Laura Trayte says she and her husband, Matt, always knew they wanted to have a family of their own, but they had no idea what a battle it would turn out to be. Their first child, Hudson, arrived six years ago, after three grueling rounds of IVF. In their attempts to give him a sibling several years later, the Traytes endured two more failed rounds of IVF, an IUI, and several miscarriages before ultimately deciding to turn toĀ open adoption.
"A family is built from love not necessarily from biology," Laura tells CafeMom, "so adoption was an easy decision for us."
But while they knew that finding a child through adoption would be a journey in and of itself, they never could have expected what would meet them at its end.
The couple says they connected with several different birth moms at first, but for various reasons, none were a fit. Until Elizabeth.
It was September 2018 when Elizabeth Jones first reached out to the couple, through their Facebook page "A Sibling for Hudson," and they liked the sound of her from the start.Ā
She seemed to have a strong family background; she was married with two children, but couldn't afford a third; and because she was in school to become a respiratory specialist, she wanted to focus these next few years on continuing her degree and building her career. She was five months pregnant at the time with a baby girl, and lived and worked in Virginia. Her husband, on the other hand, traveled a lot for work, and she wanted him to "come off the road" and be home more with two children they already had.
It was a moving story. A relatable story. But now, some six months later, the Traytes can finally see it for what it was: A story.
Laura says she remembers thinking that Elizabeth was the answer to all their prayers.
"At first, Elizabeth honestly seemed like she was such a good person and just wanted to find the best home possible for the baby girl that she seemed to love so much," says Laura.Ā
Even if it didn't work out, and Elizabeth decided to keep the baby or go with another family, she hoped they wouldĀ still remain friends.
In the weeks that followed, the two women did indeed grow close. At least, that's how it felt to Laura.
Soon, almost daily, there were text messages back and forth, anxiously awaiting the arrival of a baby girl.
"We were just getting to know each other," Laura later told The Washington Post. "How we were raised, our backgrounds, our hopes and dreams. We talked about everything. I remember telling my sisters she felt like a sister to me.ā
It was that instant bond that didn't cause the Traytes to think twice about flying out to Nickelsville, Virginia, from their home in Orange County, California, to meet with Jones. Or pay for meals for the mother and her two kids. Or bring them gifts.Ā
There were happy selfies taken during their meet-ups. There were ultrasound photos shared back and forth. There was even a joint photo shoot between the Traytes and Jones to announce the upcoming adoption to friends and family.
All told, the Traytes say they spent $6,500 over a two-month period on expenses related to the adoption. And then there was the paperwork — the signed document drawn up with a lawyer that gave Laura and Matt the power of attorney so they could make medical decisions immediately following the baby's birth.
So when Elizabeth texted in a frenzy one morning in November, saying she was in labor, there was no reason not to believe her.
In hindsight, the birth story did seem dramatic: The baby's due date wasn't supposed to be until January 7, and yet it was only November 29. As reported by The Washington Post, Elizabeth had been sending the Traytes text messages throughout the night saying she was experiencing contractions and was bleeding. Then came photos of the blood, both on her sheets and in the toilet.Ā
Over the phone and via text that morning, Elizabeth updated to say she'd started to make her way to the hospital when she had to flag down an ambulance on the side of the road. She then gave birth — medication-free — on the way to the ER while riding in the back of the ambulance.
āThereās so much blood," a text from Jones read. "Omg … I donāt think any of us expected this to happen like this."
That last statement would prove to be quite prophetic. Because she was right — no one did expect it to happen like this. But as it would turn out, the frantic, med-free, giving-birth-in-the-back-of-the-ambulance part of the story wasn't even the most unbelievable one.
The most unbelievable part of the story, the Traytes would soon learn, was the fact that there was never a baby at all.
Filled with excitement over meeting their new daughter, the Traytes flew clear across the country that day along with Hudson, who showed up to the hospital proudly wearing a T-shirt that read, "Best Big Bro."Ā
But when they got to the front desk, they were hit with a wave of confusion — and then worry.
"Elizabeth,ā Laura texted soon after arriving, "we are in the ER in Holston Valley and they are saying you are not here??ā
As it turned out, Elizabeth Jones was there -- but she was admitted for back pain, not delivering a baby.
Still unable to wrap her mind around what was happening, Laura asked a nurse to lead her to Elizabeth's hospital bed. Once there, she pulled back the curtain and saw the woman who had promised just weeks before to make her a mother again.
Sitting on the hospital bed, fully clothed, was Elizabeth.Ā
"There was no baby," Laura said. "There was never a baby."
Three months later, the Traytes are still trying to process what happened, and understand why a person would invent such an elaborate lie.
So far, no amount of wondering or head-scratching has been able to turn up an answer. And most perplexing of all: Not even Elizabeth herself seems to know the why of it. Or if she does, she's not giving it up.
"Well thatās the million dollar question," Jones told WCYB in January. "I mean I go to therapy, but weāre still trying to figure that out. I mean, I donāt know if I just needed someone to talk to or … I donāt know."
That explanation (or lack thereof) is hardly consolation to the Traytes, who are still having some trouble finding closure or forgiveness after being misled to such a degree.
"The extent to which she took this lie was so cruel, even checking herself into the hospital that day when she knew we were waiting for baby girl," Laura tells CafeMom. "Her deceit took thought and planning on her part to pull off."
In a Facebook post viewed by The Washington Post, Elizabeth reversed course, claiming she was pregnant, but suffered a miscarriage at 13 weeks.
Her reason for lying about the rest of it, she claimed, was only out of fear that the Traytes would be upset with her.Ā
"What I did .ā.ā. I never should have done it," Elizabeth later told WYCB, ābut Iām not a horrible person. Iām really not. And I really wish people would see that. People make mistakes all the time."
Then — remarkably — she hurled the blame back at the Traytes, who she claimed should have seen the "red flags" along the way.
"I think there were red flags," Elizabeth told the outlet. " I mean if I had red flags I would check them out before I hopped on a plane and met somebody."
Ah yes, those red flags -- Laura says that looking back, hindsight is of course 20/20. But still, nothing suggested it was all a hoax.
"There were little things that worried us along the way, but all of her emotions and explanations were not only understandable but very plausible," Laura tells CafeMom.Ā
Still, there's one event that stands out in her memory: It happened on her first trip out to meet Elizabeth in person, when she was planning on attending an ultrasound appointment to meet the doctor and see the baby on the monitor.
"During that visit I waited for her to send a nurse out to get me as she promised, but that never happened," Laura recalls. "I was also supposed to meet her family that weekend but that also didnāt happen."
Still, Laura insists that all of their communication felt incredibly genuine, that Elizabeth was more than happy to sign the pre-adoption paperwork, and that even the contractions Elizabeth supposedly experienced seemed real.
"She was in visible pain," Laura tells CafeMom. "While on the phone she would hold her breath or gasp from the pain and she would keep repeating that it 'hurt so bad.' It never occurred to me that she could be faking the entire thing. She never asked us for money so what would her motive be?"
That ever-elusive "motive" is no doubt what the Traytes hope will spill out in court, now that Elizabeth has been formally charged.
The Virginia mom was charged with nine counts of larceny on March 11, for obtaining gifts and other perks from the Traytes under false pretenses. An official court date has yet to be set.
Meanwhile, the Traytes are picking up the pieces and looking to move on. They're also hoping that by sharing their story with others, they can bring about some much-needed changes in the adoption industry.
"Were trying to turn our tragedy … this something evil … into something good," they told KCYB earlier this month.
