the ultimate determination made by the court. The child could not be returned to the natural parents without consideration of the best interests of the child, with equal consideration given to both the natural and adoptive parents and no preference to biology as a contributing factor. After the six week period after the birth, the natural parents could not contest the adoption or consent to adopt under any circumstances other than fraud or coercion.

In my adoption utopia giving birth to a child does not mean you own it as your property and can do as you wish. You have responsibilities and obligations to the child to whom you have given birth. If you do not fulfill your obligations as a parent such as feeding your child, clothing your child, educating your child, providing health care, as well as emotionally nurturing your child the state has an obligation to step in and remove that child. Children cannot afford to wait around for a parent to clean up their act, get sober or off drugs, and the numerous other ills of society. Childhood happens ONCE, brains are wired ONCE, synapses are created during a critical period of time ONCE and then the opportunity is gone. I do not support family preservation at the cost of a child who will then grow into an adult and be profoundly and irrevocably affected by the decisions of his parents. Our society clearly understands what a child needs physically, emotionally, cognitively, spiritually, and psychologically in order to develop into a self-sufficient individual of true character who will be a productive citizen in the world. We should not support ADULTS in their abuses of children simply because they gave birth to them. Children are not chattel! Adults have responsibilities in our society. Yes, we should offer social services to assist those in need. Every person on this earth has worth. But the rights of an innocent, helpless child cannot be discarded in the name of family preservation.

Considering I was a PAP through international adoption I feel compelled to include that part of my utopia as well. Orphanages would not be somewhere to store your child with no intention or plan of action. In our case, the natural mother had not seen Andrey in a year. The same applies to the natural mother of Stas. Yet, she was able to come forward AFTER we bonded with the child and AFTER the courts granted the adoption to contest it IN SPITE of the fact that she was homeless, did not want to take him out of the orphanage and never visited him. This is absurd. It was absurd for us to be shown a child who was not truly and legally available for adoption and it is absurd that a child can be abandoned for a year or more and NOT be legally free for adoption. In the case with our second child, Stas, the natural mother supposedly returned on the tenth day of our bonding period after abandoning him in the hospital at birth one year prior. She had no contact whatsoever for an entire year. She pops up while we are bonding with him because she was feeling nostalgic about it being his birthday. She says she does not want him to be adopted and states that she will return in July to get him (it is March 1 at this time.) Not only did they allow this, but she NEVER came back in July to get him and he is STILL in the orphanage today. He is 27 months old. Andrey, our Stephen, is also still in the orphanage as well as his now one year old baby brother who was placed in the orphanage directly from the hospital. Anti-adoption advocates lament over the rights of the poor birthmother and yet SHE was the one trying to bilk us for money in order to stop protesting the adoption. Her sons paid the ultimate price and will continue to pay throughout their lives.

Sorry that my description turned into a bit of a rant, but this is obviously a topic I feel passionately about.

2Lyrical's Adoption Utopia

2008-06-01T15:30:00.000-07:00

We are Pro Choice. Although the subject of abortion is not really an issue when it comes to adoption - after all, we're talking about children who have already been born - there is always the question "Why didn't this woman get an abortion?"

Which is understandable in the United States and other countries where abortion is legal. However, many persons feel having an abortion is truly the killing of a baby. Women in a crisis pregnancy situation may very well be pro-life, but yet, do not feel they can raise a child for whatever reasons.

Therefore, our adoption utopia would be, for women all over the world, who are faced with a crisis pregnancy situation, to have access to counseling, good prenatal care and NO COERCION with respect to her unborn baby. If a woman feels, after counseling, after speaking to medical professionals, her family, the father of her unborn baby or children, that she cannot care for this child, adoption would be, in our opinion, the best option for her.

A reasonable amount of relinquishment time is needed for these women to make a decision, after the baby is born, if they can parent or not. By "reasonable amount of relinquishment time" I mean two, three, four months. Not right out of the womb.

Yes, there are some women who, upon birth of the child, have bolted from the where the baby was born, leaving the baby behind - this happens - if in that case, well, a home is needed ASAP for the baby. Not a baby dump law either - and that's a whole other argument.

AFTER ALL OPTIONS HAVE BEEN EXHAUSTED, if the woman chooses to parent the child, there should be no guilt associated with her choice. There should be resources made available to her to keep the baby IF she feels she can handle it. Raising a baby is a daunting task.

And if after the woman has had the child & she feels she still cannot parent the child, she should relinquish the child with no guilt or harassment.

We don't believe in parenthood by coercion. It haunts us that our own son's birthparents may have been paid off. Quite honestly, we never wanted to be parents because we thought it was our god-given right to adopt a child.

Adoption without GUILT and without coercion. Money, of course, is another issue for another day.

We Can Dream

2008-06-01T12:10:00.000-07:00

What is your "adoption utopia"? In other words, what would adoption look like in a perfect world?

In a truly perfect world there would be no need for adoption. Young girls would not have sex and therefore not get pregnant with an unwanted child. Young women would not make stupid mistakes that lead to unwanted pregnancy. There would be no families so poor they can not take care of a child they would otherwise care for. There would be no infertility. People who wanted children could have them, and people who did not want children could not. In a perfect world... but that does not exist.

Perfect adoption certainly does not exist either, but since we are allowed to dream... here is my idea of adoption utopia.

All agencies would truly be non-profit. Money would go only where it is needed. Governments would not charge outrageous fees for the processing of paperwork. (there also would not be as much pointless paperwork required, but more on that later) I do think there should be an orphanage donation but it would really go to benefit the orphanage. None of it would end up in the pocket of orphanage directors or adoption coordinators. Instead the money would be used for food, clothing and supplies for the children in the orphanages... where it belongs.

There would be no need to bribe judges or other officials to make things run smoothly. Paperwork would not get done quickly only if someone was paid to make that happen. There would be no threats and no fear involved for the PAP's either.

How about the agencies? They would be strongly regulated and observed by the government. Agencies could not charge hidden fees or inflate their prices. Non-profit means non-profit! Agencies would not charge PAP's more for an apartment in country than they are actually paying. Yes, this happens. I know from experience, having paid $175/day for an apartment that was costing the agency less than that for the month!!! This would significantly lower the cost of in-country stay allowing more people to do one trip rather than two. (this is likely a Kazakhstan thing only) Background checks would be mandatory for all agency employees and owners!!! Agencies would be required to offer post-adoption support groups and classes.

As for the paperwork... Documents would not expire in a mere 3 or 6 months. Once a dossier is submitted to the Embassy or Consulate it would not expire. It is beyond the PAP's control how long it sits untouched on someones desk. Why should we have to pay even more money and have to do even more paperwork because someone else did not do their job in a timely manner? Only necessary papers would be required. Let's face it, a lot of the paperwork they are requiring is not truly necessary. Also, why do we have to have state clearance, FBI clearance AND USCIS clearance? They all check the same things, and if one of them says you have a clean background... they all will. It's just one more way to get money out of us and waste our time.

I do believe that the children should not be handed over to complete strangers. It is frightening and stressful enough on them without that. Because of that I believe a required bonding time is a good thing for the sake of the children. However, I think it is wrong that once a family starts bonding with a child that officials are required to contact the birth family to be sure they really don't want the child. If they have not bothered to see the child in over 6 months, they obviously do not want the child. This practice of notifying them only allows for the opportunity for threats and extortion of the PAP's. Finally, in my adoption utopia a court decision would be final. NO waiting period after court allowing for someone to contest the decision!!!

Interesting Question

2008-05-29T17:19:00.000-07:00

Weebles Wobblog posed a provocative question that I wanted to open up for discussion:

What is your "adoption utopia"? In other words, what would adoption look like in a perfect world?

What Do You Think About the New Look?

2008-05-28T14:06:00.000-07:00

Once again, Amy, at SplitDecisionz, has done a fabulous job (IMHO)! I love the new design and hope all of you do too :) I wanted this blog to be appealing, clean, and easy to navigate. I think that objective has been met. Please, let me know what you think!

Something new on 3C that I want to introduce is the 3C Award:

The 3C Award will be given on a monthly basis to one blogger who is committed to advocating for ethical adoption reform. Our first 3C Award will be announced on July 1st!

Tedi Is Confused!?!

2008-05-25T18:03:00.001-07:00

Show Your Support! Grab This Button for Your Blog!

