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Couple out more than $24,000 after woman backs out of adoption deal
"She told us she had four kids and knew she couldn’t provide for the twins."
Candice Aviles, Tim Chong
August 18, 2019
PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — A Nebraska couple had hoped to adopt a Pinellas County woman's unborn twins. Instead, they found themselves scammed.
“She told us she had four kids and knew she couldn’t provide for the twins and wanted a better life for them because she made bad life choices,” adoption fraud victim Lindsay Beuchler said.
Ceara Rae Stowe, 26, is accused of promising her unborn twins to Beuchler and her husband, Joshua, then backing out of the deal after getting $2,100.
She has been charged with two counts of adoption fraud, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.
According to deputies, Stowe signed a pre-birth agreement on Dec. 21, 2018, while she was in the Pinellas County jail, promising her twins to the Beuchlers, who had been selected by Stowe through an adoption agency.
The couple, in turn, signed an adoption agreement for fees, deputies said, where they agreed to pay fees to Stowe for rent, food and personal items during her pregnancy.
Stowe and the couple communicated through email and letters before her release on March 4, and then by phone and text messages afterward, deputies said.
“We even flew out to Florida from Nebraska a few times to build a relationship with Ceara and her family,” Beuchler said.
On May 29, Stowe asked the couple for $1,500 for rent, a $250 allowance and an additional $350 for other various bills. The $2,100 was paid, according to deputies.
But that was only part of the Beuchlers' financial loss.
“During her pregnancy, we were also expected to pay for Ceara’s living expenses, so while she’s only being charged for $2,100, we have lost more than $24,000 for her living expenses and other costs. But she can only be charged for the money she took from us after the baby was born,” Beuchler said.
On June 3, Stowe texted the couple that she was headed to the hospital to have the birth induced. The couple went to the hospital, but she was not there.
The next day, the director of the adoption agency learned Stowe had actually given birth on May 26 and had not told the couple.
According to an affidavit, Stowe told hospital staff she was not giving up the twins for adoption and was going to raise them herself.
On Wednesday, detectives spoke with Stowe, and they said she admitted to signing the agreement, accepting payment and backing out of the agreement without telling the couple or the adoption agency.
Stowe's mother has custody of Stowe's twins and her four other children. Stowe faces two counts of adoption fraud.
Jail records show she was previously arrested for theft, strong-arm burglary and fleeing and eluding a police officer.
I'm not up to date with adoption laws etc., but a similar situation (although not considered adoption fraud) happened to a friend of mine, about 25 years ago. They spent about 20K in 1994 dollars for expenses for a young unwed mother, got to know her and did a few trips to visit her and help her out etc., got their nursey ready, had everything bought and ready for the baby, etc. and were there for the delivery, and upon birth the young mom change her mind and decided to keep the baby (felt a bond and despite obstacles did not want to give the child up). They were devastated and ended up doing an international adoption about a year later (adopted from Guatemala). At least back then, laws were such per my friend that the mom can change her mind, even at the last minute.
Her experience had a big impact on my not even considering domestic adoption and adopting our child internationally.
I'm not up to date with adoption laws etc., but a similar situation (although not considered adoption fraud) happened to a friend of mine, about 25 years ago. They spent about 20K in 1994 dollars for expenses for a young unwed mother, got to know her and did a few trips to visit her and help her out etc., got their nursey ready, had everything bought and ready for the baby, etc. and were there for the delivery, and upon birth the young mom change her mind and decided to keep the baby (felt a bond and despite obstacles did not want to give the child up). They were devastated and ended up doing an international adoption about a year later (adopted from Guatemala). At least back then, laws were such per my friend that the mom can change her mind, even at the last minute.
Her experience had a big impact on my not even considering domestic adoption and adopting our child internationally.
This article is just the latest chapter in the never ending debate on "birth mother expenses." There are also elements of fraud here. The birth mother attempted to hide the baby and tell everyone that she was pregnant. She now has an attorney and is claiming she wanted to parent and did not know how to do it. Florida also has a new law trying to prevent what you descript; adoptive couples loses money trying to support a pregnant woman that never indented to follow her adoption plan. Lastly, there appears another couple not mentioned in the article has provided support to this pregnant women. I'm glad that the sheriff's office investigated and is trying to hold everyone accountable. They stated: "Police said that a woman has 48 hours to change her mind about adoption and that it isn’t a crime to do so. Stowe charging the family money after she’d given birth, however, is what makes the incident a criminal case, police said."
This article is just the latest chapter in the never ending debate on "birth mother expenses." There are also elements of fraud here. The birth mother attempted to hide the baby and tell everyone that she was pregnant. She now has an attorney and is claiming she wanted to parent and did not know how to do it. Florida also has a new law trying to prevent what you descript; adoptive couples loses money trying to support a pregnant woman that never indented to follow her adoption plan. Lastly, there appears another couple not mentioned in the article has provided support to this pregnant women. I'm glad that the sheriff's office investigated and is trying to hold everyone accountable. They stated: "Police said that a woman has 48 hours to change her mind about adoption and that it isn’t a crime to do so. Stowe charging the family money after she’d given birth, however, is what makes the incident a criminal case, police said."
