INDIANA CONFIDENTIAL INTERMEDIARIES

Like Illinois, Indiana's confidential intermediary has been rife with corruption and down outright theft. I had recently spoken with a member of Indiana Open. She is having a bad experience with an Indiana CI. That CI's name is Kris Lucas. This member doesn't know if this woman is speaking the truth. She wonders if she is just trying to get more money from the member. Alas, this is a major issue with confidential intermediaries.

My experience has been just as bad with Catrina Carlisle. I honestly believe that all of my information is a lie. Catrina Carlisle lied to me on several occasions that I can't determine the truth of my own situation.

Catrina Carlisle told me that she was the only CI or ASS as she calls herself that I could use. ASS stands for Adoption Search Specialist. She also told me that she could not contact my father because the law didn't allow her to. That fathers can't register on the Adoption History registry. I have read over the law as written into Indiana code. I have also read the law as it is written into the Department of Health Vital Statistics' handbook. There is no restriction on which CI that you use. There is nothing in the law that prohibits contact with the fathers. The law states "birth" parent, not "birth" mother.

Lets also discuss that some of the CIs have a conflict of interest in helping the adoptees and their families. Catrina Carlisle is an adoptive parent and the former agency director of Coleman Adoption Services. Kris Lucas has also worked for Catholic Charities. These are major conflict of interests. These folks do not have our best interests at heart. They have their financial budgets and their personal interests at heart. This can affect the conversaton with our family members.

In January of 2006, I began my search. Before I paid my fee, I asked if my natural mother would have the support needed with dealing with contact. I had spoken with only a few mothers at that time. I wanted to make sure that she would have support if she needed it. I have since learned that the agency is most definitely not the best way to offer support. Knowing what I know now, I would recommend contacting members of Concerned United Birthparents, OriginsUSA, members of the Baby Scoop Era mothers, and First Mothers Connect to get the support that your natural parents might need. These are people who have walked a mile in their shoes. They completely understand what our mothers have felt. I know with both Indiana Open, Coleman Moms and Babes and other organizations that we have support for those mothers. If you are a natural parent searching for your child, join Bastard Nation, Adult Adoptees Advocating for Change, and others to get the support needed for your adopted child.

I paid my fee. I waited for a day or two until Catrina called me. She told me that my natural mother refused contact. I was getting ready to go behind the fence of Vernon's state hospital, a place for the criminally insane. I was not in the best of places to take that call. I spent the rest of the day crying. The next week my natural mother supposedly called back wanting to know how to keep all of this private. She supposedly wanted to be assured that I would not show up on her door step after hiring a private investigator.

I had called Catrina a couple of other times after that. I was summarily dismissed. In that time, I have heard from countless other Coleman adoptees and Indiana adoptees who have been screwed over by this woman. After speaking with the daughter of a mother who was at the home the day before I was born, I realized that most if not all of my information is a lie.

I have heard repetitively that Indiana is known for changing birth dates, for not having the correct information, and for incest. So if you are coming into the search portion, you need to be aware of these things.

CIs in Indiana answer to no one. They don't answer to the courts. They can and sometimes will take you for a ride. They can and will sometimes lie to you about your information. So be aware very aware. Speak with other adoptees and who they have used.

I have spoken with another CI who said that Indiana has had it share of corruption and theft with CIs. She also told me that most other CIs don't like Coleman adoptees.

My advice to all is if you can afford Kinsolving.com, use them. It puts the ball in your court. It allows you to be treated like the adult that you are.

FOUND ANOTHER COLEMAN ADOPTEE

I write three blogs. On my big one, Adoption and Its Triad, I had a commenter. I don't know if he has done it or not. I asked him to join the Adoptee Rights Protest, Coleman Moms and Babes and Indiana Open.

He said that he went to the Coleman Agency and requested his records. He said that he was removed from the office by security. I have to laugh at that one. I think its great. I wish I could have been sent out of the office. Sadly I live in Texas. He has the same complaints as I do with Coleman. They were no help at all with his search.

I hate to tell him this but its true. The agency has lied on so many levels to all of its adoptees. They are not held accountable to us, the adoptee. They are not held accountable to the natural parents, our parents. Lord knows there is enough doubt by our adoptive parents. My own mother doubts the adoption of me. She wonders if it is even legal. She got no paperwork for me.

I think its wrong. Plain wrong. With the new Voter ID law, I pray that he and other Coleman babes never lose their driver's license or their other forms of identification. They won't be able to vote. They will not be able to prove their birth. Indiana has the OBC's under lock and key.

As time moves forward, we are losing more and more rights. My natural mother's so called right to privacy doesn't out weigh my civil rights under the constitution. In fact she relinquished her rights. My natural father had no say in the adoption of me. Something has got to give. It ain't gonna be me or anyother adoptee. We will have our rights.

OOOOh NEWS OF MATT TENNESON

Oh this sounds so much like Matt Tenneson's story. It looks like it might be the case. I love it.

Iowa appeals court sides with dad in adoption dispute

By Ann McGlynn/QUAD-CITY TIMES | Thursday, May 15, 2008

An adoption battle is pitting a biological father who is a college student with a criminal history against a couple who are “excellent parents” who wish to adopt a 3½-year-old boy named Daniel.