2008-05-25T14:47:00.000-07:00

Blogger Basics for Newbees

2008-05-25T06:50:00.000-07:00

I created this Blogger how-to in hopes that more victims of adoption fraud, scams, etc... will blog about their experiences. Just click the title of this post and you will be able to view it, download it, and print it. If you have a blog ~ please grab the link and add it to your sidebar. We want to encourage victims to share their story. They will hear MANY voices telling them to bite their tongue and not "rock the boat" in the adoption waters. We need to be the louder and more supportive voice!

Our FIRST Saturday Soapbox!!!

2008-05-24T06:45:00.000-07:00

I am still working on the html development of this meme, including the use of Mr. Linkies, but for now we are going to have to work with the "archaic" version...lol :) The Saturday Soapbox meme will be for anyone to "get on their soapbox" about a topic specific to adoption. So, if you have something to say...please share :) If you want to stand on your soapbox over at your blog, please link back to us.

Deceived by Adoption Partners

2008-05-24T06:11:00.001-07:00

Claar Foundation Story ~ Four Felony Counts

2008-05-24T04:41:00.000-07:00

Judge: Lisa Novak case can proceed to trial
By Heath Urie (Contact) Saturday, May 24, 2008

Prosecutors have sufficient evidence to criminally charge the former CEO of a Boulder-based international adoption agency who is accused of stealing money from prospective parents, Boulder County Court Judge Carolyn Hoye Enichen ruled Friday.

Police arrested Lisa Novak, a former Erie trustee, in April and she subsequently was charged with two counts of felony theft and one count of felony fraud in connection with her work for the Claar Foundation, a now-defunct agency.

Monday, Boulder prosecutors added a fourth felony charge against Novak, alleging she stole more than $20,000 from another former client.

She was in court Friday to continue a preliminary hearing that began earlier this week. Novak’s attorney, Lance Goff, tried to convince the judge that his client didn’t take any money, and repeatedly said she should not be liable for the actions of her former company.

“Lisa Novak did not knowingly take anything,” Goff said, calling the case more about a “business failure.”

In ruling prosecutors have sufficient evidence to proceed with the case, Enichen warned Novak that she cannot “hide behind a corporate shield.”

“There was no evidence presented, none at all,” that the disputed money paid to Novak went toward the adoption of a child, Enichen said.

Boulder police Detective Jeff Kithcart testified Friday — for the second time this week — that he didn’t have any evidence that Novak personally received any of the money, although the investigation is still ongoing.

“At this point, it’s a mystery where all the money that these people have paid has gone to,” Kithcart said.

Jaspal Singh, one of the prosecution witnesses, said at the hearing earlier this week that Novak took at least $25,000 in fees for an adoption that fell through because she misfiled paperwork. Singh also said Novak urged him and his wife, Linda, to falsify a document to increase their odds of success as they tried to adopt their second child from Guatemala.

Novak, who did not want to comment after Friday’s hearing, is due back in court for an arraignment June 20.

She also is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on the additional theft charge June 16.

Contact Camera Staff Writer Heath Urie at 303-473-1328 or urieh@dailycamera.com.

There are several more stories about Lisa Novak on Google News concerning this preliminary hearing.

The Effects of Adoption Fraud & Corruption

2008-05-23T19:27:00.000-07:00

This is the part that is heartbreaking. These babies in Guatemala languish while the government sifts through a web of "questionable" adoptions and PAPs are left with their heart on their sleeve wondering "if" and "when" they will have their child home.

This is further evidence that PAPs need to speak up about adoption fraud, scams, and corruption they encounter during the process. When this type of conduct is allowed it perverts adoption and pits triad members against one another.

Part 3 of Tedi Hedstrom Report Is Up

2008-05-23T16:22:00.001-07:00

...with video and some startling news.

Part 3 of the ABW story airs 6 PM EST Friday

2008-05-23T14:21:00.001-07:00

Yup, it's a three parter now. Have to watch to learn the latest developments.

No story URL to share until the story is uploaded and aired. I'll update when I get the info.

Clock countdown is 37 minutes until show time. Better go pop some popcorn and get my tissues handy.

ABW Tedi Part II Video Is Up

2008-05-22T20:05:00.000-07:00

The text of the second part of this series is now on the TV station website.

I saw the footage of a second set of victims and continuation of the Hale-Runkle family story. A third victim declined to be interviewed but parts of her story were told. Joni was interviewed and she was stunning. Two attorneys representing Tedi appeared and rebutted the story, but not very well. Why was I reminded of a gorilla thumping his chest as I watched that part of the segment?

Tedi Hedstrom/ABW Being Investigated Part One

2008-05-22T06:16:00.000-07:00

Update: 2:17 PM CST. Video is now uploaded to this story.

Adoption Agency Under Investigation Again
Posted By: Jackelyn Barnard 4 hrs ago

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- They sold everything to have a family of their own. They got rid of their motorcycle and even their BMW to adopt a child. But they say they have nothing to show for it.
First coast news first started looking into Tedi Bear Adoptions in 2003. As part of a state action, the agency surrendered their license in 2003. Then in 2005, The state sent them a demand to stop operating without a license.

Christina and John Hale's dream was to have a big family. The only problem is the two are unable to have children of their own.

So, they decided they wanted to adopt. "We went online and we were looking at some beautiful children." The Hale's say the moment they saw the little baby, they fell in love. Her name is Anna-Christina, but to them she is Emylee.

She is a little Guatemalan girl, the Hale's say they paid tens of thousands of dollars to adopt. "Emylee is our daughter. We love her," says John Hale.

But the Hale's say they have had to watch their daughter grow up in pictures. "It's been devastating. We watched her walk in pictures. Watched her crawl in pictures, receive her teeth in pictures. We've never heard her say momma or daddy," says Christine Runkle-Hale.

Emylee isn't at home in Blackshear, Georgia, with the Hale's and her six brothers and sisters. She is stuck in Guatemala in a web of adoption hurdles. "Here she is almost three-years-old and we were supposed to have her home when she was a baby."

The Hale's have been waiting for Emylee two and a half years. They met face-to-face in the fall of 2005, just weeks after she was born. Along with Emylee, the Hale's saw another Guatemalan baby girl named Emoria. The Hale's wanted both girls. The dream was they would grow up as sisters, but these days Emoria plays alone.

"It's gotten to the point where we don't even talk to them on the phone, because they'll say something and then say we didn't say that."

So, now we deal with them only by email," says Christine Hale. In August 2005, the Hale's say they contacted an adoption agency by the name of Adoption Blessings Worldwide. According to state records and tax returns, its office is located in Macon, Georgia, but its executive director, Tedi Hedstrom, lives in Ponte Vedra.

The Hale's say they used ABW for the adoptions of two other children, Emoria and Joshua. They say those adoptions went smoothly and quickly, but Emylee's adoption has been a different story. "They're wonderful to deal with while you don't question, and you don't have concerns and you play by their rules. But when you question, the first thing they do is they turn it around," says Christine Hale.

They say with Emylee, there has been a delay every step of the way. "Emylee's mother was a minor, and we were not told until in Guatemala, holding her in our arms. But even then we questioned, and they said it would only add a couple of weeks."

The Hale's say ABW failed numerous times to complete their paperwork properly. Then came the request for more money. "When they said jump.....we said how high. We were the first to jump."

Then the Hale's say there were other requests again for more money, all while there was no end in sight to Emylee's adoption. April 2007, Wendy from ABW tells the Hale's, in an email, that those working on the adoption, "...have to have the $1000 and also need foster care expenses.....unless they get help with the expenses, they are prepared to just stop altogether and not finish the adoption."

April 2008, Christine says she got an email from Tedi of ABW, saying, "They do not feel that you really want to adopt....Anna-Christina as they feel if you did you would want to take care of her needs and clothing. I explained to them that you love her very much but they do not think so."

Then there is another email saying Emylee's grandfather wants cash in order to cooperate. But a year before, in another email, ABW told the Hale's the adoption was delayed because the grandfather had died. "As soon as we questioned it they would come back on us like ya'll don't care about yall's daughter," says Christine Hale.

The response from ABW was Emylee's grandmother had re-married and this was the step-grandfather now wanting money. "We never fought back because they've always held the adoption of our daughter over our head and I think we've gotten to the point where enough is enough," says John Hale.

