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Careful this is a long one! We need some serious legal advice. We connected with a pb/mom named Connie aka Galbraith,Nicole, Michelle, Cleanteamusa, babyinwaiting,wildflower4cmg, (there may be more) back in October. Had a few scares w/ people who were claiming they were the "adoptive parent" that our pb/mom had selected. We questioned pb/mom and she assured us that she had NOT selected any aparents as of yet. Anyway, come December and she calls us to let us know that she wants US to be the aparents for her unborn baby. We were thrilled! We called several agencies to find out all their details. In the meantime she had gone with an agency of her choice, A Bond of love owner suzanne martin, which we originally had no problem with until we called them for info. Their fees were 23k+. EEEEEEk! Non profit my foot! I advised b/mom that we would not be using that agency simply because their fees were outlandish. She did not realize this and she then started to panic. She felt this agency was profiting off of her predicament so I in turn contacted a very reputable attorney in Tampa, Jeanne Tate, who my uncle referred us to, who said she would be able to help our b/mom and us. Great News for us and for b/mom! Fees were great and many benifits for b/mom. B/mom breaks contract w/ A Bond of Love and contracts between b/mom and us were signed on Dec 29th 2002 with our attorney from Tampa. We agreed to pay A bond of love for any fees they incurred since she was leaving that agency. No prob. We set up a financial agreement for b/mom and our attorney takes care of the bills she had. In the meantime she is still talking with various couples promising them her unborn baby obviously without our knowledge. Our attorney found all of this out via another attorney whos amom wanted to adopt this baby too. And the b/mom is receiving funds from all of these other people too! Were talking thousands of dollars here. There are at least 4 couples involved now. Who have been burnt by this woman (and I use that term loosley). I just had another email me yesterday! I posted warnings about this person everywhere I could and am getting responses left and right. I have been in communication with them all. And she is still promising them the baby! Even though she knows we all are onto her! We have a detective investigating this and he does not really think we can do anything but maybe sue her civilly. You cannot sue someone who doesnt have a pot to piss in. We are over the money thing seriously we lost over 5k, the point of the matter is this person should be jailed for fraud. She is due any day now and has since gone back to the original agency that charges couples 23k+ and has selected parents from that agency. Our hearts and our minds are shattered and so are all the other families involved in this mess. What can we do? What are our chances of putting this crook behind bars. I agree every mother has the right to change her mind but not to drag along 4 couples and promising them something they never would see. She has done this before. No charges were ever pressed. This has to be stopped. HHEEEELLLLPPPP!
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05/09/03........ Connie is working with A Bond of Love in Sarasota. Suzanne Martin is the owner and is perfectly aware of Connies actions and does not agree with what she is doing, but still continues to work with her. However, her main concern is to make sure "the baby is placed in a safe home." as it should be. I spoke with Suzanne earlier this week to ask if she intended on telling the new adoptive parents about Connies actions and she said that they knew. I do not believe her for one minute. This agency gets 10k at match and 10k at placement among other fees a complete adoption with this agency and no bmom expenses is 23k MIN! And they are non profit? Yeah right............
Does she have a legal obligation to notify the adoptive parents of the goings on with this pb/mom? I would hope so, I know I would want to know if 4 other couples were bilked out of thousands of dollars before I made my choice of a birthmother.
Are there any LAWYERS out there that can provide any legal advice at all? I just want to know if there have been any successful prosecutions in regard to this matter? If there are 3 experts on this board where are they and who are they? The baby has been placed now with a family and we still have not received our money from A bond of love adoption agency, Suzanne martin the owner, promised to pay us back for all birthmom expenses, which is fine,we never expected that to happen, but it did. However Connie needs to pay for the crimes she commited regardless of the money. There are 4 couples that were promised this baby, and paid her money, (mind you she bought a minivan we just found out by our detective, I dont think that is considered reasonable birthmother expenses) while the birthmother had a legal binding contract with our agency/attorney. I just found out I am 7 weeks pregnant and I am thrilled to death, but I do not want this woman to get away with this again. I am willing to do anything it takes to make sure this never happens to anyone again.