The Iowa Court of Appeals agreed Wednesday that the parental rights of the biological father, a Davenport man known only as Johnny, should not be terminated because he attempted to find his son despite the efforts of the biological mother, Ashley, against him. The potential adoptive parents are referred to as Jeff and Jenny, who live in Muscatine.

“Johnny’s attempts to get information from Ashley were met with lies about the baby’s whereabouts and Ashley’s plans for the child,” the court wrote. “Unfortunately, at the same time the mother was lying to Johnny, she was withholding information from Jeff and Jenny about the person she obviously believed to be her son’s father.”

Jennifer Olsen, attorney for Johnny, said he is “obviously pleased” with the ruling and plans to pursue reunification with his child. “My client has much interest in being a father,” she said. However, she noted, “We understand that this is a delicate situation. He understands there is a relationship to be built.”

The attorney for Daniel’s legal guardians could not be reached for comment.

According to court documents:

Daniel was born in October 2004 to Ashley in a Davenport hospital. Before she gave birth, she told Jeff and Jenny that she wanted them to adopt the baby. Jenny had worked as the manager of the nursery at Ashley’s high school and had been told by other mothers that Ashley wanted to give up her child for adoption. They met when Ashley was four months pregnant.

Jenny was there when Daniel was born. She and Jeff brought the baby home with them, and he was given their last name. Ashley told them she was not sure who the father of the baby was but she believed it might be a man named Johnny, who lives in Davenport.

Jeff and Jenny did not establish a legal relationship between themselves and the child.

However, court documents say, Ashley knew much more about Johnny. She called him to inform him the baby was about to be born, and he attempted to visit him at the hospital twice.

Two weeks after Daniel was born, Ashley began to have second thoughts. She went and got the baby from Jeff and Jenny, and then placed him in Johnny’s care for about six weeks. She then demanded Johnny return Daniel to her and gave him back to Jeff and Jenny without Johnny’s knowledge.

When Johnny asked about Daniel, Ashley told him, “He is somewhere better.”

Jeff and Jenny applied to become the temporary guardians. Ashley signed an affidavit saying she did not know who the father was or his whereabouts. Notice of guardianship was published in the Muscatine Journal — as the case was filed in Muscatine County. It used Jeff and Jenny’s last name as Daniel’s last name. Also, Johnny was living in Davenport, where the local paper is the Quad-City Times.

In November 2006, Jeff and Jenny filed a request to terminate the parental rights of Ashley and any biological father.

Meanwhile, Johnny was looking for Daniel.

Ultimately, he learned of the guardianship action through Iowa Courts Online, with the help of his probation officer. He found a phone number of Jeff and Jenny and called them to request a visit with Daniel. Jenny told him to contact their attorney.

He appeared at the termination hearing. The district court ruled that while Ashley’s rights were to be terminated, Johnny’s were not.

Ann McGlynn can be contacted at (563) 383-2336 or amcglynn@qctimes.com.

ANOTHER DEATH IN THE INDIANA FOSTER CARE SYSTEM

Indiana must have one of the worst foster care systems in the country. There was another death in Indiana of a child in foster care. They are investigating it. They can't release any details because of confidentiality restrictions courtesy of the state. Sorry just another reason why records should be open to adoptees and their families. Its time to make the system of infant adoption and foster adoption open and transparent.

Here is the link. Here is the story.

Foster child death is 4th in 5 months

Investigators are awaiting results of tests to find out what killed infant girl

By Tim Evans
tim.evans@indystar.com

The Indiana Department of Child Services is investigating the death of a Marion County infant who died in foster care.

Seven-week-old Destiny Linden, who died April 28 at Riley Hospital for Children, is at least the fourth child under DCS supervision to die within the past five months in Marion County.

Susan Tielking, spokeswoman for the department, said the agency has opened an investigation into the death.

She also confirmed DCS had an open case involving Destiny at the time of her death but said she could not provide any details of that case because of state confidentiality requirements.

Tielking said DCS records from the initial case, which apparently resulted in Destiny being placed in foster care, could not be released unless the new investigation determines she died as a result of abuse or neglect.

The fact that a child dies while in state custody is not enough under state law to trigger the release of DCS records, she said.

The cause of Destiny's death has not been determined, said Marion County Chief Deputy Coroner Alfarena Ballew. She said initial indications point to a potentially unsafe sleeping situation, but the final determination is pending results of toxicology and other tests, which will not be available for several weeks.

Ballew said the child was found unresponsive on an adult bed and, after attempts to revive her, was placed on life support at Riley for about two days before being pronounced dead.

According to an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department report, police and medics were called to a home in the 8400 block of East 34th Street at 2:56 p.m. April 24 on a report of a possibly dead child. When authorities arrived, Everette Coleman, 43, identified himself as Destiny's foster parent and said he called 911 when he discovered she had stopped breathing.

The report says officers collected a quilt, blanket and bottle from the bed where Destiny was lying, a sheet from the baby's crib and a bottle from the living room floor.

Destiny first was taken to Community Hospital East, according to the report.

