Follow up to previous post - the $65,000 challenge - which has some lively comments and discussion you might want to check if you haven;t already.
Five couples - two from Long Island, two from New York City and one from Texas - have so farcome forward to complain that the 41-year old adoptee attorney, KevenCohen, stole money from them and did not come through with the babies they were intending to buy.
It's being called a Ponzi scheme because Cohen may have used funds from new clients to partially refund a client who had not obtained a baby. Butgee whiz, isnt that just doing business? I mean we hear all thetime that prices indepartment dtores are hight o make up for merchandise tat is shop-lifyed. Business is buniness and the losses have to be passed on tot he consumers, don;t they?
Anyhow, one of the couples, Ben and Brigid Vogt of Seaford, said "they believe" they lost $22,500 to Cohen and will meet with prosecutors Monday. Ben Vogt said they had hoped to adopt a baby so their 2 1/2-old son would have a sibling.Cohen promised the Vogts that he had a baby lined up for them from an 18-year-old Pennsylvania woman.
The only way to protect prospective adopters is to disallow the practice of pre-birth contracts of any kind - including verbal promises made directly or through a match-maker. No one should be paying up front on the hope and expectation that an expectant mother - one such expectant mother in particular - is going to chose to relinquish her child after it is born, and that she is locked into doing so to that particular couple.
That system puts undue expectations on adopters and is tremendously coercive to expectant mother already in crisis and very vulnerable. if the prospective adopters's expectations is that this is a money-back guarantee - it's set up for disaster one way or another. Either they are going to get pissed off t the attorney as they re now, or they are going to pressure the mother.
This needs to all be outlawed! It violates the principle of the law against pre-birth contracts and baby selling because it is BOTH!
Cohen, like Seymour Kurtz and all others of this ilk will no doubt get some minor slap on the wrist and keep going peddling flesh...
The actual buyers will find another sleazy baby broker and get a kid somehow.
Business as usual in the Unites States, Inc. where capitalism reigns supreme and totally out of control.
18 comments:
The victims here are not "buyers". This is a legal process whether done thorugh local DFCS, adoption agency or private adoption attorney. No doubt you would rather see all unwanted babies aborted rather than find a loving home.
Perhaps all ignorant morons should be forced by law to keep their babies even if they can't afford to raise them properly. You are correct, there is profiteering on victims hopes and dreams but the Lawyers are doingit all. You see how easily adoptive parents will part with money for expenses just so they can love a newborn they themselves cannot create. This is not baby selling. It is a loving, thoughtful alternative to to mass scale adoption agencies. Adoptive parents are good people with big hearts. you would do well to encourage poor and plain old stupid birthmoms to use this CHOICE instead of waiting for the social worker to throw these kids into the system.
BTW, you do know the birthmothers that you advocate for,in this case, were completely made up...
Please allow the "ignorant moron" who writes this blog to respond on behalf of myself and all poor and "plain stupid" birthmoms -- with expletives deleted because I would like to tell you where to place your ignorant judgmental comments.
"adoptive parents will part with money for expenses just so they can love a newborn they themselves cannot create"
This is the problem, especially the "newborn" part.
There re half a million children in US foster care. of those 129,000 COULD be adopted virtually free of charge - minimal fees, some with subsidies.
Paying $65,000 when the average private adoption is $15 or $20k to a high of $40 id BABY BUYING. Yes, it may be legal, but that doesn't make it right or ethical. It is certainly not an act of humanitarian good will or altruism... not it is "loving or thoughtful" or an "alternative to mass scale adoption agencies" whatever that means!
Many people go this route because they cannot pass home studies or qualify to adopt through a reputable agencies. That is how children have wound up adopted by pedophiles and others who abuse or even kill them! Because the "sellers" don;t care where the money is coming from and have no concern for the best interest of these children.
Lawyers and others can only do this when people like this are willing to pay anything for a newborn, just as you said.
Did you read the post before rattling off your comment? Do you understand what a pre-birth contract is and why it violates the spirit of the law?
This is WRONG. If you cannot see that, it's your prerogative but I am very sorry for you because your moral compass is askew, IMO.
Wait!- they were adopting two children- get the facts right. There were no birth moms and no babies. does that fall into your price range? These funds were to be escrowed for medical expenses and in the end the birth mom can simply walk away- intimidation and pressure are against the law. It so happens that I have two adopted foster children so I have perch to preach from- you however are ill-informed.