Hi there,
First of all, let me please say that I am very sorry for what you are going through! I am a birthmother, and I am disgusted at what this woman has done to you and the other families!! NO ONE deserves this. This is exactly the kind of story that my daughter's aparents were afraid of me doing to them. I can't blame anyone in that position for those fears. I spent many months reassuring them that it was alright, and that I would never do that to them, but I totally understood their fears and knew that eventually, they would also be able to trust me. That is what it's all about-TRUST and THE CHILDREN. The fact that this woman did this is truly infuriating and pathetic. I hope that you can pursue something legally for her to pay the consequences for what she has done. Someone out there, legally, needs to hold this woman accountable for the fraud and emotional damage that she has done to these families. I hope and pray for you all!
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I agree, I may be the most ignorant of the bunch. I to am a b-mother and my son is now 17, I just found out that thru the catholic agency I went thru that the A-parents had to pay. I guess I have been in some kind of dream world and when they said non profit I believed it. My parents also paid the agency because I lived there long story. It was not until about a week ago I met someone in here that went to the same place and told me that the A- parents paid. I was horrified. How many people earn from this ? I mean my parents insurence paid for my hospital bills so anything that my son's parents paid was to the agency.
I have to say I would be very upset being the persons being scammed and I hope the B-mother knows what she is doing because years down the line this will come out and who wants to say my b-mother tried to sell me to 4 different couples. My God I can not even imagine. Good luck to you in your quest, I hope you get the family you dream of.
ok - this happened to us to, but no money ever changed hands. she just kept promising to everyone and we kinda started backing off. thank god!! however, there was a girl who lives in the next county from us, where were actually in the process of building a home, who done the same thing and was prosecuted. AND, believe it or not, they made a lifetime movie about it. she was accepting money from various couples and was asking for vcr's, cars, etc and was receiving them. she was busted and got jail time. i don't rememberm the actual outcome as far as the child was concerned - best i can remember he went to one of the couples. sorry i can't remember more. if i was all involved in adoption then, like i am now, i'm sure i would've remembered the details.
good luck to you and don't let this put
a bad taste in your mouth
take care
Hello usocwazee: I didn't mean for my posting to get attached to your thread. Indeed my posting has nothing to do with your issue. I wish you the best of luck in fighting for justice.
However, I'd like to tell you that my posting is not an ad. It's merely information about how people can go about adopting from Kazakhstan on their own.
I've done tons of research, so I had thought it would be useful to share my information with others.
I want others to know that I'm available to give them tips and to recommend my friends in Kazakhstan to act as a Facilitator. It is required by the Kazakh government to have a local to complete the adoption process in Kazakhstan. This in no way means that one has to spend tons of money on an agency to do this, though. A Facilitator is somebody to help one navigate the courts and be an intrepreter in Kazakhstan.
Cheers,
Lynn
Thanx guys!
I really appreciate all your kinds words and support. Connie has hurt so many people and I don't want this to happen to anyone again! I am adamant about this, I have spoken with detectives who are not very knowledgable about this and are not sure what can be done. That is why I am here trying to find someone who has prosecuted sucessfully but Im not getting much. donna v, what state and county do you live in (you can pm me with info) I would like to look into this. I am digging for anything I can find to prove to these detectives that this is WRONG! The money is not an issue we never thought we would see it again and we called it a loss. But what she did to us and 3 other families is baffling! And to boot she was still telling 1 of those families that they may still have a chance (who in their right mind would say such a horrible thing) weeks before he was born and she had allready selected a set of ap's from A Bond of love agency. I don't get it. Adoption can be such a great thing. My hubby was adopted we met his b/m last year and it was great! That is what led us to do the same thing. Now Im 7 weeks pregnant and we don't really need or want to go thru with adoption right now and honestly I don't know if we could. We have put up such a guard and just don't have the capability of trusting anyone after that at least for now. Its very sad what she has done to our minds. I know that their are great birthmoms out there who would never dream of doing such things. We are just taking a much needed "time out" from this and re-evaluating everything.
