Scam #1 began around November 1, 2008. We were informed a birthmom had chosen us and that she was due on January 1, 2oo9. We were elated. It was going to be a girl. We were going to name her Rebekah Caitlyn. We orderd our nurseruy furniture back in August and were expecting it to come in. It arrived early December and we purchased everything a baby would need (stuff most people get at showers - I never had one), diapers, clothes, bath towels, wash rags, desitin, baby shampoo, stocked up on formula, boppy, boppy covers, travel system, pack n play, etc. We had friends help us set everything up. Grandpa came to visit and helped us put shelving in the room. I made crafty initials for RCM to hang on the wall.
Our adoption counselor originally told us this birth mom did not want an open relationship with us. She just wanted to deliver and be over it. We were told that she was hiding from her family so that no one would know she was pregnant. Once she delivered she was going to army boot camp. She also informed us that she had given her about 800$ in living expenses.
Our counselor called us after a visit with Scammer #1 on Dec 22, 2008 to let us know what the birth plan was. The plan was that the Scammer would drive herself to the hospital on her due date, tell them she was having labor pains and that it was her due date and they would get her in for her c-section. Our counselor had called the Hospital and informed them that we were the adoptive parents and we should be called immediately after delivery so we could head up to Fort Wayne. We would then make the drive to Fort Wayne and sign the adoption papers 48 hours after the C-Section. I can't remember the exact date either Jan 2 or Jan 3 I called our adoption counselor and told her we still had not heard anything.
I was an emotional wreck waiting to find out what was going on. You see...I had a back injury that started the morning of New Years Eve. It was so bad that I could not sit or stand. Matt had to take me to the hospital. They said it was a muscle strain, but just to give you an idea I was on morphine, torredol and vicodin and I still felt the pain. I could not walk for a week. I was drugged up while all this was going on and when I am on pain meds I am very very emotional. I cry a lot. Not because of the pain, but because of the feeling of being incapacitated and not able to do things for my self. So...you can imagine where this is going.
Adoption counselor called Matt and told him that Scammer 1's due date was moved to January 11. I thought that was interesting and I asked how that could be. I was told that these girls do not always take care of themselves and do what they are supposed to do. Most of the time they are going to the free clinic. I was basically playcated and thought ok, I will try to trust her since she has dealt with these birth moms for years. She has to be able to get a good read on them. I however, had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that something was not right. I sensed it and became a nervous wreck. I decided that I need to start a bible study to help me manage my emotions. It worked for a bit.
Then Jan 11 came around and we had still not heard anything. I called our AC at about 10 pm in a sheer panic " Hi this is Sarah Mitchell, I am calling because we still have not heard anything and I am guessing that we should have been called by now at least to let us know that the baby was delivered and is healthy or that there was a problem. Please call me back as soon as you can so we know what the heck is going on." She called me back and said "yes you should have heard something, I will follow up tomorrow and call you back. I can't do anything tonight since it is Sunday and after 8:00 pm" I agreed. Matt stayed home the following Monday just in case we needed to head to Fort Wayne.
We never heard anything on Monday.
I called our AC and left another message Tuesday morning. It wasn't very friendly.
I received a call at about 4pm. She said "oh, didn't you get the message I left for Matt at work? (Why the the Hell you would ever leave a message about something this important still irritates me to no end by the way). I said "No, why would we, Matt is home waiting to hear from you about whether or not we are supposed to head to Fort Wayne" She simply said "Oh my gosh, I am so sorry and I don't know how to tell you this or how this happened but..."
Turns out - Scammer #1 delivered her baby way back on December 19 and decided to keep it. Remember how I said up above that our counselor met with her on Dec 22? She wasn't even pregnant the last time they met and came up with the birth plan. She was trying to get as much $MONEY$ in living expenses as she could before her fake due date of Jan 11. So...we prepared for a baby daughter, fell in love with her as we prepared, and then learned we were scammed. We were completely devastated. Words just cannot do those feelings any justice. It was hard to tell people or even talk about it because not only did we have our own questions, all our friends and family had their questions too. Questions we could not answer, questions relating to adoption law etc. We could not even press charges because after Jan 11 - our adoption counselor could not get a hold of Scammer # 1. Why? Because most of these girls cannot afford a monthly payment for a cell phone so they use pre-paid phones. Once they are done with their scam they just go get another phone # with another service.
Needless to say, adoption is already hard enough. To be scammed, almost breaks you. I some how had to figure out how I was going to continue on with this process now. My desire for a child over ruled the pain, I drew close to the Lord and prayed feverently. I cannot say I handled it well. I tried to become a loner, I didn't want to talk to anyone or do anything but then, we received another call. And there was hope. Somebody named Amber had chosen us.
Amber is special. Amber is like no other. Amber was going to be my Juno. Amber has since been charged with adoption fraud:
http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/crime/indy-woman-arrested-in-adoption-scheme?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WISHTV_News+%28WISHTV.com+%7C+Indianapolis%2C+IN+-+News%29
I really want to blog about Amber because she deserves to be in jail for a very long time. But...I want to make sure I don't say anything to hurt the case or whatever. I want my story to be used against her and I will not know at least until sometime this following week. Stay tuned!
