Originally posted HERE with backstory.
RESOURCE LIST for ethical adoption at the BOTTOM of this page.
In August of 2012, myself and several other families gathered together the pieces of our broken hearts and all of the evidence we had against International Adoption Guides and filed a SERIOUS complaint with COA, DOJ, USCIS, the EMBASSY, GA, SC, and NC licensure, and the office of Susan Jacobs.
We were entirely certain, based on our evidence, that IAG would be closed immediately and the staff would be arrested.
Then, we watched in horror as 17 months went by.
17 months.
(This pic was taken from the IAG website before it came down. It is, most likely, a mother visiting her children at the IAG orphanage)
17 months of IAG calling us liars, sending us letters from attorneys insinuating they would sue us for our complaints. 17 months of NEW CLIENTS. 17 months of families being referred not 1, not 2, but 3 unrelated babies within weeks of signing up for adoption with IAG.
17 months of those around us telling us we should stop pestering COA and be "peacemakers" so we didn't "ruin Africa" for others who wish to adopt, while child after child stepped forward and told the same tales of physical abuse in the IAG care centers, or lamented over the families they were taken from.
17 months in which the only office that took any visible action was THE STATE OF SC who promptly removed their licensure after investigating our complaints and finding the agency "office" was actually a fake, empty rented space, and adoptions were being facilitated poolside at Jim Harding's home.
The STATE OF NC licensure office told me they "would not discipline Mary Mooney no matter what evidence I brought them" and that I should be happy with my babies. They denied my complaint, officially and unofficially, over 6 times, and it was in this state that Mary Mooney was licensed.
17 months in which I received a letter from COA saying they had to close their investigation, would not reveal the violations they found, and there was nothing they could do.
17 months in which local friends continued to use and recommend Mary Mooney for services, despite my warning.
And then,
Mary and Jim were suddenly arrested.
RESOURCE LIST for ethical adoption at the BOTTOM of this page.
In August of 2012, myself and several other families gathered together the pieces of our broken hearts and all of the evidence we had against International Adoption Guides and filed a SERIOUS complaint with COA, DOJ, USCIS, the EMBASSY, GA, SC, and NC licensure, and the office of Susan Jacobs.
We were entirely certain, based on our evidence, that IAG would be closed immediately and the staff would be arrested.
Then, we watched in horror as 17 months went by.
17 months.
(This pic was taken from the IAG website before it came down. It is, most likely, a mother visiting her children at the IAG orphanage)
17 months of IAG calling us liars, sending us letters from attorneys insinuating they would sue us for our complaints. 17 months of NEW CLIENTS. 17 months of families being referred not 1, not 2, but 3 unrelated babies within weeks of signing up for adoption with IAG.
17 months of those around us telling us we should stop pestering COA and be "peacemakers" so we didn't "ruin Africa" for others who wish to adopt, while child after child stepped forward and told the same tales of physical abuse in the IAG care centers, or lamented over the families they were taken from.
17 months in which the only office that took any visible action was THE STATE OF SC who promptly removed their licensure after investigating our complaints and finding the agency "office" was actually a fake, empty rented space, and adoptions were being facilitated poolside at Jim Harding's home.
The STATE OF NC licensure office told me they "would not discipline Mary Mooney no matter what evidence I brought them" and that I should be happy with my babies. They denied my complaint, officially and unofficially, over 6 times, and it was in this state that Mary Mooney was licensed.
17 months in which I received a letter from COA saying they had to close their investigation, would not reveal the violations they found, and there was nothing they could do.
17 months in which local friends continued to use and recommend Mary Mooney for services, despite my warning.
And then,
Mary and Jim were suddenly arrested.
Because behind the scenes, DOJ had been working. We knew they were, but we had all wondered if anything would come of it.
As I read the indictment, something inside of me snapped.
Charges included:
BUYING BABIES (and listed the quarterly rate paid)
fake orphanages
laundering/funneling children
harvesting children who had families from a deaf school
money laundering
falsifying documents
bribery
the list goes on and on.
How can SOLID evidence of this be handed to EVERY concerned office in the United States in August of 2012 and the doors of this agency not be slammed shut WHILE they investigated? Worse yet, evidence from PEAR and other adoptive families reveal that these concerns were brought to COA years ago.
