Head of Nigerian Orphanage Arrested in Scam

Founder, Little Saints Orphanage, Rev. Dele George and Evangelist Tola Garuba Momoh of the Jesus Widow’s Ministry, have been arrested over an adoption saga involving a four year-old child in Lagos, South West Nigeria.

George was implicated because because she was deceived through her orphanage.
The woman at the centre of the adoption saga of a four-year old girl, Esther, is Evangelist Momoh who allegedly initiated the process over three years ago.

Momoh was alleged to have collected a child, who was then less than a year old from a dying mother at a shack, near Sheraton Hotels and Tower, Opebi area of Lagos, Nigeria over three years ago.
She was acting as a Good Samaritan then, when she took the mother of the baby, Queen Sunday, who was suspected to have HIV and the baby who was also sick to the hospital where Queen eventually died.

Queen’s husband, Sunday was said to have died long before her, thus leaving the child behind with no relation to claim her. Momoh was said to have organised the burial of Queen at Atan Cemetery, while she later took the baby to Little Saints Orphanage for care.

She told the founder of the orphanage that she would come back after some time to claim the baby after she would have located the father of the child.

Three months later, Momoh brought Yinka Omisore, a.k.a Governor to the orphanage to pose as the father of the child to enable her adopt the child. She said she had no child for her present husband, Pastor Alfred Momoh of the Sovereign Evangelist Ministry, Akute, Ogun State.

She was first married to Garuba, who later died, with whom she bore two children.
After Governor, who was the leader of the area boys under the bridge where Queen lived before she died, had posed as the father of the child and signed necessary documents at Little Saints Orphanage, George released the child to him, while he in turn handed the child over to Momoh who took her home and had been nurturing the baby for over two years.

The bubble bust when a journalist who asked not to be mentioned in the news went to under the bridge to interview Governor, who let out the secret of the matter, alleging that Evangelist Momoh, also a teacher at Opebi Primary School, asked him to pose as the father of the child to enable her adopt the child.

The journalist had visited the community of 500 people living under the bridge and interviewed Queen when she was still alive and knew that she had four children, including a new born and when he was told that she was dead he asked after the baby.

It was then that Governor opened up and told him what transpired, which led to investigation of the whereabouts of the child.

After discovering the circumstances surrounding the adoption of the child, he sent a text message to Governor Babatunde Fashola’s phone, while the governor asked the Special Adviser, Youth and Social Development, Dr. Dolapo Badru to investigate the issue.

This led to the arrest of Momoh and George while governor was invited to testify about the illegal adoption of the baby without the knowledge of the Lagos State Government.

At the office of the Permanent Secretary, Youth and Social Development on Saturday, all the parties in the adoption saga were interrogated by Criminal Investigation Department, CID officers attached to the Office of the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice.

According to Governor, he was promised N150, 000 to stand in as the father of the child at Little Saints Orphanage which he did successfully, adding that he was only given N10, 000 out of the money after Momoh had collected the baby.

He explained that Momoh used to come to preach to them under the bridge and that on the said occasion when she came to ask him to stand in as the father of the disputed baby, she came with her husband, Alfred and allegedly negotiated the deal with him.

Governor gave the name of the baby as Blessing and not Esther, being the new name the child was given by the Momohs, adding that he agreed to stand in as the father of the child because of the money he was promised.

He also alleged that two of the late woman’s children were earlier taken away by the Momohs and that since then he did not know the whereabouts of the children.

Another man, simply called Akin who had lived under the same bridge with Governor, corroborated the story, saying that he knew Momoh very well when she used to come to the area to preach to them and that he knew that Governor went to pose as the father of the baby when he was not the real father.
In her defence, Momoh denied promising or giving money to Governor to pose as the father of the baby, saying that Governor told her that he was the father of the baby, which informed the meeting at Little Saints Orphanage to claim the baby back and adopt her.

She also claimed that the mother of the baby was named Rosemary Sunday whose husband died sometime ago and not Queen as claimed by Governor, adding that when she went under the bridge to see the family of a bereaved child in her school, Opebi Primary School, she discovered a particular woman with a small child who was in serious health condition.