According to Georgia records, ABW once operated under a different name--Tedi Bear Adoptions. The same agency once based in North Florida. The same agency that came under fire in Florida in 2003 for numerous complaints about its service.

In 2003, the state of Florida sanctioned the agency, which agreed to close its doors. Florida's Department of Children and Families told Tedi Bear Adoptions and its executive director, Tedi Hedstrom, she could not operate in Florida for four years. That time is now up. "At the end of that time they were free to apply for a license and they have not reapplied for a license," says Diane Seymore of DCF.

But the Hale's say a lot of their adoption work was done in Florida. "Since august 12, 2005, every bit of wiring money we sent to ABW went to an account in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida," says Christine Hale. The Hale's kept a check ABW sent them. The check's labeled as Tedi Bear of Georgia. It is also attached to that same Florida Bank account the Hale's say they have wired money to.

We showed that check to the DCF. We also showed DCF what the First Coast News I-Team uncovered. We found a local community listing for Adoption Blessings Worldwide with a Ponte Vedra address and phone number. We found ABW's website is registered to Hedstrom's home in Ponte Vedra.

We also found invitations to ABW parties recently held in Atlantic Beach and Ponte Vedra. "We have some questions as to the possibility she may be placing some children through a Florida office. They should not be placing children for adoption in the state of Florida," says Seymore.

Last week, DCF sent a letter to Hedstrom and ABW warning to cease and desist operating a child placing agency without a license. DCF says it has also contacted the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office to investigate any possible criminal action.

First Coast News has learned that DCF and investigators from the Sheriff's office will meet this week about the case. We have also learned that DCF has spoken with Hedstrom and she admits, "...she has an office in her home and that she occasionally sees clients related to Adoption Blessings Worldwide in her home office." According to the DCF report, Hedstrom says that all files are kept in Georgia.

Thursday night at 11, investigator Jackelyn Barnard gets ABW's side of the story about the allegations. Jackelyn also talks to another family, who lives in Florida, and who says they paid $40,000 to ABW and have no children.

We will also tell you about another state agency investigating ABW and how state agencies are not the only ones taking action against ABW. That story is Thursday night at 11 on First Coast News. ©2008 First Coast News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten, or redistributed.

I'll be waiting impatiently for my mail carrier to arrive in the next few days. I spoke to an attorney with FL Department of Children as well as a licensing specialist and a copy of the thousand or so page investigation report is being shipped to me. I'm also getting a copy of the cease and desist order. It should be interesting reading. And here I was, planning to go to the library and get a juicy crime novel for the weekend. I suppose I can skip the library and read non-fiction instead.

Part Two will air at 11 tonight and some members of this blog roll finally will get to see what their attorney looks like. Including me. But then again, I am going to meet Joni in person when she appears as co-counsel at the next case management conference on July 29th for the LSSI lawsuit.

David and Desiree Smolin's Story Covered Extensively

2008-05-21T16:58:00.000-07:00

If you click on the title of this post it will take you to the extensively covered story of David and Desiree Smolin's adoption nightmare in which they discovered their adopted children were stolen from their parents! I have one of David's articles in the sidebar.

Another PAP Left Heartbroken

2008-05-21T15:25:00.000-07:00

Local Family Heartbroken After Spending

Nearly $10,000 On Failed Adoption
May 21, 2008

DeLand, Fla. -- Rebecca Hinshaw set up the nursery in her DeLand home three years ago after hiring Homecoming Adoptions inside an office tower in downtown Orlando. She says the adoption agency claimed she and her husband could have a baby from overseas in 12 months.

“We were told that was a sure bet, you would get a baby from China,” said Rebecca.

The Hinshaws say they had paid $25,000 upfront. Since then, Rebecca heard all Chinese adoptions had slowed, but she says Homecoming Adoptions stopped returning calls.

“It's been horrible," she said. "It's been a rollercoaster.”

When the Hinshaws tried to get answers at the agency's Orlando office on Robinson Street, it was panic time. The agency sign was gone, the door was locked and there was no forwarding address.

Rebecca reached a manager by phone who offered a $9,500 refund for services not yet done, but only when the agency had the cash.

“I would have to wait until the money came in, so I would have to wait,” she said.

Action 9 first investigated the agency in 2006, when another couple paid $30,000 for a Russian baby, but the adoption never happened. Later, the Department of Children and Families revoked the agency's license but it continues to operate after it went to court and claimed it was not a child placement service.

Action 9 tried to reach agency owner Kendall Rigdon, an attorney, who is a partner at a law office in Melbourne. Eventually, Rigdon called Action 9 and said Homecoming Adoptions is still processing adoptions, and that it has been in contact with all the clients, and furthermore, Rebecca will get her refund.
Rebecca welcomes the change of heart, but regrets the ordeal her family has faced.

“It wasn't supposed to be this way," she said. "It’s heartbreaking.”

According to DCF, the agency is investigating Homecoming Adoptions for all the activity since its license was revoked. The Better Business Bureau has received 13 complaints against the company.

Rebecca Hinshaw calls the refund a godsend. She has found a domestic adoption agency and the family will use the money toward the adoption.

May God Bless You

2008-05-20T13:12:00.001-07:00

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths and
superficial relationships so that you may live deep within your heart. May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may wish for justice, freedom, and peace. May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done!"
~A Franciscan blessing taken from Dangerous Surrender by Kay Warren~

I came across this quote today and it really spoke to my heart. I believe those of us here at this blog have been blessed with these things.

Book Discussion Anyone?

2008-05-18T11:12:00.001-07:00

I just started a new book group on Shelfari.com titled "Adoption Education & Reform". The first book for discussion will be The Stork Market by Mirah Riben. I hope you will join me as we look at adoption from multiple perspectives. Stop by and check out my list of adoption related books for future discussions HERE. See you there! :) Dawn

Teacher, Teacher Call On Me!!!

2008-05-17T16:12:00.001-07:00

I know the answer to the question! See me sitting at my desk waving my arms in the air so the teacher will let me talk? Good grief, I have spent the last six years of my life combing Westlaw, Lexisone and Versuslaw studying up on domestic adoption fraud and looking for the legal opinions to resolve the mess my agency created in my life.

Do you think that domestic adoption has the same degree of fraud as international adoptions?

The short answer is yes, I do. Yes, I lived it. Yes, I plan to amend my civil complaint and allege fraud. Fraud with facts to support the tort as my former attorney should have long ago but was too fill-in-the-blank to do it.

The long answer, I really feel is a good way to do some legal education on some of the more well-known legal decisions concerning domestic adoption fraud. Which is divided into a couple categories. First are the cases where agencies use fraud to get the first mother's consent. Second are the agencies where they ignore putative father's rights. Third are agencies who promise happily ever after and don't deliver. Fourth are the wrongful adoption cases where agencies represent the adoptable children as healthy and mentally sound and they are actually quite ill children. The result is the adoptive family experiences unexpected and extraordinary medical expenses and ruined lives.

I also think this would be a good opportunity to explain the fiduciary duty of adoptions agencies and the higher level of legal duty that imposes on an agency entrusted to handle adoptions. It really shoots that "adoption has no guaranteed outcome" phooey to shreds when you look at the legal issues and gee, paralegal like me likes to talk about legal issues and educate in the process. I think a second post on the Crib just for breach of fiduciary duty is in order and I'll get around to it soon.

I think the Third District Appellate Court gives a great definition of Fraud under the Adoption Act in Illinois:

"Fraud, for purposes of the Adoption Act, is defined as 'anything calculated to deceive, whether it be a single act or combination of circumstances, whether the suppression of truth or the suggestion of what is false, whether it be by direct falsehood or by innuendo, by speech or by silence, by word of mouth or by look or gesture.' Regenold v. Baby Fold, Inc., 68 Ill. 2d 419, 435, 369 N.E.2d 858, [] (1977), quoting People ex rel Chicago Bar Ass'n v. Gilmore, 345 Ill. 28, 46, 177 N.E. 710 (1931). Where such fraud is proved, it vitiates all transactions touched by it. Gilmore, 345 Ill. at 46." In re Adoption of E.L., A minor, 315 Ill. App. 3d 137, 151, 733 N.E.2d 846, 858 (2000)"

Gee, that pretty much covers every paragraph in that falsified home study that the appellate court deemed defamation per quod and reckless, doesn't it? Write a home study addendum behing the PAPs back, don't tell them what it says for over a month and then not fully investigate the allegations and say so in the home study document? I think we covered suppression of truth, suggestion of what is false, direct falsehood, innuendo, speech, silence, word-of-mouth and other forms of dishonesty, with that little falsified home study that I still don't have case entries made during the time LSSI wrote it. How in the heck do you write a home study and not make a case entry? Hell, Kim Holder wrote case entries for phone calls where she got a busy signal but not one during a home study addendum? Go figure!

