[Jenn4615]

I just wanted to remind everyone that the Dateline Adoption story that was supposed to air in the middle of June and was rescheduled....If its still a go with them...it was supposed to be this Sunday...So if anyone is still intrested..Hopefully they still plan to air it.
Tonight Lifetime is showing a new adoption movie...Last Trimester...I am sure it will be very realistic.. (SARCASM~!) Anyway, thats 9p.m tonight.
Happy 4th everyone!

[mommieof2cuties]

Datline did an wonderful adoption story this past weekend on twin adoptions. I was happy to finally view a wonderful adoption story. You can view a clip of what will be on this Sunday on the website Brady had posted about two weeks ago.

God Bless,
Summer

[Jenn4615]

I did see that clip...it was great! I really hope they don't cancel it again!
I missed the twin thing

[Jenn4615]

Just wanted to bump this up to remind anyone who wants to watch it tonight...starts at 8pm....

[mommieof2cuties]

It is on at 7pm my time

Here is what it said

• July 6, 2006 | 3:10 p.m. ET

How do you know when a scam is a scam? (Allison Orr, Dateline Producer)

When we set out to investigate private adoption scams, we knew we didn't want to do a typical story that simply re-told events that had happened in the past. Our goal was much more elaborate: to capture events in progress and follow them as they unfolded. All on camera, of course.

My first task was to figure out—could it be done? After-all, how common was the "birth-mother" scheme we were interested in? How many pregnant women (or women pretending to be pregnant) would falsely promise to give a child up for adoption in exchange for getting their rent and expenses paid? Surely, there seemed like an easier way to make a dishonest buck?

It didn't take long to conclude that this sort of con was a small but very real phenomenon. There are no statistics to rely on, but I very quickly found dozens of families, adoption attorneys and adoption agencies eager to share their own horror stories, and willing to help us find a case to profile for Dateline.

Now came the second and much bigger challenge-- deciding how and when to investigate an adoption in real time. After all, this wasn't like investigating a shady retailer, or a bogus government program. At the center of this story was an innocent human life. We couldn't do anything to disrupt what might otherwise be successful adoption. And our investigation was complicated by this key fact: in any private adoption it is perfectly legal for a pregnant woman to change her mind even after she's taken money from an adoptive family. If a woman offered a child and then reneged, how would we know it wasn't just a case of cold feet?

In January, I got a call about the Coleman's case through a series of contacts I'd made with various adoption professionals. The Colemans, a hopeful adoptive family from Tennessee, had been working with a pregnant woman named Christy for almost 2 months. They'd sent her money, met her in person and talked with her on the phone every day. Then Christy suddenly disappeared. Had she taken them for a ride, or simply changed her mind? Lori Coleman had done some investigating on her own and had good reason to believe that Christy had done this before. It sounded fishy.

As we began to investigate, one thing was clear-- "Christy" was not who she said she was. Her name, social security number, address and other personal details she'd provided to the Coleman's could not be verified. She was apparently lying about her identity, but was she lying about wanting to give her child to the Colemans?

Within days, "Christy" was back in touch with the Colemans and was again promising them her baby. They agreed to meet in person. A team of Dateliners— with hidden camera equipment—flew to Nashville to be there. From a Nashville hotel room, I worked the phones and the Internet--- calling contacts, reading adoption message boards, visiting adoption chatrooms: Had anyone heard of the woman who called herself Christy? Did they have documents? Photos? Could they send them now, tonight?

By the morning of our meeting with "Christy," I had talked to about a half dozen families or adoption agencies who believed they'd previously been conned by the person we were about to meet. Two families had even e-mailed photos of her. But the most compelling bit of evidence that "Christy" was not being honest about her adoption plans was something I witnessed with my own eyes.

The night before our meeting, "Christy" called Lori Coleman and asked for money to buy food. Lori left her a gift certificate the local Walmart, while another producer and I waited at the store for "Christy" to show up. Soon, we were following "Christy" around Walmart watching her shop. She bypassed the grocery section and went right for the baby department. I stood just a few feet from "Christy" as she casually fingered a rack of newborn outfits. I listened to her talk non-chalantly to her friend about needing baby bottles. And I watched her fill her cart with diapers. My gut said this is not what a woman does when she's about to give a child up for adoption. The scene reminded me of myself during those last weeks of pregnancy: browsing baby stores in anticipation, stocking up, as if shopping alone could ready oneself for the shock of becoming a mother.

As I watched "Christy" shop, I was becoming convinced — this woman was not planning to give her baby to the Colemans.


July 5, 2006 | 3:10 p.m. ET
Are prospective parents who want to adopt easy targets? (Victoria Corderi, Dateline correspondent)

http://media.msnbc.msn.com/j/msnbc/C...toria.cmug.jpgOn certain stories, my faith in humanity gets tested. Because of the unique nature of my job, I have witnessed people at their best and at their worst, the caring and the callous. I saw both sides during the course of the compelling adoption story we are airing Friday night.