According to her, the woman, Rosemary, told her to take her child and nurture her as she had been told that she was suffering from a deadly disease that would soon claim her life, adding that on hearing that, she took the woman and the baby to the hospital where she later died.

She denied knowing the other two children of the woman and that she was not the one that took them away, but added that the deceased told her before she died that she had two other children who had been sold out.

In her defence, the Little Saints Orphanage boss, George said Momoh came to her before bring the baby to ask if the orphanage was willing to help take care of her and that she obliged to help.
“She told us that the child’s name was Esther.   She brought the death and burial certificates to us. The day she brought the child, she told me that she would come back for her again and also told me that the deceased woman had two other children and that she would look for the children.

“Esther was supposed to stay for a few months, but when she had overstayed, I told her (Momoh) that we have to take the child for adoption or fostering.   She later came back to say she had found the father of the baby and that the father was a drug addict and was not sure he would like to come along but that she would send for the father,” she explained.

According to her, she handed the baby to the supposed father of the baby under the watchful eyes of the police after the supposed father had signed the necessary documents and took pictures which she tendered as exhibit.

She said she investigated and found out that Momoh was truly a woman of God and that she parted with the baby the way it should be done, saying that she had no blame in the matter.
Permanent Secretary, Youth and Social Development, Mr. Kamol Junaid told George that where her action became illegal was that she refused to involve officials of the ministry in the adoption saga, which was against the child act laws of the state.

He added that the Extract from the police, which George claimed was obtained, was full of contradictions and could not be relied upon to have led to giving out of the child under suspicious circumstances.

Special Adviser, Youth and Social Development, Dr. Badru said the Little Saints Orphanage boss knew very well the guidelines for adoption of a child which must involve the state government, adding that after thorough investigation, those found culpable would be made to face the wrath of the law.
George was later released on bail while the police decided to keep Momoh in detention as her release might jeopardise their investigation.

Complicated adoption case headed to Supreme Court

The Missouri state Supreme Court is being asked to sort out a complicated adoption case that involves a couple and a child born to a woman from Guatemala who was in this country illegally.

A lower court had terminated the parental rights of the Guatemalan woman and granted an adoption request from Seth and Melinda Moser of Carthage.

The birth mother has spent two years in prison for immigration violations and is being allowed to stay in the country until custody of her child is determined.

An appeals court has overturned the lower court decision terminating her parental rights.

Incest After Parental Relinquishment and Adoption?

Only in Adoptionland where all reality is supended....

Wash. woman accused of sex with adult son

SEATTLE — A woman in Washington state accused of having sex with an adult son she had given up for adoption as a baby has been charged with incest.

The 33-year-old man told a sheriff's detective in May that he had a two-year sexual relationship with the woman beginning in 2004 after he tracked her down through an adoption agency.

The Seattle Times reports the incest charge was filed earlier this month against the 54-year-old Kirkland woman in King County Superior Court.

The woman was briefly jailed on Tuesday, then released. If convicted, she could face a year in prison and be required to register as a sex offender.
Information from: The Seattle Times

UPDATE 92/10:
According to charging documents filed earlier this month, 54-year-old Katheryn Thornton invited her son. 33, to come live with her and she said his presence made her feel "excited." She also admitted to having sex with her son for 18 months at her home in the Kingsgate neighborhood of Kirkland's annexation area.

The son said his mother's younger children knew he slept in Thornton's bedroom, but they did not know about the sex, according to the documents.

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Relinquishment of parental right relinquishes all rights as a parent of your child.  You are legally STRANGERS according to the LAW. Then, you are charged with having incest, which is sex with a close relative!? Talk about double jeopardy! I woudl love to see that argument made in court.

And, why isn't the man charged?  He found her and he's an adult.  Does that not make them equally "guilty"? Wouldn't both be equally charged if they were brother and sister? 

