Advertisements
I contacted XX and YY a couple of months ago after seeing their adoption profile online, as I was interested in considering them as an adoptive family for my babies. We talked and immediately established a great rapport. They were everything I thought I wanted in an adoptive family, and I began to feel really comforted in knowing that our boys would have a great home. We never officially matchedӔI wanted to wait to meet them in person for thatחbut I didnt contact any other couples.
I talked with their adoption professional, and she sent me the usual paperwork. I received it on a Monday. Two days later, XX instigated a series of text messages practically demanding that I go to my doctor RIGHT THAT MOMENT and get the medical release form signed so they could request proof of pregnancy. Now, to be fair, I should preface this by saying that during our second conversation, XX and YY told me that they had their hearts broken twice by birthmothers who turned out to be scamming them. I was appalled that anyone could do such a thingҗand being so new to adoption in general, had no idea it even happened!so I promised to be sympathetic and understanding and to do whatever I could to make them feel at ease. But XXגs approach to me was frigid and disrespectful (and frankly, completely out of left field!), and when I told her that I couldnt go RIGHT THAT MOMENT, she insisted that the only reason I would possibly feel that way is if I was lying about my pregnancy. In fact, the problem is that I donҒt have a fax machine, the doctor wouldnt accept a release over the phone, and the office is 30 minutes away in an undesirable area of town that I donҒt like to venture into by myself. In short, it would be a major hassle for me when I had an appointment the following week. She showed her true colors in that moment: unstably emotional, manipulative, and disrespectful. I was very angry about it, and I explained to her that I wished she would have approached me respectfully and candidly and just said that it was important to her and YY that I obtain this release as soon as possible. But, instead, she treated me like crap and attacked my integrity. I told her I no longer wanted to work with her.
A few days later, she apologized profusely in emails and phone calls, and I decided to try to give her another chance. I was frank with her about being unsure if Id be able to do that. After all, the adoption relationship is built on trust and openness, and sheҒd seriously damaged those things by her behavior a few days earlier. The decision to entrust your children to a couple and trust that they will honor their commitment to maintain an open relationship is a huge one, so even a minor red flag shouldnt be taken lightly. Still, I knew that nobody is perfect and that she seemed sincerely sorry, so I tried. We continued to talk, and I expressed multiple times that I was still bothered by the incident. XX assured me that she understood, that it was entirely her fault, and that she hoped that I could forgive herҗbut that she understood if I couldnt and valued my feeling comfortable in my decision more than she wanted me to give her and YY my babies.
Well, it was all a huge, insincere, manipulative lie. The moment that I told XX that IҒd decided I couldnt really move forward with her and YY in an adoption given our history and given my gut feeling that I didnҒt trust her (based on earlier behavior), she freaked out, called me selfish, self-absorbed, unstable (uh, deflection, much?) and accused me of hurting people. (Im still unsure of what that even refers to, as I was NOTHING but completely candid all along.) She also took things IҒd shared with her in confidence and tried to use them against me in a hurtful way, and she criticized me for waiting so long in my pregnancy to choose an adoptive familywhen earlier, sheגd said she understood, that it was normal, and that she admired how carefully my boyfriend and I had contemplated our boys futures. Finally, she told me that she was indeed trying to get pregnant herself, when earlier sheҒd said that only her partner YY had undergone any kind of fertility treatments. Im not sure which is truth and which is lie, but one is obviously a lie.
In short, XX would have said anything to get a baby. IҒm not convinced at all that she would have any integrity about it, nor that she would honor any post-adoption contact commitments. She was rude, disrespectful, and outright JUVENILE to me, when I was always forthright with her about where I stood. I dont have anything negative to say about YY, except, unfortunately, that theyҒre a package deal. I implore you to BE CAREFUL if youre considering them. TheyҒre EXTREMELY emotionally manipulative and I wouldnt want any baby that I cared about to go to XX. I am, of course, eternally THANKFUL that they showed their true colors before it was too late for my babies.
Like
Share
Honestly, though it is unfortunate that XX acted this way, this is very common in potential matches. Sometimes things just don't work out. I am in no way defending XX behavior, but there are scammers and liars on both sides. Sadly, this couple must be jaded from being scammed themselves.
Ultimately the decision to place your baby and who to place them with is entirely up to you. I am glad you found that this couple was not the right one to parent your baby.
You are wise to back out of something that does not feel right with you. Let's face you are talking to strangers. Adoption is such a life altering life changing commitment. Pehaps you should have your baby take him home and then decide if adoption is for you. You can always match and find parents after baby is born. As a matter of fact I think that is the safest route for all involved.
