Mental Illness Heartbreak
The Chat Room Swap
Reuters journalist Megan Twohey spent months looking into a secret chat room where parents swap their adopted children with other families’ adopted kids. Together Reuters and NBC News investigated this “rehoming” network, which facilitated child swaps that didn’t exactly fit their family units. And since no money is exchanged, it isn’t considered trafficking. After the Reuters investigation, the online bulletin board, Adopting-from-Disruption, was then shut down by Yahoo, where it was based, along with five other groups.
MORE: The 4-1-1 on Adoption
A College Student's Journey
After discovering her pregnancy and then watching her relationship fall apart, University of Iowa photojournalism student Callie Mitchell, 25, began chronicling her journey toward adoption for The Daily Iowan. She struggled, going back and forth with her decision, but eventually chose Kristen and Brian Doud to take care of her son Leo.
During the process, Mitchell and the adoptive parents became close. “Never ever, ever be ashamed to give your baby up for adoption,” she said, according to Today. “Yes, you are giving up a baby. But it’s such a selfless thing. Seeing [the Douds] with Leo is amazing.”
Image via YouTube
A Sudden Halt
About 1,500 families were in the process of adopting a child from Russia when the country's President Vladimir Putin signed a document into law last December banning U.S. adoptions out of the country. Heartbreak followed, as those families thought of having to start the process over again—or worse, having to give up a child they had already met. "I promised this baby I was going to be his mommy," Kim Summers told Reuters.
Photo via CBSNews.com
Taken Back
One brave mother shared her adoption story in an essay on Yahoo! Shine. After finding out that conceiving would be incredibly difficult, Nicky and her husband were selected to adopt 4-month-old Isaiah, and were told he was a low-risk baby whom they wanted to place in a loving home right away. Nicky “fell in love with him right away,” and had Isaiah home for two weeks before they got a visit from the social worker, telling them an out-of-state relative had come calling to claim Isaiah.
Although he continued to stay with Nicky and her husband until arrangements could be made for the baby’s biological aunt to take him, she knew her time with the little boy was limited. “It has been rough loving and caring for him every day just knowing that heartbreak is around the corner,” Nicky wrote.
TV Star's Painful Goodbye
Law & Order: SVU actress Mariska Hargitay embarked on an adoption journey with husband Peter Hermann, something she told Good Housekeeping was “not for the faint of heart.” The couple has successfully adopted a son and a daughter, but reaching a family of four did not come without its setbacks. After being chosen as parents and taking one little girl home for two days, the birth mother had a change of heart. "It was nothing short of devastating," Hargitay said. "But … it was probably the greatest, happiest ending. I mean, it was so painful for us, but it was deeply joyful and deeply right for her."
A Tug-of-War
Jared and Kristi Frei legally adopted their daughter Leah through a Utah agency in 2010. However, Leah’s biological father soon came forward to claim her after he found out his ex wife had given the baby up for adoption without his consent while he was stationed at a military base in South Carolina, away from their Texas hometown, according to the Standard-Examiner. The judge in the case said the Freis should have given up the baby when the father originally stepped up, and scolded them for not doing so. He ordered Leah—whom biological father Terry Achane has named Teleah—to the custody of Achane in January 2013. While the Freis are appealing the ruling, the 2-year-old’s future hangs in the balance.
Photo via Bossip