If a FAMILY were accused of the things this agency did, that family would have lost their children to CPS with no questions asked while the investigation was conducted. And yet, IAG was allowed to continue to facilitate adoptions. For 17 months.
At what EXACT DATE did the government come to understand that children in Ethiopia were being ripped from their families and sold in the United States?
I hold every single office listed, specifically Susan Jacobs' office (and excluding DOJ and SC) personally responsible for every. single. child. taken from their mama's arms after THAT DATE.
I am ashamed of the system we have in place
to protect children and families from adoption scams.
I am horrified by COA and the state of NC, among others.
I am ashamed that our culture of adoption has produced this level of depravity, because we REFUSE to see corruption even when we are STARING IT IN THE FACE, because all we see is OUR CHILD and how quickly we can get them home.
GOD IS NOT A RESPECTER OF PERSONS. Acts 10:34-35
He does not prefer a Christian family, or an affluent family over a poor one. He does not prefer powerful people over weak ones. In fact, He abhors this sort of favortism. He is the DEFENDER of the weak.
17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. 18 He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Deut 10:17-18
ADOPTION WAS NOT GOD'S FIRST PLAN FOR OUR CHILDREN.
LET THAT SINK IN.
The first plan for that child (ruined by the fall of man in Genesis 3) was to be born to her SPECIFIC MOTHER and raised within the GOD-GIVEN sanctity of her family (Gen 1:28), which is why she was conceived within it. GOD ALONE opens and closes the womb (Gen 30:22) and creates life. No life exists without His creating it (Is 42:5).
But we are living in the second plan.
We are living AFTER THE FALL.
The consequences of SIN are in place.
We need to start acting like it.
We are triage, not an upgrade.
We are servants, not saviors.
We must not confuse the OMNISCIENCE of GOD,
the fact that He always KNEW that child would end up in our home, with His first plan.
The REDEMPTION of a child ETHICALLY placed into our homes via adoption is undeniably sheer beauty - the kind that only God can author - but we must not forget -
THIS WAS NOT HOW IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE.
Can we see the first plan? Or even God's design for us, as Christians, as we respond to our neighbors in need after the fall (Matt 5-7)? The one where we gather around and help those in need instead of harvesting their children?
The plan where we help them to FEED their babies instead of BUYING THEM?
The plan where we empty foster systems because we are CONCERNED with family reunification? Where we STORM THE GATES of the abortion mills to minister to the mamas walking in, because they are OUR NEIGHBOR? Where we spend more time researching agencies because we are MOTIVATED by the ethics of adoption, not annoyed by them?
I can see it, after everything else that I have been forced to see.
And so can God.
And we are breaking His heart and storing up wrath.
We have lost our way. Adoption is FIRST about reconciliation and reunification, both in the Biblical model where we are REUNITED to our Creator and in the physical act of it here on earth.
Adoption is good.
It is righteous, it is pure, and it is an appropriate spiritual and physical response to a child who has no family willing to care for him.
Families are ALSO good.
We must protect adoption BECAUSE IT IS GOOD.
We must protect families BECAUSE THEY ARE ALSO GOOD.
We need to start asking ourselves, our agencies, and everyone around us the TOUGH questions about adoption. I am less concerned with offending an agency than I am our Holy God.
Because God is CONCERNED with the those who mistreat the orphan and the widow, and we must stop funding those who are doing so.
LET US BE THE KIND OF PEOPLE
who put the kind of people
who hurt children (Job 24:9)
OUT OF BUSINESS.
22 You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. 23 If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, 24 and my wrath will burn
***RESOURCES FOR ETHICAL ADOPTION & FOSTER CARE:***
***I have purposely NOT listed COA, USCIS, or other .GOV sites. By the time these entities have proven the corruption, the agency will have been closed, so checking with them is virtually useless as they do not make complaints OR violations public unless verified. By all means, file with them if you need to, but you can not count on them to report current fraud under investigation. JCICS is pro-agency, and generally unresponsive to ethical issues, so they have also been left off.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your words and support.