Incidentally, the agency in this case, In Re: O.S. that defines fraud under the Adoption Act was none other than Lutheran Social Services of IL. Uncanny, huh? LSSI told the first mother she could have visits with her child. LSSI was trying to terminate her rights to so an LSSI foster parent could adopt. The first mother worked her rear off to correct the problems in her life without any help from LSSI for years. However, LSSI imposed the condition mother could not tell the child she was his mother. Needless to say, the mother failed the bonding assessment and LSSI recommended the child be adopted by their clients. Court said nope! Appellate court remanded it and ordered the agency to give the first mom a fair and fighting chance. One of the few appellate cases I found where the court actually examined the social work methodologies of a child welfare agency in depth. More courts need to instead of just taking the social worker's testimony at face value.

There is also the Tina Olison case, also a LSSI adoption case. Tina was another first mom who rehab herself with no help from Lutheran despite being ordered by the court to give Tina services. Tina went above and beyond to get her child back. However, the LSSI foster mom was none other than now a Supreme Court Judge Ann Burke and her Chicago Alderman husband. Tina didn't have a chance. http://www.post-gazette.com/headlines/20010923bothsides0923P9.asp

A related question to fraud is ethical in nature. Is it fraudulent to recruit PAPs to a domestic program when the agency does not have an equal number of maternity clients to provide children for the PAPs, for example? Is it ethical and/or fraudulent not to tell domestic PAPs on a waiting list the program is on hold due to a shortage of pregnancy clients needing adoption placement services?

For a clue, read http://groups.google.com/group/alt.adoption/browse_thread/thread/48b2728a81285174/a9b9a95c4efd1e6e?hl=en&lnk=st&q=%22Kim+Holder%22+adoption#a9b9a95c4efd1e6e article:
LSSI admits they recruited PAPs with a lousy ratio of maternity clients. It was on the front page of the paper and if Kim Holder said it and the newspaper quoted her, I suppose she is telling the truth. Would have been nice if she told the truth to us in February 2002 and not waited until December 2003. We were recruited by LSSI in September 2001 and the domestic program went on hold about a month before our home study was finished in late January. All Kim Holder told us is we "had to be patient since things are a little slow". We decided to network with other agencies who need AA PAPs and they welcomed us into their agencies, but LSSI objected strongly to us networking.

According to LSSI's fall newsletter, another PAP lingered for two years in the domestic program before they sent the PAP to Bulgaria, where she had a failed adoption. Then they sent that PAP to GT. Five and a half years and three countries to complete one adoption and LSSI brags about Kim Holder being a compassionate caseworker? Go to page 17 of the PDF for the story.

Very strange how LSSI decided to publish their summer newsletter just before oral arguments on the appellate case on November 5, 2007, isn't it? And to publish their next newsletter bragging on an adoption Holt actually handled a few days after the appellate decision was released. Kim Holder's contribution to that adoption was pretty minimal. So what she wrote a home study? And actually wrote one that pleased her PAPs? Again, not your usual timing on the newsletter release, is it?

I've got a ton more of appellate decisions for wrongful adoption, putative father's rights, duress in obtaining the consent of the birth family. One of these days, it ought to make a dandy law review article. It will be a chore to write but worthwhile.

NEW Question for Contributors

2008-05-17T15:55:00.000-07:00

Do you think that domestic adoption has the same degree of fraud as international adoptions?

New Tool Installed

2008-05-17T09:21:00.001-07:00

Introducing Snap Shots from Snap.com

I just installed a nice little tool on this site called Snap Shots that enhances links with visual previews of the destination site, interactive excerpts of Wikipedia articles, MySpace profiles, IMDb profiles and Amazon products, display inline videos, RSS, MP3s, photos, stock charts and more.

Sometimes Snap Shots bring you the information you need, without your having to leave the site, while other times it lets you "look ahead," before deciding if you want to follow a link or not.

Should you decide this is not for you, just click the Options icon in the upper right corner of the Snap Shot and opt-out.

Adoption Partners News Article

2008-05-15T13:41:00.000-07:00

Many families are eager to adopt children from other countries and give them a loving home.
But some families who used an adoption service in the Upstate said they never got what they were promised.

WYFF News 4's Tim Waller talked to a Stacy Bernstein of Peekskill, N.Y., who said Adoption Partners of Simpsonville took her money and failed to deliver.
Bernstein said that she lost more than $11,000 to the agency, but more than the money, she said she believes she has lost the opportunity to adopt a 4-year-old Guatemalan girl named Ingrid.

Bernstein said that Adoption Partners told her that Ingrid would be her child once an international adoption was finalized.

"It's horrible. It's horrible. I look at this and I see her as the 13-year-old American New Yorker that I envisioned her as, that I know she's never going to be," Bernstein told WYFF News 4.

Bernstein said that Ingrid's adoption started to go bad when Adoption Partners told her that Ingrid's birth mother had two identification cards, one of which might be fraudulent.
"Then I was told, 'well, it'll be fixed any day now.' " Bernstein said. "Any day now became months and months. Any day now still hasn't come."

The Better Business Bureau said that Adoption Partners of Simpsonville has gotten complaints from across the country.

Tim's Looking Out 4 You report on international adoptions will air Thursday on WYFF News 4 at 5.

YOU GO STACY!!!

What I've learned

2008-05-14T17:19:00.000-07:00

My opinion on adoption has always been, What a wonderful way to form a family. I grew up with cousins who were adopted, there was never any "difference" in our family who was a biological member and who was adopted. It was just another way children joined the family. I was pretty young when I first got the idea to adopt, deciding that I would wait until I turned 35 and see where my life was (husband? career? home?) then. As things worked out, I filled out the application for my first adoption agency on my 35th birthday.

That first agency was a summer hosting program. I was dreadfully unprepared for the experience, and blamed myself for much of what happened. Years later, as I learned more about adoption preparation, I put some of that blame on the agency that didn't prepare me. I've done A LOT of research since then. My first bit of advice to a potential adoptive parent is to read everything you can get your hands on about raising children, attachment and bonding, and raising children who were adopted. Some of the stories will scare you to your core, but they are essential reads. I'm now of the philosophy that it's better to know just how bad things can actually be (and know that there's STILL worse out there), so that I can prepare myself and be happily surprised when things aren't quite as bad. I want to be the best parent I can be for my child, and that means having a roadmap for when things aren't picture-perfect. Remember that children who have been relinquished, abandoned, or taken away from their first families might have experienced severe trauma that can affect every aspect of their lives. I want to believe that love will save all, but now I realize that there will be some tough times on that road to salvation.

My second adoption agency, that adoption was for me. I wasn't looking to "save" a child, and I made the difficult decision to be a little selfish with the type of child I requested. My second bit of advice to potential adoptive parents is to be completely honest with yourself about what you can and cannot handle. All children come will a distinct personality, every child is completely different, and there's no such thing as a "perfect" child. If you know that you will not be prepared to parent a child with a stated special need, DO NOT let an agency try to convince you that the child will be fine when he/she is in a stable home. (For many children, special needs are correctable over time and with the proper treatment and supervision. Be 100% honest with yourself because that time may be much longer than you were led to believe, and the situation may be more stressful than you could have ever imagined.)

I chose my second adoption agency because of the director's personality. Someone recommended this agency (a person I "met" online, on a list of adoptive parents), I contacted this agency and several others, and felt that this director was the most sensitive. She was compassionate, she seemed to understand everything I was saying and was anticipating my needs and concerns. She was friendly and I really thought she was always looking out for the best interests of the potential adoptive parents and the children. "What a great job she has," I thought. "She gets to help unite children and parents!" My third bit of advice to potential adoptive parents is to get A LOT of feedback before selecting an agency. One person isn't enough, especially if it's a person who hasn't completed an adoption yet (things can go horribly wrong at ANY point during an adoption process). Join e-mail groups that are country-specific and ask about the agency, check out forums like http://www.adoption.com/ and ask about the agency, search for blogs by clients of the agency and see what people are posting. (Hint about http://www.adoption.com/ - feedback must be done in private, but you can get an idea of someone's experience by looking at the timeline of their process.) You will hear good and bad about every agency, and it may be tempting to brush off the bad experience as an isolated incident. If you're questioning the bad feedback, just ask yourself what YOU would do if you were that parent. (In my case, would you have given up the referral of a child who already fell asleep in your arms and your trusted agency promised the problem would work itself out any day? For how many days would you believe the problem would work itself out? At what point would you give up on that child? And what would you expect the agency to do when you finally said, "Enough is enough?")