Demons of Adoption

Fourth Annual Demons of Adoption Award Nominations

In 2007 Pound Pup Legacy instituted the annual Demons of Adoption Award to raise a voice against adoption propaganda and the self congratulatory practices of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute's annual Angels in Adoption Awards TM.

Until September 30 you can nominate candidates here for the third annual Demons of Adoption Award, after which we will put up a poll to vote for the nominees. Please add a comment to this post with your nominee and a short explanation why this candidate has the dubious honor of winning the award.
Previous editions:

First Annual Demons of Adoption Awards (award went to the National Council for Adoption)
Second Annual Demons of Adoption Awards (award went to the makers of Juno)
Third Annual Demons of Adoption Awards (award went to Bethany Christian Services)

US International Adoptions Dropped Drastically!

Although there were still an enormous 12,753transnational adoption last year by Americans, that number is almost half of the previous year's 21,449.

It's not that less people ar wanting and trying to adopt kids from abroard. However, the numbers of orphans in many countries began to decline as parents in wealthier Western nations chose international adoption as a route to complete their families.

Another reason is tighter restrictions due to revalations of improprieties including child trafficking and kidnapping along with alarming reports potining to too llosley regulated adoptions that terminated or allowed children to be put in harm's way - even killed by ther adopters.

Full story here.

What Will the Future Bring?

Another reaosn for the slwodon, may well be what is causing a decline in US births - the economy. It is htought that less babies are being born because people are thinking more carfully of having or expanding families with unemployment so high and many people's future's in question.  

The economic downturn, the worst since The Great Depression of the 1930s, may have caused the number of births in the U.S. to decrease for the second straight year, as more women chose to delay pregnancy and motherhood.

Even as the total population rose slightly, the number of births dipped 2.6 percent to 4.14 million in 2009, according to a report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Birthrate dropped to 13.5 per 1,000 people, up from 14.3 in 2007 when sub prime loans collapsed which led to decreased home prices and over 8 million jobs were lost. Source.

If there is a later upswing in the economy, will those who have put of fhaving a baby increase the pool of potential adopters?  Where will all the babies come from to meet the demand?

We can only hope the reprpductive medical science will keep up with all the demand and create ways for thes epeople to have babies in their aging years...because to hope they would just simply accept childlessness as their true destiny and a speople in days gone by did, seems an impossible dream.

Forced Adoption as a Political Tool: Germany Tore Families Apart

The German Democratic Republic muzzled its people by using vague socialist guidelines to break up families, writes Marten Rolff. 
 
It took exactly four minutes to steal Andreas Laake's baby son - the length of the court hearing that swept away his paternity rights. Some 26 years later, Laake recalls every detail of the trial: his aching wrists cuffed behind his back; the musty smell of the courtroom; the steely voice of the young female judge. Then there were the vague words of the social worker who said that, after his attempted escape from the German Democratic Republic, ''We do not believe Mr Laake has the ability to bring up his son for the purpose of socialism.''

Laake was not even allowed to defend himself. In court, he said just four words: ''I do not agree.'' Several weeks later his son, Marco, was adopted by people who were considered, in ideological terms, much more reliable parents. ''Since then, I've spent half a lifetime searching for him,'' Laake says.
It took a matter of minutes for Katrin Behr to be separated from her family, too. It was a cold winter morning in 1972 when three men in long dark coats knocked on the door to arrest her mother. Behr was 4½ years old and can still remember the panic in her mother's voice as she urged her daughter to get dressed quickly. But Katrin was left behind. The last words she heard were, ''Be brave. I'll be back tonight,'' before her mother was spirited off to a socialist boot camp. It would be 19 years until they saw each other again.

Separated from her mother at the age of four-and-half ... Katrin Behr.

Stealing children was one way the GDR muzzled its people - Behr and Laake belong to an estimated 1000 families torn apart by the socialist authorities. Forced adoptions were a tool that the regime ''could impose on virtually anyone who was considered suspicious'', Behr says; all it took to be judged a bad parent was to infringe on vague ''socialist guidelines''. In Behr's case, her mother, a single parent, was arrested after she had lost her job and decided to stay at home to care for her children - a major transgression in the eyes of a state that believed in compulsory labour.