Usually these things happen when people try to DIY rather than go through legitimate adoption agency or through a real adoption attorney to obtain a placement.
I don't condone fraud and I am sorry for these people. Yet, anyone ought to realize that giving money to a pregnant woman before she legally can place a child for adoption is full of potential risk. Every state has a law requiring a prospective birth mother to have at least a short period of time to change their mind between giving birth and signing a formal relinquishment of a child. Any mother can take that money given before birth--change her mind about the adoption--and there is nothing that anyone can do.
At some point, you have to ask people to protect themselves and not do irresponsible things.
Usually these things happen when people try to DIY rather than go through legitimate adoption agency or through a real adoption attorney to obtain a placement.
I don't condone fraud and I am sorry for these people. Yet, anyone ought to realize that giving money to a pregnant woman before she legally can place a child for adoption is full of potential risk. Every state has a law requiring a prospective birth mother to have at least a short period of time to change their mind between giving birth and signing a formal relinquishment of a child. Any mother can take that money given before birth--change her mind about the adoption--and there is nothing that anyone can do.
At some point, you have to ask people to protect themselves and not do irresponsible things.
From the various news articles:
Quote:
After years of unsuccessfully trying to grow their family, Joshua and Lindsey Buelcher sought out the assistance of a local agency to help them adopt, WTSP reported. They said Ceara Rae Stowe, who was pregnant with twins and behind bars in Florida, eventually found them through their online adoption profile and selected them to take in her babies.
The is also a report of a second couple. Again using an agency from Florida. Perhaps that information had changed.
Usually these things happen when people try to DIY rather than go through legitimate adoption agency or through a real adoption attorney to obtain a placement. This is not true. It happens frequently, even to people going through so-called "legitimate" attorneys.
I don't condone fraud and I am sorry for these people. Yet, anyone ought to realize that giving money to a pregnant woman before she legally can place a child for adoption is full of potential risk. Every state has a law requiring a prospective birth mother to have at least a short period of time to change their mind between giving birth and signing a formal relinquishment of a child. Any mother can take that money given before birth--change her mind about the adoption--and there is nothing that anyone can do.
At some point, you have to ask people to protect themselves and not do irresponsible things.
While I am not an attorney admitted to the bar in all 50 states, I will say that the information in the second paragraph of the above quote is mostly accurate, as far as I know. One of the few absolutes is that there are no absolutes, so I will refrain from using the words all or every, but for the most part in my experience and reseaerch it is common for many states to have some law that does let the birth mother off the hook with little or no consequences or responsibility for repayment of anything they have been given.
It happened to us, twice, through the so-called legitimate adoption attorney we tried first. I didn't like the guy from the start. I value professionism and quality. He had the fancy office in a high profile area, well appointed, expensive artwork and furniture, high end suits, gold cuff links, the whole deal. From the start I got a slight spider sense of the sleazy lawyer, but I let my wife's excitement override my sense.
We knew going into it what the risks were, but we were hoping that by going through a guy like that they would be minimal. The first mother backed out, and we chalked it up to bad luck. Then we lost even more money with the second, and I am convinced that the lawyer at a minimum knew something was up. At worse, if I want to subscribe to paranoid conspiracy theories I could even see how he could have been involved with her to scam us. If I wanted to go even further I could easily believe that his scam extended to the first mother as well. No way to prove anything without making a federal case out of it so to speak, and/or hoping for a wistleblower in his practice to come forward so I let it go. I didn't even want to total up the amounts that we lost but it was certainly in the 5 figures.
The problem with changing those get off the hook free laws is that no politician is going to be the one to sponsore legislation that holds those professional deadbeat birth mothers accountable, for fear that there may eventually be one case where one for whatever reason does end up being conned or convinced to give up the child for money and then regrets it, and cries to the media that her baby was taken from her unfairly. I can tell you it is a pretty empty feeling to hand over a lot of money knowing there is absolutely no guarantee of results, and then especially when it happens. By its very nature that system is ripe for a sleazy lawyer to take advantage of it and easily get away with it because it is so hard to prove. Plus, adoptive parents are going through so much as it is, there is not a lot of energy, emotion and money to fight it if they do think they have been scammed. The slick lawyers know this too. I am not saying there are a lot of them, but there really is no way to tell.
This may also be just the luck of the draw, but what finally worked for us was going with a lawyer who is certified by the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys. The flashy guy wasn't, and it is suspicious why not. We have been told that he was denied membership for whatever reason. It is odd why a high profile lawyer who specializes in adoptions would not want to be accredited by an association which covers his area of expertise, even if he thought it useless, since that sticker on his door at least means that some third party asked him something about his practices.
The new lawyer was polar opposites. Professional, yet down to earth and approachable. Adequate office, but one where you felt as though you were in a home rather than on Wall Street. She had demonstrable relationships with the agency and practice where the birth mother was located. Everything couldn't have gone smoother from the start. We were starting to think that the idea of the sweet young girl from a good family who just made a mistake was something of the past, but we found her, and there was not one single hitch, nor any since. It has been 7 years.
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