My fourth bit of advice is to remember that adoption is a BUSINESS. Even the best agency, the most ethical directors, the most compassionate social workers, this is still their JOB. There are some out there who really are in this business for the "right" reasons (the children), there are some who have lost sight of the right reason, and there are some who just take advantage of the situation. In my opinion, the middle group is the worst because they truly believe they are doing the right thing and that the potential adoptive parent is completely out of line. As a potential adoptive parent, you are entitled to everything that is outlined in your contract, you are entitled to be treated with respect, you are entitled to timely communication with your service provider, and you are entitled to know the truth about the legal process you are paying for. If an agency director chides you for asking a question or for inquiring about your process, this is NOT acceptable as this is their JOB. You are a paying CLIENT, they are not doing you any favors by helping you process an adoption. Do not be intimidated by an agency director who can't be bothered to treat you with respect. If your hairdresser dyed your hair blue but you only asked for a trim, you would probably find another hairdresser, right? And you might even demand a refund, or file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, right? Why should you expect any different from the company that you've paid money to help you form your family? Surely your family is more important than your hairstyle!

My last bit of advice to potential adoptive parents is to keep your eyes open at all times. If you think the agency is lying to you, they probably are. If something doesn't sound right, it probably isn't. The Internet is a wonderful way to connect with others. Create a separate e-mail, not tied to any blog or list or anything that your agency knows about and give NO distinguishing information about yourself through this e-mail. Use it to follow up on those things that aren't quite adding up. Hopefully, you'll find out that you're just worrying too much. But if not, if you're one of the 5% of adoptions that are like mine was, you'll be happy for the anonymity. Five percent may not be a lot, but if it were YOU...

Adoption Agency Research Questionnaire

2008-05-14T14:32:00.000-07:00

I created an Adoption Agency Research Questionnaire to assist PAPs while they are gathering information. I wish I had asked more questions and spent more time on the research and information gathering part of our journey. I hope this helps PAPs avoid some of the pitfalls along the way. Permission is granted to use for personal purposes only. Click the title of this post to download this document. Thanks! :) Dawn

NY Times Article

2008-05-13T12:57:00.000-07:00

This article is about the many agencies going out of business and the difficulties they are having getting Hague Accreditation. It mentions Waiting Angels, Claar Foundation and Orson Mozes (Adoption International Program, Inc. co-owned by Christen Brown.)

Join the Chorus

2008-05-11T17:42:00.001-07:00

This Mother's Day, Join The Chorus with Ethica

On this Mother's Day, the adoption community will celebrate and honor first and adoptive mothers for the love and care they've provided to their children. These mothers might be blocks or oceans apart, but connected through a desire to ensure their children's well-being and futures. We at Ethica, ask that you help contribute to their legacies by supporting ethical adoptions, practices, and policies.

Our work reminds us that motherhood through adoption has its challenges and sometimes, heartbreak. Unfortunately, adoptions can be tainted by questionable practices and the victimization of vulnerable members of the adoption triad. When problems arise, families and their advocates approach Ethica for guidance and assistance. Their stories speak for themselves:

- An American mother calls, seeking help to recover her child, whose "adoption" she never consented to.
- An anthropologist calls after interviewing ethnic minority Vietnamese women who are desperatelysearching for their children. They had been given as little as $31 USD as “poverty alleviation support,” promised that their children will be returned to them in several years, and that until then the orphanage will provide for them. The children have been internationally adopted without their consent.
- A family is stranded in Guatemala, abandoned by their adoption agency in the midst of new policy changes that essentially close adoptions while the country centralizes its process.
- A young woman adopted from Eastern Europe, and then left in the U.S. foster care system, wonders if she is a citizen since she has no immigration paperwork and needs to apply for federal assistance.
- Adopted children in an African orphanage tell their prospective adoptive parents about being sexually abused. As a result they are denied food, and the orphanage threatens to stop their adoptions.
- An adoption agency uses a bait-and-switch tactic, offering children to prospective adoptive parents despite not having the appropriate paperwork or histories, then switching the "referral" in-country.
- A Christian missionary group questions if their donations are being used to care for orphans as the poor conditions persist.
- Families report giving "donations" of $5-7,000 to Vietnamese orphanage directors in order to complete their adoptions. And yet two months ago, Ethica was asked to provide blankets and formula for babies dying from unusually cold weather....

Ethica receives 50-80 inquiries a week from adoption triad members in crisis. Over the past 6 years, we have assisted over 8,000 children and families, often advocating for them with the U.S. Department ofState, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and state attorney generals. Currently we are actively assisting over 200 children and families in the U.S., Guatemala, Vietnam, Liberia, Haiti, and Nepal.

In the United States, in addition to answering many questions and supporting individuals through difficult situations, we have conducted a review of state adoption laws. We have testified in person and in writing on adopted people'srights to their birth records. We have worked on cases involving the informed consent of first parents.

Our work involves human rights issues such as the trafficking of children into adoption. We have carried out several successful humanitarian aid projects to Liberia and Vietnam.

It is essential that Ethica continue to assist families in crisis and expand our advocacy initiatives. Ethica is the only truly independent adoption advocacy organization doing this vital work. Ethica represents all members of the adoption triad, and has no competing financial interest. To maintain our independence, we do not acceptmonetary support from anyone who places children for adoption.

Please consider joining our campaign, "Voices for Ethical Adoption." As an Ethica supporter, you are aware of the ethical challenges in adoption and the need to make ethics a priority. We need your voice. Our goal is to raise $20,000 in 15 days so that we can meet the increasing demand for our services. Unlike adoption agencies, we do not receive funds from placing children for adoption, so we rely on the community's goodwill and support.

A $100 donation allows Ethica to administer our humanitarian efforts for 1 month.

A $250 donation allows Ethica to train a state adoption regulator on adoption fraud and need for adoption consumer protection laws.

A $500 donation can keep the Ethica phone lines open for 1 year.

A $1,000 donation can cover Ethica's office rent for 4 months.

Thank you for your past and continued efforts to promote a dialogue on ethical adoptions!

Sincerely,
Linh Song, MSW
Executive Director
Ethica, Inc.

Community Mourns Laura Cleaves

2008-05-08T17:44:00.001-07:00

PLEASE TAKE A SURVEY...

2008-05-07T13:53:00.000-07:00

Please take my survey if you have adopted or attempted to adopt internationally. Another survey will be launched in the near future for those who have adopted or attempted to adopt domestically.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO SURVEY

You may only take the survey ONCE from your IP address.

Another Experienced AP Shares...

2008-05-07T05:52:00.000-07:00

How has your opinion about adoption changed from when you began to now?

It's with a heavy heart I write the following.

We began our "adoption journey" in March 1999 when we signed on with Building Blocks for Russia. At that time, we truly believed we were aiding "an orphan" by giving him a loving home in the United States. We had been sold on international adoption by so many horror stories about domestic adoption (horrible, selfish biological mothers actually wanting to parent their children! mentally sick foster care kids! careless state workers! crass private adoption attorneys!). With international adoption, so agencies and post-adoptive parents told one another, it was a "guarantee" that you'd get a child. There'd be NO biological parents coming back to "get" the child. And the children would be healthy. Those reality check stories we'd seen on T.V. or read in magazines and the newspaper we were told were bunk. Yeah, maybe the child would have some delays, but all it would take was "food and love" to bring him on level with his American-born peers.

Fast forward to November 25, 1999 when our baby Cyril died in our hotel room in Perm, Russia. No amount of food, love and feel-good talk could Cyril back his life. Needless to say, the misinformation we had been fed especially by post-adoptive parents had been fatal. Nobody had told us how mistreated, malnurished and commidified babies had become in Russia. Commidified to the extent the baby's needs as a commodity were being met, but not the baby's needs as a human child.