''I desperately tried to cling to a positive image of her,'' Behr says, ''but any abandoned child would start to doubt that love after 19 years.'' She was granted limited access to her adoption file after German unification, learning her mother never had a chance to get her back and spent several years in prison. Still, it took Behr a year to get in touch.

Three years ago, Behr set up a support group for the victims of forced adoptions and since then the 43-year-old has been contacted by hundreds of people still searching for their children, parents or siblings. Most of them feel betrayed twice over. The GDR destroyed their families and the unified German state did nothing to redress the injustice.

Walking through the dismal Leipzig suburbs feels like being transported back 20 years. Laake, a slim, frail man of 50, has tried everything to find his son. He has posted notices on the internet. He has sent letters to politicians. He has recruited lawyers and private investigators. And he has continually been reminded that although times and political systems change, his situation has not.

He is eager to tell his story, he says, despite the intimidation he has experienced. Laake and his family have been attacked by a man in the street; his car has been damaged twice; someone broke into his cellar; the only photo of his son as a baby has disappeared. But Laake says he is not afraid. ''I am certainly not going to be paranoid. Not after all these years.''

Laake's career as an ''enemy of the socialist state'' was never political. It started as a harmless teenage rebellion. He refused to join the youth organisation of the ruling Socialist Unity Party and at school in the 1970s he often wore a faux stetson and a black denim suit he'd made himself. This provocatively ''western'' outfit made him a target for his teachers' criticism. ''But my mother always supported me,'' Laake says. ''Our family agreed on the importance of personal freedom. As long as I can remember I wanted to get out of East Germany.''

Early marriages were common in the GDR and so, at 19, Laake proposed to his childhood friend, Ilona, who came to share his dream of life on the other side of the Iron Curtain. Three years into their marriage, when she was expecting a baby, they decided to flee. Their idea was to cross the Baltic Sea overnight in an inflatable rubber boat. ''But when you are on the run, you stop thinking,'' Laake says. ''You are in a sort of survival mode. It's all about: get on the water. Cower down in the dinghy so you're not shot. Then paddle for your life.'' They did not even make it to the water. ''You can't describe the pressure you feel when there are five Kalashnikovs pointing at you.''

As an ex-prisoner and attempted refugee, Laake is officially acknowledged as a victim of political injustice, and he has even been granted a small monthly pension by the German government. But as a betrayed father, there are no documents proving his case. The GDR authorities effectively covered their tracks. Laake never received any official papers about his trial and because of privacy laws his son's adoption file is closed to him for 50 years. The only person who has limited access to the file - other than the case officers - is Marco and there's no way to know whether he's even been told he's adopted.

Marco was born and put up for adoption while Laake was under arrest; his wife had buckled under the massive pressure to give up their child. ''She was only 21 years old, she was afraid, they threatened to make her life hell, they mentally broke her.'' Laake knows she had no real chance to prevent the forced adoption but the couple nevertheless fell out over the loss and are now divorced. ''In the end I simply couldn't forgive her,'' he says.

Telling his story, Laake shows me a number of photographs of Marco: in a rowing boat, aged eight, and as a teenager at a party. They were given to him just a few months ago, as a result of his persistent campaign, by a social worker who is apparently in contact with Marco's adoptive family. She also read out a short letter, supposedly from Marco, now 26, who said that he has a good life and does not wish to get to know his natural father. Laake was not allowed to see the letter himself. ''His language sounded clumsy and strangely impersonal,'' he says. ''As if someone had desperately tried to put himself into Marco's position and then made the whole thing up.''

Laake knows that ''there is no law that could turn around my situation''. When the unification treaty was signed in 1990, the new German state had not distinguished between legal and illegal adoptions, so every case today is dealt with according to the old West German law, which prohibits natural parents from finding out about children they voluntarily gave up. The builders of the new German state 20 years ago either forgot to classify ''adoptions against the will of the parents'' as a violation of human rights or, as the historian and GDR expert Uwe Hillmer suggests, they simply were not interested. ''Even members of the Kohl government admitted internally: forget about the past,'' Hillmer says.