"Many people go this route because they cannot pass home studies or qualify to adopt through a reputable agencies. That is how children have wound up adopted by pedophiles and others who abuse or even kill them! Because the "sellers" don;t care where the money is coming from and have no concern for the best interest of these children."
Wrong again- home studies are required in all states and follow-up by social workers is manditory- are you stating that adoptive parents have monopoloy on abusing children? Becasue that is how I got my kids. Abusive birth parents.
come on now- approve my posts... you know I'm right and you are incorrect.
I pre-birth contract is unenforceable in any court room. Period. No one can tell a birth family they have to give up offspring. Period. This why most states require social worker intervention be used for birthmoms during adoptions. It's helps them know their rights regardless of what was told to them or what they signed. Your case is moot.
I advocate the removing of all profiteering in adoption which is by nature coercive and exploitive and treats children as commodities. I advocate for children and the lies. Such advocacy will help who want to offer care for truly orphaned children and those in need of alternative care...and those children.
This ype of baby brokering and scmming hurts ALL and needs to stop. Do you have a problem with tht position?
In addition to reading in full this particular blog post - I suggest you read IN FULL the column to your right.
Sometime and somehow you have been hurt. Don't attack good people because you are also a victim. Get help. Join a group, get therapy. deal with it. Don't hate.
I am an adoptee, my wife as well. my kids are adopted and we wish to carry the good work forward. You want it to stop. We win and we will continue to win as long as people who make bad life choices come around and fix that with a good life decision like adoption for their babies.
Using the black and white "logic" - a term I use very loosely here - of the anonymous folk whose nerve I struck...would you prefer I and others ignore obvious abuses and skanky, sleazy unscrupulous baby brokers scam artists like this one?
I think not! Seems prospective adopters are outraged too...WHEN THEY LOSE MONEY! And we are supposed to weep and feel pity for them because they were trying to do such a noble deed?
But no tears for us sluts who all DESERVED to lose our kids, despite the fact that not one mother I know of personally was ever even suspected of child abuse or neglect nor are the women this attorney is or is not dealing with.
This ignorant moron who needs "help" will step aside and let all you far more knowledgeable folk dispute whether there were or were not "birthmothers" or in reality EXPECTANT MOTHERS ever lined up or not.
Signed ignorant, stupid etc., etc. who just happens to be an internationally acclaimed and respected author of two books and numerous articles resulting from 30+ years researching adoption.
I am an invited presenter on a panel of attorneys on the ethics of adoption fees at the Sixth Annual Adoption Law conference in NYC in December:
http://www.pli.edu/product/seminar_detail.asp?id=48005
My full CV is at:
http://www.advocatepublications.com/index.php/
about/cv.html
But what do I know?
I hope they throw the book at this guy. Absolutely despicable behavior. http://familyblog.legalmatch.com/2009/09/lawyer-accused-of-running-adoption-ponzi-scheme.html
Another answer to the sme question, almost identical to mine:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/
index?qid=20090426120050AAmOpHD
Adoption is not baby buying! There is a specific and itemized fee scale, perchild: including hospital fees, lawyers fees, medical care and living expenses for the birth mother. Birth mothers cannot be forced to give up their child no matter what prebirth papers are signed. Birth mothers can and do have a specified period in which they may change their mind after the birth both before and after the baby is turned over. All adoptive parents must have a home study, and parenting courses, and after receiving the child are still beholded to a social worker. The only people who stand to lose are the adoptive parents because if the birth mother changes her mind, they get nothing back, not a penny--because the are NOT buying a baby. I went through it, so I know.
Dear Anon - I am sure you nd all prospective adopters want very much to believe this. It is NOTR the truth. Pleas read: "The Lie We Love" by Ej Graff (you cna find it online) It's called that for a reason.
Money creates pressure and coercion. Many mothers are told that if they change their mind after having the expenses paid that would have to reimburse those expenses if they decide against adoption. MANY! It happens all the time. This does not take into account societal and parental pressure. This does not take into account the global trafficking of children international - many of whom are stolen or kidnapped out of mothers arms at gunpoint or after drugging mothers - to be SOLD into adoption! It does not include fathers and grandparents selling babies against the mothers wishes...I could go on an on.
Yes, adoption IS baby selling. All but the adoption from foster care in which the oNLY FEES are bare bones minimal filing fees! All else is CORRUPT, or lends itself far too easily to being corrupt.