Nobody could explain WHY some of these baby homes were understaffed, with hardly enough to go around. Hadn't the agencies and their clients been going nuts donating all that money to the orphanage? Americans are generous people. We give when we see the needs - especially tiny children with no parents.

Nor could it be explained WHERE these souls came from - had they all dropped out of the sky? Were they really "unwanted" and "unloved" (some yes, some no - it's all a human condition)

The reality was, babies were being treated like exchangeable goods. One dies? Hey, there may be one more - but . "Lost referral"? if you're lucky, the MOE may get you another "healthy" one, but oh wait - the wealthier facilitator from the greedier, better connected agency beat your faciliator to the punch. That LAST healthy referral just went to another family. Oh well - go home empty handed. Try again. Spend another $25K.

We learned that many of the children from Eastern Europe ARE NOT 100% "healthy". When you saw on the court decree "child was removed from an alcoholic family" - it meant EXACTLY that. Post-institutionalization issues are something that needed to be taken seriously. FAS, ARND, RAD, attachment issues, autism, in-vitro drug exposure, bi-polar issues - you name it, many of the children in those EE orphanages have something going on. You are a fortunate family if your child didn't have some residual issues from his poor upbrining and an institution.

We came to see in other country's programs that baby TRAFFICKING IS indemic in international adoptions (Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Guatemala, India). Again, babies don't fall from the sky. They are concieved and born. They are being obtained by brokers for us to adopt. I only wish their biological parents were paid more for their hardships, for God knows the brokers, orphanage directors and agency directors have gotten well compensated for their part in the trade.

We have questions about the biological origins of our son from Bulgaria - was he brokered? If so, how much did his orphanage director pay for him? How much money did she make by placing him with us? I know I paid the Bulgarian facilitator, Valerie Kamenov, $7,500 CASH when I made my first visit to Bulgaria to see our son. I know we paid $3,500 more in CASH when we picked our child up a year later.

Let's not hide our heads in the sand any longer. Some of our internationally adopted children were brokered.

What have you learned and what advice/insights do you feel are vital to share to new PAPs?

Educate yourself before you walk into international adoption. Read up on attachment issues. Read up on post-institutionalization issues. Connect with families who have been home for at least two years - how are their children adjusting? At what ages were they brought home?

If it sounds too good to be true - IT IS. If an agency is trying to sell you on a "pilot program" in a new country, ask yourself why they are selling you. Chances are that pilot rogram is not going to succeed in today's current adoption climate.

Follow the money. If an agency can't disclose where the foreign fee goes, they're feeding the corruption with YOUR MONEY.

Do a Google search on the adoption agency and its director. What do you find? If you find even ONE horror story, that one horror story too much. If you sign on with that agency, you are helping them to stay in business and continue bilking others.

Read the agency's contract. How awful is it? How many "non refundables" are there in those clauses? How many "keep off the internet" clauses are there?

Just because somebody says they're "Christian", "Jewish" "Catholic" or "non denominational" does NOT mean they have YOUR best interests at heart. All of the above can lie like the best incarcerated congressmen going. And those claims of being 501(c)(3) ? Big deal! So much money can be ciphoned off under dubios headings in the 990s, nobody has a clue how much these directors & faciliators are TRULY making.

Food for thought.

How Has My Opinion on Adoption Changed?

2008-05-06T11:15:00.000-07:00

Dawn, do you ever ask loaded questions!

In the six years since our agency retaliated against us, even summoning the courage to trust a social worker to try to adopt again, is impossible. I've learned too much about child welfare law and that it is an ingrained system that your average PAP can't fight. Not without expert legal help anyway. I've learned that the system protects the private agency at the expense of PAPs, foster parents, and even more horrifying, children. The enforcement mechanisms to root out bad agencies and caseworkers is a joke.

Back in my starry-eyed PAP days, I trusted people and I believed in the good of child welfare. I'm beyond disillusioned now.

But on the bright side, I found a passion in me that I didn't know existed. I've found the ability to take a grim set of circumstances and use them as a positive force.

Ditto on Kim's comments about researching an agency and going in with a cautious attitude.

Adoption: An Excruciating Process

2008-05-05T15:37:00.000-07:00

It was a little over 2 years ago that my husband and I set out on what we thought would be a beautiful, heartwarming journey. We made the decision to adopt a child internationally.

We believed that our journey to our child would be full of smiles, excitement and anticipation. We were wrong. It was instead filled with tears, fear and anxiety. What we thought of as a beautiful journey in the beginning, we realized was actually an excruciating process.

There is of course a story behind our adoption process, but I will save that for another post. For now I just want to touch on the subject of how my opinion about adoption has changed since that day 2 years ago when we set out on our "journey". There are many sayings out there about how we learn from our mistakes or by trial and error or through experience. Well, however you say it, we did in fact learn a lot. My hope is that people who come across this blog can learn from all of us here who have been through it. I wish I had come along a resource like this 2 years ago. Perhaps I would not have had to learn the hard way. (yet another of those wonderful sayings)

The following question was asked of the members of this blog. How has your opinion about adoption changed from when you began to now? What have you learned and what advice/insights do you feel are vital to share to new PAPs?

When we started out I believed that we would keep that happy, excited feeling throughout the whole journey. Instead I became physically ill due to the stress involved with the process. Stress headaches, stomach aches, backaches and fatigue were my constant companion for nearly a year. I thought adoption was supposed to be a joyous experience and in the end when we got our son it was, but the process itself was torture. Nobody warned me about that and I was naive and had no idea how hard it would all be on me. My advice to new PAP's: be aware that this is not going to be all fun and smiles. The process is hard and it's stressful. Be prepared for the worst and hope for the best.

Another thing I didn't realize was just how scary international adoption can be. I used to hear all the time about birthmothers in the US changing their minds but I had never heard of it happening with international adoption until it happened to our friends. It does happen and that is something else people need to be aware of. For my husband and I the fear was not of the birthmother returning but of an official stepping in to disrupt our adoption. We were threatened by our adoption agency about that. I journaled our adoption process at Roller Coaster Ride To Kazakhstan, which is now a private blog. I made it private because between trips Orson Mozes of Adoption International Program called us on the phone and told us that my blog had angered officials in Kaz and that we may not be able to bring our son home. He "warned" us to make the blog private or remove it altogether. It turned out to be nothing more than a scare tactic by Mozes to get us to take down the blog. The fact was he and his staff were not happy with my blog because I spoke out against him. He "warned" that our 2nd trip might take longer than other people's had and that we may have troubles on that trip. He was right, but it was trouble and delays caused by his staff as retribution against me for the blog. Until my son touched down on US soil, I was in constant fear of something going wrong. My advice to new PAP's: If you blog it may be best to stay anonymous. I feel it is important to tell the truth so others can know what is going on, so don't mislead people into thinking everything is wonderful. Just be careful about who may be reading your blog and how they may react.

Of course, the most important thing I learned is that adoption is not the same thing to all parties involved. To the agencies it is a business. It is a way for them to make money. It is a way for the countries the children are coming from to make money as well. To us PAP's (prospective adoptive parents) adoption is about bringing a child into our family. It is about finding our son or daughter. This is the problem. There is a big, BIG, difference in motivation from PAP's to agencies. Because of this it makes us easy targets. There are of course good agencies out there. It is simply important to realize that there are also bad agencies with no interest in the families or the children they are supposedly trying to help. My advice to new PAP's: I learned that the number one rule in adoption is to research any agency you are thinking of using, and then research it some more. I actually wrote a page dedicated to this on another site of mine. You can find that here.

I now view adoption differently than I did before. I still believe it is a good thing. I have an amazing son and he has a family now. That is of course an incredibly wonderful thing. It is the process itself that is terribly flawed. It needs change and regulation. Adoption is amazing... the adoption process is pure hell!

Why Agency License Regulations Need to Be Tightened

2008-05-04T14:27:00.000-07:00

Two of the best examples I can identify that illustrate the necessity for tighter regulations for adoption agencies and adoption facilitators are Seymour Kurtz and Tedi Hedsrtom. Seymour Kurtz of Chicago has been around and under investigation since the 1960’s and continues to broker babies to this very day. Tedi Hedstrom is a more contemporary player, but once again, epitomizes how someone can have their license taken away by one state and simply set up shop in another.