Good Luck,
EZ
Advertisements
Wow, I totally understand what your feelings were and were XX was comng from as fa as being hurt and let down by birthmoms. I was 17 when i placed with a foster couple I ended up staying with. My adoption is open, and they couldn't have kids. They were let down many times from birthmom's. But my adoptive couple NEVER acted out in ways like that. They were more scared that even tho I announced Christmas 2007 I wanted them to be the parents, they didn't want to give their hopes up, so they siad they were happy but we didn't talk too much about the adoption until closer to Easter 2007 (april) and now everything is great :)
PS
I go to a birth mom support group at LDS Family Services and one of the girls in my group didn't know if she was adopting her baby or keeping it until she was 8 months and now she barely chose a couple and she's due in a few weeks. So there is NEVER a rigt and wrong time for that. It takes careful consideration and thinking.
I think that is very wrong..... I am talking with a birthmother not sure if she will chose us either way its her decision,we have a bond and if we are not the a-parents she wants or she choses family over us I would still talk to her and ask question and I feel that almost all the a-parents are lieing to her. They have perfect marriages, never struggle for money, never do anything wrong. And I hate to say it and we might never get chosen for being honest but yes we struggle from time to time with money and me and my husband love each other dearly but oh we fight & argue So I dont understand why would a-parents want to lie about something true colors will always come in out in due time ;0
Just my opinion
Jennifer
As a hopeful adoptive parent, it really bothers me to see the way other adoptive parents act sometimes. Some of them are very manipulative. When we did our profile, a friend said they wouldn't include hunting/fishing pictures because that might cause us to "not get picked". I refused to hide who we were from the people that were thinking about placing their child with us. I also was really bothered when another adoptive couple told us that they paid a "professional" to do their profile. How can you pay somebody to create something that should come from your heart?
I would rather wait forever than to deceive someone. I know the hurt that couples feel when they are scammed (happened to us twice), but that is no excuse for being defensive in a totally new situation. However, I do know that without extreme faith and strength the adoption process can drive anybody to become a cold/hard person.
I don't think that many adoptive couples really think a lot about the first moms feelings. I guess we have a different point of view because I have three half siblings that were placed for adoption when my mother was young (very open adoption). I really never thought about what my mom went through until we told her about our plans to adopt, and she shared her complete story. She never regretted her decision, but I saw in her eyes how hard it was for her to talk about (even after 30 years).
Being able to have this perspective really makes us realize what first moms go through, and we worry everyday about it. We would rather never become parents than to deal with the guilt of pressuring someone into giving up their child. This has probably been on of the hardest parts of the process for us....
Advertisements
I totally agree. As a potential adoptive parent, it has REALLY made me look at my life. Question things I normally do every day. And it hurts when other adoptive parents are behaving this way, it makes ALL of us look bad. I've looked around, and seen so my first parents hurt by the way adoptive parents have been treating them, it can't be any less than those of us adoptive parents who've been hurt/scammed by what we thought were first parents! This has happened to us of course. It's difficult on both sides. First parents should not have people in their faces demanding that they put their child up for adoption OR treating them any differently if they do not. AND Adoptive parents should not be listening to those so-called 'professionals' who are essentially being paid hundreds or thousands of dollars to tell them what the 'perfect' adoptive family is. There IS no perfect adoptive family. My fiancee and I are not even married yet (will be this fall). We've been trying to adopt for about 8 months now. At first, NO ONE wanted to work with us, because they were all convinced that no first parent would EVER choose a couple that wasn't yet married (it wasn't in the perfect adoptive family equation). But we found someone to work with, and we were matched up with a first mom within 3 days!! In the end, it didn't work out, but it was a serious boost to our confidence to know that those other agencies were wrong. There is nothing wrong with us looking for a child to bring into our home just because we don't have a piece of paper that says we're 'Perfect'. JessB, good on you that you followed your instinct on this, chances are you are right. Things would have gone very differently for you if you had not listened to yourself. I'm glad you were able to make the best of a bad situation. You are an inspiration to us all.
Sadly this whole adoption thing brings with it all types of people on both sides of the triad. Just take a look at the failed placements a PAPAs that have been lied to(I am not at all referring to bmoms who simply changed their imnds) I am talking about a calulated scheme to obtain as much as they could from PAPs knowing full well that they had no intentions of placing or even worse working with more than one set of PAPs. It is what it is and that is why it is VERY important to research and know exactly what you want and how much you are willing to do.
EZ
One thing I learned: people do NOT change. If she lies n0ow, she will in the future. And so if you can't trust her now, there is no logical reason that you will be able to in the future. I wish I had the heads up you were given so early in the process. It appears you,ve gotten a glimpse of what your future would have held with this woman should you have had anything to do with her - and to think she treated a pregnant woman this way!! What happens when she's "the mother", and you are not. Remeber, post adoption agreements are not enforceable once your rights are terminated - if she treats you like this now, how will she treat you once she has your babies!?!?!?