Laake refuses to accept that the data protection law is the only reason he is prevented from contacting Marco; he suspects Marco's adoptive parents don't want their son to know the circumstances of his adoption. ''If they told him,'' he says, ''it could destroy their family.'' He keeps turning questions over in his mind: what if Marco's clumsy letter was written by someone else? What if old Stasi networks are still operating in Leipzig? What if Marco's adoptive parents are former party officials trying to hide their past?

Behr is helping Laake with his investigation and worries about his safety. Until recently, she didn't believe the rumours about Stasi networks being operational but ''looking at Laake's case with all its dodgy incidents made me change my mind'', she says. After Laake was attacked in the street, police advised him to search for a new flat for his own safety.
Behr has another concern. Many victims of forced adoption build up high hopes that things will change for the better once they find their natural family. ''They focus on a happy ending that is never going to happen.''

Laake knows there may be no happy ending for him and the problem of East Germany's lost children ''is probably not solvable''. Nevertheless he will carry on searching for Marco. He has started to call the adoption office twice a week and he is also planning a sit-down strike outside the office, ''with a sign around my neck: Give me back my son!''

He says he doesn't expect anything from contact with Marco. ''I could even understand if he didn't wish to meet me.'' But he wants to hear that for himself. Laake is tired of all the threats and delays. ''All I want is certainty. That's the minimum a father can expect.''

Source.

Two PBS Documentaries to Look For

Wo Ai Ni (I Love You) Mommy by Stephanie Wang-Breal

Tuesday, Aug. 31 at 10 p.m. on PBS; Streaming online from Sept. 1 - Nov. 30 at www.pbs.org/pov/video

What is it like to be torn from your Chinese foster family, put on a plane with strangers and wake up in a new country, family and culture? Wo Ai Ni (I Love You) Mommy is the story of Fang Sui Yong, an 8-year-old orphan, and the Sadowskys, the Long Island Jewish family that travels to China to adopt her. Sui Yong (now Faith) is one of 70,000 Chinese children now being raised in the United States. Through her eyes, we witness her struggle with a new identity as she transforms from a timid child into someone that no one — neither her new family nor she — could have imagined.

Wo Ai Ni (I Love You) Mommy is an intimate account of a global phenomenon — transnational and transracial adoption. Little Sui Yong’s adoption takes place against a background of more and more Americans adopting overseas, especially in China. Since the Chinese opened their doors to foreign adoptions in 1992, some 70,000 Chinese children have been brought to the United States, making China the top choice for international adoptions by Americans. 

In this film, a Jewish family adopts an eight year old girl from China. They already have two biologically born sons, (one of whom is prepping for his Bar Mitzvah) and one daughter that they adopted from China a couple years earlier.
  
In “Off And Running,” a Jewish couple in Park Slope / Brooklyn have several adopted children of various backgrounds. In the documentary, their daughter, an African American young woman, who had attended a Jewish day school, decides to search for her birth mother.

To further explore the issues in the film, POV will host a live chat with filmmaker Stephanie Wang-Breal and Donna (mother) and Faith Sadowsky on Wednesday, Sept. 1 at 2 p.m. ET on www.pbs.org/pov.

In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee by Deann Borshay Liem


Airing Tuesday, Sept. 14 on PBS; Streaming online at www.pbs.org/pov/video Sept. 15 - Oct. 15


Her passport said she was Cha Jung Hee. She knew she was not. So began a 40-year deception for a Korean adoptee who came to the U.S. in 1966. Told to keep her true identity secret from her new American family, the 8-year-old girl quickly forgot she had ever been anyone else. But why had her identity been switched? And who was the real Cha Jung Hee? In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee is the search to find the answers, as acclaimed filmmaker Deann Borshay Liem (First Person Plural, POV 2000; encore POV Aug. 10, 2010) returns to her native Korea to find her “double,” the mysterious girl whose place she took in America.

The films will be airing on PBS starting August 31 through September 14. Check your local listings