According to Mirah Riben (2007, pg.77):

The Golden Link Foundation pays up to $10,000.00 to mothers who surrender their babies to one of its agencies (Adoption World, Birth Hope Adoption Agency, and
Easter House). None of these agencies has a physical address, just 800 numbers, and all are owned and operated, as is Golden Link Foundation, by Seymour Kurtz of Chicago.

In 1985, Easter House, one of Kurtz’s agencies, was charged with a dozen violations of state laws and regulations intended to protect children, mothers, and those who want to adopt. The licenses of Friends of Children and Birth Hope, two of his operations, were not renewed. Kurtz’s agencies have been denied licenses in Florida, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

And yet, “Despite all of the criticism and charges against him and his agencies. Kurtz continues to operate…”
Tedi Hedstrom was the Exectuive Director of Tedi Bear Adoptions in Florida and had her agency license revoked for several criminal and administrative code violations. However, she now owns and operates Adoption Blessings Worldwide in Macon, Georgia. Some of her violations were:
As of October 15. 2002. TBA'S website located on the Internet does not include the Respondent’s Florida License number of the agency, which is a violation of Section 6 3.212(1)(9), Florida Statutes and Rule 6 5C-15.002(9) Florida Administrative Code.

Ms. Hedstrom, Executive Director of TBA, falsified her employment application by indicating she has a BA/BS degree with a major in Social Work /Education:

However, her resume shows she has a BA with a major in Education from the University of North Florida 1987 and a minor in Social Work from Florida State University. When questioned about her application showing a major in Social
Work and her resume showing a minor in it, she admitted that she does not have a degree in social work and that though she attended classes, she did not graduate from Florida State University. The reviewer verified that Tedi
Hedstrom's Bachelors degree is in Education only. Knowingly providing false information constitutes violation of Section 6 3.212(2) (a11) which is a criminal and an administrative offense.

Yet, Tedi continues to mislead adoptive parents on her current website by stating:

“Tedi attended Florida State University where she majored in Social Work [emphasis added] and graduated Magna Cum Laude from The University of North Florida with a B.A.E. She plans to complete her M.S.W. in the future.”

The Florida State Department of Children & Families also cited that Tedi had program directors residing in other states (in violation of Rule 65C-15.003(4), admitted to fabricating certificates of attendance to training and conferences, multiple missing employee records and background checks, falsifying her employment application, failing to conduct numerous post-placement reports, and violating AP’s confidentiality.

Complaints by adoptive parents included offering a child to multiple families, collecting monies that were not outlined in the fee schedule, using a website consisting of fabricated stories to solicit donations, non-disclosure of developmental delays or disabilities, notarizing documents in which the witness has a financial interest, and numerous other allegations.

Considering all of the above, it is appalling that this woman is still in operation! How can this be? It is due to the lax licensure standards and requirements and a faulty system that con artists can easily manipulate.

Documents to Read

2008-05-03T21:02:00.000-07:00

You can view and read the Affidavitt by the Santa Barbara DA for 62 felony charges against Orson Mozes (co-owner of Adoption International Program, Inc. with his wife, Christen Brown) by clicking here!

View and read the Plaintiff Complaint against Adoption International Program, Inc, (owned by Orson Mozes and his wife Christen Brown) by clicking here!

View and read the Plaintiff Complaint against the Waiting Angels Adoption Agency by clicking here!

The civil litigation attorney representing the plaintiffs in the above two cases is Joni Fixel of Fixel Law Offices. Click here to go to her website!

The Purpose of the Blog

2008-04-21T09:14:00.001-07:00

Joe and I went through an international adoption nightmare. The journey opened our eyes to the pervasive corruption and criminality that is endemic in the adoption industry. We were quite naïve when we began our adoption journey in April 2006. We did the standard research of our agency which consisted of checking them out with the Better Business Bureau and a search on Google, but that was all. We honestly had the Pollyanna belief that adoption would be a beautiful and enlightening process. We couldn’t imagine, and therefore never entertained, the possibility of fraud and corruption in something as heartfelt as adoption. Well, needless to say, we were seriously awakened when we involuntarily went through the trial by fire. You can read about our nightmare international adoption and the three sons that we loved and lost on our original blog at http://www.quest2kaz.blogspot.com/.

As a teacher, I believe that education is the key to change. It is my hope that this blog helps unsuspecting and vulnerable PAP’s learns of the very real possibility that exists for falling victim to adoption fraud and scams. I pray that NOT ONE MORE SINGLE PAP ever has to endure the heartbreak that far too many of us have felt. I believe that it is our right and moral obligation, as victims of adoption crimes and/or corruption, to speak out and share our stories. Elie Wiesel wisely stated that "The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference." Yet 1 John 3:11 tells us “…that we should love one another.”

So, ultimately this blog is about loving one another through the telling of our stories. LET’S SPEAK OUT!

Library

2007-01-01T18:42:00.000-08:00

Excellent Articles You MUST Read

Civil & Criminal Court Documents

Books Worth Reading

Ethics in American Adoption by L. Anne Babb
Inside the Adoption Agency: Understanding Intercountry Adoption in the Era of the Hague Convention by Jean Nelson-Erichsen
Wasted: The Plight of America's Unwanted Children by Patrick T. Murphy
Family Bonds: Adoption, Infertility, and the New World of Child Production by Elizabeth Bartholet
Nobody's Children: Abuse and Neglect, Foster Drift, and the Adoption Alternative by Elizabeth Bartholet

3C and You

2007-01-01T18:41:00.001-08:00

BEFORE You Sign a Contract with an Agency:

Use this Agency Research Questionnaire to help you as you gather information and to guide you during the adoption agency selection process.

Join the Adoption Agency Research Yahoo Group as well as any Yahoo groups specific to your adoption specifications (country, single parent, etc...)

I highly recommend that you have an Agency Background Check done on the final adoption agency you wish to use. This expense can save you THOUSANDS in the end.

DURING Your Adoption Journey:

Blogs, IMHO, are VERY important for a number of reasons. First, it is a fun way for you to become a part of the adoption community. You will make friends and develop bonds that will last a lifetime! Second, it is an emotional outlet. Adoption is both exciting and scary at the same time. You will experience more ups and downs than ever before in your life. Blogging provides you with a place to vent and a place to get support from others who know what you are going through. Third, it holds your agency accountable and provides you with a detailed account of what is going on in real time. Although NOBODY goes into adoption with thoughts of litigation in the back of their mind, it is something that is ~ sadly ~ a reality. Our blog was public and had high traffic throughout our adoption. Our agency knew that their wrongs would be made public. Granted, there were threats that forced us to withhold to a certain degree. In the end, it was invaluable. Lastly, it is a priceless account of the journey to your child! I put together a brief "how to" for new bloggers that you can read HERE. If you are interested in having a custom blog design, I recommend the following blog designers:

Amy at SplitDecisionz

Dawn at BarefootBlogDesigns

Nikki at BlogsForACause

Danielle at BlogsByDanielle

BlogOversWithLove

Jennisa at OnceUponaBlog

Press and Media

2007-01-01T18:41:00.000-08:00

Adoption Fraud in the Press & Media

The Cribs, Crimes, and Corruption YouTube Channel

Agency Alerts

2007-01-01T18:40:00.000-08:00

Steven G. Dubin, Esq. (Southhampton, PA)
A Child's Waiting
World Child International Adoption Agency
Small Miracles International
Celebrate Children
Adoption Choice
Focus on Children
Journeys of the Heart
Adoption Partners
Great Wall China Adoption
Lutheran Social Services of Illinois
Building Blocks Adoption Services
Adoption Blessings Worldwide
Adoption Assistance Program
Adoption Insight
Main Street Adoptions
Heritage Adoption Services (uses the same Kazakhstan in-country facilitator that Orson Mozes used - Nigmat)

3C Contributors

2007-01-01T18:39:00.001-08:00

2Lyrical, AKA Elizabeth Case & Beware of BBAS. Daniel & Elizabeth Case have been active in the adoption reform movement since they adopted their son from Bulgaria in 2000. After having a harrowing experience in Russia where their infant son Cyril died in their hotel room, the Cases went on a mission to expose the real underside of the unregulated, profit-driven, ill-qualified and cruelty of the international adoption industry. They started with their own Medina, Ohio based agency, Building Blocks Adoption Service, Inc., and its foreign sources. Soon after, the Cases realized BBAS was not unique in its deceptive practices. There were other victims of even worse adoption practitioners who had cut a swath of pain and ill-gotten financial gains into PAPs and AParents.