Home studies? Yes, they are done by the same agency or attorney's employee PAID FOR BY THE only payinbg client in adoption: the adopters! The attorney for BOTH PARTES - paid for by the adopters!
Do you see any equality or fairness or level playing field in any of this, or do you see exploitation and coercion of people already in crisis and very vulnerable?
Just because our law has loopholes that allow this - doe snot make it baby buying! Attorneys are well adept at skirting the law. Look on the internet for Seymour Kurtz. he's done it for decades! And when he gets in trouble in one state, he moves to another, changes the name of hs baby brokering / adoption business.
Adopters are the only who get hurt? ALL thy lose is their precious money! Mothers lose their flesh and blood. How do you compare the two loses...or yes, you do by your willingness to pay the price tag. That's baby buying! Call it adoption or call it a goose...it's still baby buying.
I am sure you, Adopt Author, want very much to believe adotion is baby buying. You are the one propagating the lies. Birth mothers who want to give up their child have just a much responsibility to know their rights as anyone else. Birth mothers should do their homework. One cannot be taken advantage of if one knows her rights. Ignorance is not an excuse. I see an inequitable playing field in favor of the birth mother. You can put whatever spin you like on it. Unless I am reimbursed when no baby arrives, I am not buying a baby. "To buy" means to acquire the possession of through payment. The definition of "buy" implies a guarantee of actually getting something. Adoption has no such guarantee and people know that going in. Call yourself a goose.
"One cannot be taken advantage of if one knows her rights."
Hmmm...very interesting...so no one is ever coerced, led to or exploited in this magical imaginary world of yours? No women are raped, I guess, because they would know their right not to be, eh? Or robbed or killed for that matter?
Mothers - some not even adults - who are encouraged by parents ad others to loose their children to adoption are supposed to be aware of their rights? Who is supposed to tell them: The adoption attorneys and businesses who profit from the loss of their children to meet a demand created by those like you willing to pay anything to obtain her child?
Who informs of her rights: The attorney YOU hire and pay for to represent both you and the mother?
And what about mothers in other countries who do not read and write? Who tells them their rights when they are told their children are going to the US to be educated and will return?
What about mothers in Guatemala and elsewhere whose children are kidnapped AT GUNPOINT right out of their arms and SOLD into adoption?
Who protects their rights?
Have you ever heard of the Evan B, Donaldson Adoption Institute? It is the most renowned and respected adoption resource.
"It amazes me how many adoptions are done by attorneys, where the birth mothers have zero counseling. There are a lot of sharks out there, manipulating them in every way they know how, and the laws don't prevent that in most states." Susan Smith, EBDAI report “Safeguarding The Rights And Well-Being Of Birthparents In The Adoption Process“
Your perception: "I see an inequitable playing field in favor of the birth mother" is as it should be...because they are the MOTHERS of their children! Isn't that an amazing concept!
They don't OWE you or anyone THEIR child!
Yet as much as it is as it SHOULD be, it is NOT, as stated above. Also - mothers are lied to and promised so-called open adoptions when contract agreements are unenforceable - something the lawyers adopters pay for neglect to tell mothers in crisis.
Money equals power and control. Adopters hold all the cards and all the PRIVILEGE.
"I am sure you, Adopt Author, want very much to believe adotion is baby buying."
Yes...I "believe" in reality and fact.
EncylopediaAdoption.com states:
It is unclear how many babies are actually "sold" in the United States, although it is clear from people who are identified in baby selling rings that such practices do occur.
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US couples charged with baby buying
9:58AM Thursday February 19, 2009
Source: Reuters
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Chinese baby girls sold for adoption(extra baby seized for failure to pay fine)
UPI ^ | 07/02/09
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As stated in a previous comment, I suggest you read "The Lies We Love" by E.J. Graff and Child Trafficking for Adoption by David Smolin.
It's VERY real! You are the deluded one, not me. You believe what you want to believe because you want a baby, much like women who believe the man they are with is wonderful while all their friends know he's a cheating cad.
The baby pimps and the baby-hungry idiots will argue 'til Hell freezes over this issue because in their 'world' the truth is flexible according to THEIR needs. This is why it is evil to sell babies to insecure, self-absorbed jerks. They should be given full psychological exams and background checks because clearly these mentals pass "home studies".
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
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