I met people from different parts of the country who had shared the same goal: to give a loving home to a baby who needed one. None of them arrived easily at the decision to adopt. It was only after years of trying to conceive, enduring miscarriages and costly fertility treatments that they'd finally reached a place of acceptance. And once they made the decision, they became hopeful, even enthusiastic. They learned that the Internet makes finding a birth mother potentially easier and more affordable. They were ready. They were willing. They were, in short, sitting ducks.

getCSS("3088867")http://www.msnbc.msn.com/images/icons/video.gifNBC VIDEO

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Co...616.vsmall.jpg http://www.msnbc.msn.com/images/butt...sLaunch_02.gif

• 'Dateline' exposes Internet baby adoption scam
NBC's Victoria Corderi talks with "Today" show host Matt Lauer about the "Dateline NBC" investigation into an online baby adoption scam.
Today show




All of them knew to expect disappointments. They might spend time and money on a prospective birth mother, get emotionally invested, and then learn at the last minute that she changed her mind. But no one we met could imagine what they believe happened to them: that their situations would be exploited, that they would be targeted by someone who knew just what she was doing, just how to string them along, just how to play people who are desperate for a child.

How could it be done? We learned firsthand.

The Dateline report on the 'Web of Deceit' airs July 9, Sunday.

[shy_bear]

Did anyone watch??? I was in tears watching, my heart so went out to the potential adoptive families. The relationship b/t a birthparent and the adoptive family is very sacred and to see someone lie and steal is horrible. I did think they should have stated from the start that a birthparent has the option to change their mind even after the birth of the child and they are not legally bound to anything until TPR has been filed and processed. I was glad to see the one family had been placed. I hope they all find the child and birthfamily meant to be in their lives.

[Nebrnatv2]

I saw it and cried my eyes out. My husband and I had gone though all fertility treatments and nothing and in Sept we are going to the information session here in Omaha on open adoption through the Nebraska Children's Home. I am so scared that we won't get a child. This is my second marriage and Tuesday is my 38th birthday and my husband just turned 40 and I am afraid that it will take a long time to get a baby. I just don't want to be 80 and still raising kids. I know it sounds selfish but I want to enjoy my retirement. But I am also scared that I may never get picked.

[munchkinwoman]

there was an adoption story on tonight. the family traveled to nashville I think to meet the birthmom and the birthmom had selected two families and the families didnt know about each other until it was to late.

[stillwaiting]

Originally Posted by Nebrnatv2

I saw it and cried my eyes out. My husband and I had gone though all fertility treatments and nothing and in Sept we are going to the information session here in Omaha on open adoption through the Nebraska Children's Home. I am so scared that we won't get a child. This is my second marriage and Tuesday is my 38th birthday and my husband just turned 40 and I am afraid that it will take a long time to get a baby. I just don't want to be 80 and still raising kids. I know it sounds selfish but I want to enjoy my retirement. But I am also scared that I may never get picked.

NEVER GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS. We went through infertility treatments and had 2 failed placements before we brought our son home. Adoption is not for the faint at heart. It is heart wrenching for everyone involved and it can also be the most beautiful thing you experience this side of heaven. You hang in there.

[joskids]

If you give up, it CAN'T happen. With 4 beautiful adopted children, I cringe at the times I almost "gave up" and would have lost any one of them. Unthinkable. Hang in there all of you. And keep hanging on when you think you can't go one more step. Tomorrow could be your reward. I used to work for an adoption agency. Cannot tell you how many times adoptive mothers (in particular) would be so near to giving up and I would try to encourage them not to let go of their dream and within days (sometimes hours), their child was born. Talk to others who are waiting. It helps so much to hear from those who "get it".

Josie

[dtmom2b]

I thought Dateline did a pretty nice job on this story. Yes I watched in tears too, from the adoptive mom's side and knowing the heartache of not being able to conceive a child and the deep desire to have a child sometimes takes over our rational mind.
We have been blessed with a beautiful baby boy and now have extended family by his wonderful birthmom.
We are considering adopting again, this story is just a reminder there are cruel women out there that take advantage of our desires and bottom line do your research!

[Jenn4615]

I too thought the show was well done. I am however also surprised they did not explain earlier in the show that the birthmom has every right to change her mind and parent her child! I realize that was not the point of the show, I just think that people watching the show who aren't in the "adoption World" would not really understand how it really is.
As an adoptee and adoptive mom, I thought the show was well done, although I did feel kinda sad for any birthmoms out there watching because they aren't all out there for scams....and I wish they had showed a positive adoption story before hand or afterwards.
I have a wonderful birthmom and so does my daughter and I hope neither of them watched that show last night. It made me sad for them.

[Melissa Barry]

I saw the Adoption story last night on Dateline. I was in tears over what "Christy"/Amy did to those 4 couples. That is the most hateful thing anyone can do to someone who is unable to bear children themselves. I wanted to go straight through my tv screen and strangle that girl. I hope they find a way to punish her and that she gets the help she needs so she doesnt continue to do this to other families.

[mommamarci]

My husband's repsonse (Yes he watched it with me!!!) was that a lot more scmammers will appear now. I hope that is incorrect, but he may be right. They said it is very hard to prosecute so most women get away with it. Hopefully this will not encourage anyone to scam.

[katlyn]

I am a bmom, and I was truly angered at the heartlessness of "christy's" scam. In my opinion, women like her are why there are so many trust issues in the world of adoption today. I would have given anything to have kept my daughter and after seeing her and holding her for those four days in the hospital, I could have so easily changed my mind. However, even at the young age of 17, I understood that I had made a promise to my daughters aparents and would never have fathomed doing something so hurtful. I can't speak for all bmoms, just for myself, but I hope and pray that one day they acknowledge that this type of scam should be considered a crime and that women like "Christy" deserve to be punished. I was thinking the same thing as the prospective amom, what about the future of that poor unborn baby? Ugh....the whole thing just made me sick!
Michelle