Brass Ovaries, AKA Paula Cade & Plaintiff PAP, planned to adopt domestically and used Lutheran Social Services. LSSI completed the Cade's homestudy, but later altered the homestudy to reflect negatively on the couple after they filed a complaint against their case worker. Paula is a wealth of knowledge and also works as a paralegal for Fixel Law Offices, LLC.

About Me

2007-01-01T18:39:00.000-08:00

Our Adoption Journey is blogged at www.quest2kaz.blogspot.com

Thank you for your interest in Cribs, Crimes, and Corruption! My name is Dawn De Lorenzo. I married my wonderful husband, Joe, on August 18, 2002. In 2004 we began trying to conceive. Our efforts were fruitless. We pursued fertility treatment and completed three cycles of IUI, but we still did not conceive. That is when we thought that perhaps it was God’s plan for us to adopt.

In April 2006 we signed a contract with Adoption International Program (AIP) Incorporated in Santa Barbara, California (their agency license is in PA). The co-owner and director is Mr. Orson Mozes. Christen Brown, Orson’s wife, was the other co-owner. We signed with AIP after seeing the picture of a beautiful baby boy on a photolisting through the website http://www.adopting.com/ and hoped adoption could help us grow our family. Mr. Mozes informed us that 80% of his clients adopt the child they selected from the photolisting. He informed us that this baby boy, Alexander, was available and that once we sent our initial fee, his picture would be removed from the photolisting site and nobody else could inquire about him. Little did we know at that time that photolistings are illegal under Kazakhstani law (where we were adopting from) and their country does not recognize “referrals” or allow children to be “held” for any particular couple.

As I researched the laws of Kazakhstan and began chatting with numerous couples on the Yahoo groups for adoptive parents I started to uncover the appalling reputation that Mr. Mozes had and his unethical and questionable practices. Sadly, we were financially bound to him (over $8,000.00 at that time) and could not afford to lose the money we gave him to date.

We began “nesting” and preparing our son’s nursery with great joy in our hearts. But after loving Alexander for nine months and dreaming of the day he would become a part of our family we were informed via a sterile e-mail, that he was no longer available due to a problem with his paperwork! We were brokenhearted and considered ending our relationship with AIP and looking for another agency. However, Orson reminded us we would not get a cent back of what we had already given him and also made it clear that we would have to go to mediation in California and any lawsuit would have to be filed there as well. His intimidation tactics worked and we forged ahead.

After some time Orson informed us that his contacts in Kazakhstan had found another baby boy for us. We accepted this baby boy, named Stas, and once again our hope was renewed. We traveled to Kazakhstan in February 2007 with both excitement and trepidation. After 24 hours in the air we landed in Almaty, Kazakhstan and were met by Orson’s contact in country, a man named Nigmat. Up until that point Nigmat was only the name of a faceless man that we wired money to in an account he has in Cyprus. He explained what we should expect during our trip and collected the remaining balance due in cash. Nigmat left and we stayed in the airport with his assistant waiting for our early morning flight to the city Ust-Kamenogorsk.

When we arrived in Ust-Kamenogorsk we were informed that the coordinator, Almagul, was stuck in Astana due to bad weather, so we could not go to the orphanage until she arrived. We waited patiently and two days later we were finally introduced to our beautiful son Stas! It was the happiest day of our lives. He was sick and much delayed developmentally, but he was perfect to us. Our nightmare continued though, when ten days later, after celebrating Stas’s first birthday together with a party at the orphanage, we were informed that his birthmother returned and stated she did not want him adopted. Devastation cannot adequately describe the pain we experienced from this loss. We considered flying back home immediately. However, we felt that there must be a baby who needs us and could help make us a family.

My husband could not bring himself to return to the orphanage. I went back and was shown several children. There was no connection with any of these children. I was numb. That night I reiterated to Orson that we wanted to adopt a BOY who was under three years old. He told us that he “pulled a lot of strings” and that we would be shown a wonderful baby boy the next morning. That baby boy was Andrey and I felt a connection to him right away. I told my husband I thought he would feel connected to him too. It was very difficult for Joe to open his heart again, but he did and slowly fell in love with Andrey. After completing the mandatory fifteen day bonding period (again!) we went to court and the judge granted our adoption. We were thrilled and on cloud nine! My husband flew home and I stayed in order to complete the fifteen day waiting/appeal period and finalize the adoption. On the fifteenth day of the waiting/appeal period I was told that Andrey’s birthmother filed an appeal! This was beginning to feel like a horrible Lifetime movie!

I had to go to the appeals court in order to fight for our son. The first day, the birthmother did not show up. They rescheduled for two days later and this time she showed. She gave power of attorney to a gentleman friend and he was the greatest force behind this appeal. The court denied her appeal and the case was returned to family court. I had now been in Kazakhstan for two months and my Family Leave was running out. We were also paying $175.00 per day for the apartment, driver and translator. I was not getting paid for these two months and our funds were drying up. I was alone, often abandoned by the driver, translator and coordinator, and I could no longer visit our son at the orphanage. Everyone involved in our case told me there was nothing more I could do and that my presence in Kazakhstan was moot. Our coordinator, Almagul, had power of attorney and would continue to go to court as our representative. I finally had to leave our case in her hands and head home. Getting on that plane and leaving our son in the orphanage was the most difficult thing I have ever had to do in my life.

I had been home since mid-April and there was no resolution to our case in sight. There were two court dates: one on May 16 and the other on May 30, 2007. One night in early June I received an e-mail from a woman who had just returned from Ust-Kamenogorsk telling me it was urgent that I contact her. I did and my heart shattered in a million pieces. She told me that they were all lying to me! She said that the day our court date was held Almagul never went and when she inquired Almagul just blew her off. Orson denied everything and acted outraged assuring us he would get to the bottom of the matter.

Soon after, we received a letter from the Kazakhstan courts, but it was in Russian. Orson claimed that the translator they used was on vacation. We finally had to hire someone privately to translate the letter for us. I thought I would die as I read the court’s letter stating that we did not show up in court and our Power of Attorney, the coordinator for Adoption International Program (Almagul), did not show up to represent us! Soon after this Orson “disappeared” and we were left with an empty bank account and an empty crib…not to mention the emotional agony that words cannot describe.

We did not want to give up on our son. We hired an attorney is Ust-Kamenogorsk to look into our adoption. Then we hired an attorney to sue AIP and make Orson Mozes accountable for what he had done to us and so many others. I also called the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s Office and filed a complaint. This was not the first time they heard of Orson! They had a case open since 2004/2005, but couldn't get victims to come forward. I set out on a mission to get as many people to come forward as possible. The senior investigator, Laura Cleaves, was the person assigned to the case and was a true angel! Less than one year later the State of California charged Mozes with 62 felonies. Sadly, a few weeks after Laura filed these charges, she was killed by a drunk driver. A new investigator has been assigned to this case, but Laura was the cornerstone of the investigation and she will be missed dearly.

Any attempts to describe the emotional and financial destruction wreaked at the hands of AIP will fall short of describing the true impact on our lives. We could not afford to continue fighting for our son under the circumstances. The Kazakhstan government was useless in responding to our pleas for help. They informed us we would have to start all over again! Furthermore, our son’s birthmother, in the meanwhile, had given birth to another boy that she immediately put in the orphanage. The government told us we would have to adopt him as well. Even though we agreed to jump through every hoop they placed in front of us ~ they would not even tell us if his newborn brother was healthy! To top it all off ~ they were putting our sons back on the national registry for six months, during which time any citizen could adopt them. They could not guarantee that even if we did everything they asked all over again…that we would come home with our sons. Considering that we blew the whistle on the corruption within the orphanage and Ministry of Education, we were certain our efforts to finalize our adoption would be thwarted and ultimately fail.

This experience has tainted every aspect of our lives. Not a single day goes by that we don’t think of our sweet boys. I have devoted considerable time and effort to removing Orson from the “adoption industry” and will continue to advocate for adoption reforms that place the needs of children first and demand an ethical adoption process. It is my hope that more adoptive parents and potential adoptive parents, as well as adoptees and firstmothers, will unite and demand, in unison, a transparent adoption process in which all members of the triad are treated with respect and dignity.

~Dawn~

A TRIBUTE TO OUR SONS...

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