clmsie not all agencies are like the one I mentioned and don't feel badly about your choices you had no reason to inquire about any of that, that is ap's responsiblilty and your concern was making sure your child was safe and sound, as it should be. Agency fees are normal and so are court fees, but clearly tell the ap's how this money is being spent, right? However, this agency is a prime example of how an agency makes money off of a birthmother's predicament. When I asked this other agency why their "placement fees" were so high I never got an answer. They would beat around the bush with "oh we are a small non profit agency" blah blah blah.......In fact I spoke with a sw from this agency when we first met Connie and the sw said their basic fees were higher than most agencies. Hence the reason for us not using them.
Im still looking for a legal eagle so keep your ears posted. I do appreciate all of your kind words and comments. Best wishes to you all.
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I know you have repeatedly asked for LEGAL advice, and I am not a lawyer, or even a paralegal, but I have worked for lawyers, twice.
I also have dealt with some fraud issues.
I do want to say that if your local police department is not acting quickly upon this, there is another angle. Report the agency to the State Attorney General's office. I feel, from what you have said, that both the agency and the birthmother need to be investigated. It's possible, that to avoid retribution, the agency will bend over backwards to help the local and state authorities catch the fraudulent birthmother.
Keep in mind, there is civil matters and criminal matters. Which avenue are you trying to pursue? Are you wanting the local authorities to pursue it as a criminal matter? If so, why don't you go directly to the officer in charge of the fraud unit? You don't need a lawyer for that. I don't understand why the police are wringing their hands . . .
Sincerely,
I am looking to go criminal. The agency really isn't a factor, I would not recommend any birthmother use that agency though. The detective I am speaking with is in Sarasota, Florida where Connie lives, I live in Kansas. The detective is claiming that there was nothing illegal about what Connie did, since both agencies knew about one another and there was no overlap in services. She was with one agency, got out of that agency and went with "our" agency, then we found out what she was doing (promising 4 other couples the baby over the same time period as we were under contract with her) and our agency said "see ya" to her, as they should have, so she went back to the original agency she had gone with in the beginning. There is no crime in switching agencies. There is no crime in changing her mind. But, taking money from 4 other couples and promising them the same baby we were promised is WRONG! We are getting our money back from the agency she went to they are doing that as a courtesy, which is all fine and dandy. But, no baby for us or the 4 other people and they are out money (because they had no legal representation). I want this person to pay for what she did to all of us and the sad thing is is that she has done it before us and gotten away with it, Im sure she will do it again and why not she knows she can get away with it.
Well, it sounds like you have thought of everything. What about the state attorney general's office of all the states involved?
Maybe a lawyer can advise how to write a letter where you couldn't be sued for libel, a letter to go to all the editorial pages in the newspapers in her vicinity, and in the vicinities of the adoptive famililes involved.
The newspaper editor can advise you about libel too.
Sorry I can't be of more help.
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Unfortunately Im sad to report my suspicions may be valid and she may be back to her old tricks. It is possible she is now going by the name Tracy and is pregnant AGAIN and due in May 2004! Please beware she is possibly living in Indiana, where she is originally from. I have spoken with the agency she has attemped to work with. They have since taken her off of their "available situations" because she was not willing to provide them with accurate information. If you or anyone else comes in contact with a woman fitting this description beware: "Caucasian baby due May 4th to mom parenting three others in Indiana. She is wanting semi to open adoption with identifying information exchanged. Mom is bipolar. Will be a long match time so we need someone who will commit to mom. Fees will be aprox: $10,000.00 without finalization." This information was provided by the agency but has since been removed from their website because of inaccurate or lack of information provided by the birthmother, they are no longer working with this birthmother.