June 03, 2011

Beware

Ahhh…the power of the internet…we love it, we can’t live without it, but it can be a very scary thing especially for hopeful adoptive parents. Three people in Oklahoma have been arrested for an alleged adoption scam. A fourth person involved has yet to be arrested. This is yet another case in a string of adoption scams that have surfaced in the recent months. The number of adoptive families victimized by these scammers is climbing. And where did these people find these hopeful adoptive parents…the internet. Involvement of adoption agencies has been mentioned, but the majority of these families came from internet ads or websites for adoptive families. Not unlike any other predator, this is a scammer’s gold mine. There are no guarantees in adoption – private, agency or otherwise, but there are certain protections that come with working through adoption professionals. Does it cost more money, probably? Is it more work to become approved, maybe? But, one of the couples mentioned in the recent Oklahoma crimes spent over a reported $30,000 in expenses to one of these “birth mothers.” Adoption is an intense endeavor to begin with, why not go to an agency where all they do is work creating families through adoption. Use the internet for shoe shopping and social networking, not adopting.