[merrill1277]

There are four ads of couples looking to adopt newborns in this Community News weekly I have in front of me. Ads like this are almost always here. They all say expenses paid. All want newborns. Here is one for example:


A LOVING COUPLE WISHES TO ADOPT YOUR NEWBORN Offering love, happiness, financial security & education. Expenses paid. Please call Axxxxx & Bxxx collect at 1-800-xxx-xxxx.

Why would people use a newspaper instead of an agency? And isn't it possible the people contacted at the number could just be a front for someone else or for a black market operation? I cringe when I see these ads. Aren't private adoptions outlawed in some places now? Or at least in some countries? It might be one thing if the parties were in some way known or related (though enough could go wrong in those situations already). But yet another if they are totally unknown to each other and there is no agency oversight of what is being done and how. Wondering what others think of these ads.