Tielking said Coleman and his wife, Kim, are licensed foster parents in good standing with the department.

Other children under DCS supervision who have died recently in Marion County include:

» TaJanay Bailey, 3, who died Nov. 27, just weeks after she was returned to her mother and the woman's boyfriend by DCS.

» Miyanna Chowning, 3, who died Dec. 31 while in foster care.

» Christine Miller, 8 weeks old, who died Jan. 21 while her family was involved in an active child protection case.

Tielking said she could not say how the four deaths in five months compare with past trends because the agency does not track the deaths of all children who are in state care, such as those who die from natural causes or accidents.

Dawn Robertson, spokeswoman for the family rights group Honk for Kids, which works with parents dealing with the child welfare system, said the state should be able to say how many children in its care have died, regardless of the cause.

"They should be held to a higher standard," she said. "They have taken these children from their parents because they believe they will be safer with the state. The public certainly ought to know when one of these children dies, even if there was nothing done wrong."

MADONNA KEEPS DELAYING THE ADOPTION OF DAVID

The stories are coming out so fast that a blogger can't keep up. This is getting sicker and sicker. How can the writer of this article even say why David would not want to go back? Having Madonna is most definitely more fun because of the riches that he has access to. Excuse me that is just sick. Madonna has already broken the promises that she made to the boy's natural father. The natural father has even spoken out against her. Bleck Bleck

Madonna, I no longer listen to your music. It comes on and I change the channel. Shame on you.

Here is the link. Here is the story.

Judge Postpones Madonna Hearing

Madonna was supposed to be celebrating this week because the judge was going to finalize her adoption to her little boy David but that has to wait. The judge moved the hearing until next week.

Why was it delayed again? Because Malawian human rights group have presented arguements against the adoption laws. But don't worry because the group was not challenging Madonna's adoption in particular just adoption laws in general. Madonna should be all good to go next week.

It's highly doubtful little David would even wanna go back after living with Madonna. Who would wanna go back? It would be a teaser.

ANOTHER CORRUPT AGENCY

It is an agency that specializes in Guatemalan adoptions. People People what is so hard to understand here? We must investigate the entire adoption industry. They must be held accountable for their actions. I am not talking just to adoptive parents but also the adoptees and the natural parents. I can scream this from the rooftops across this country. Adoption has become a very corrupt business.

Here is the link. Here is the story.

In the international adoption business, there are few guarantees. A lot can go wrong.But dozens of families across the country who dealt with Adoption Partners of Simpsonville, which specializes in Guatemalan adoptions, say the owner, Joanne Mitchell, failed to deliver."It's horrible. It's horrible," said Stacy Bernstein of Beacon, New York, holding a picture of Ingrid. "I look at this and I see her as the 13-year-old American New Yorker that I envisioned her that I know she's never going to be."

Bernstein said Ingrid's adoption through Adoption Partners hit a snag. Ingrid's birth mother, she was told, was discovered to have two identification cards, one of which could be fraudulent.Bernstein, who paid Adoption Partners $11,250, said she was told Ingrid's adoption was being delayed."Then I was told, well, it'll be fixed any day now, any day now, and any day now. And any day now became months and months. Any day now still hasn't come," Bernstein told News 4's Tim Waller.Bernstein is not the only person whose Guatemalan adoption fell through using Adoption Partners of Simpsonville. Families in New Hampshire, Kentucky, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Washington State have filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau for adoptions that never went through.Each family claims to have paid Adoption Partners tens of thousands of dollars, according to Better Business Bureau records."I just don't think the business part of it mattered to her. I think if it works out, great, if not, well, these things happen, oh well. But you can't do that. This is people's lives that she's dealing with," Bernstein said.Brian and Jennifer Stuckert of Platte City, Missouri paid Adoption Partners $12,000 to adopt "Manuel." When the adoption fell through, the Stuckerts filed a lawsuit claiming "fraud, deception, false pretense, and misrepresentation."The lawsuit was recently dismissed so the Stuckerts could bring legal action in a different form."I have never been shown a cancelled check, a receipt or anything else that a reasonable person would expect to have on hand that would lead me to believe she was even attempting to perform the services for which we hired her," Brian Stuckert told News 4 in a telephone interview.News 4 learned through the Freedom of Information Act that the South Carolina Department of Social Services has received numerous complaints against Adoption Partners, and its owner Joanne Mitchell.Most complaints allege that Mitchell used an adoption facilitator in Guatemala who has been banned by the U.S. government for so-called "shady dealings."In fact, Thanassis Kollias (a.k.a. "Teo") was the focus of a recent Dateline NBC report entitled, "To Catch a Baby Broker."Stacy Bernstein said it was not until she hired her own attorney in Guatemala that she was told Adoption Partners was using this banned facilitator."I said I don't want to work with him," Bernstein said. "I want a new referral, as much as I thought this child to be my daughter, I was uncomfortable working with a facilitator that the United States Embassy said they would not approve."News 4 tried to contact the Simpsonville woman, who is the target of so many complaints. But Joanne Mitchell was not at the home she lists as her primary business address.In an e-mailed statement, Mitchell told News 4, "Adoption Partners (has carried out) hundreds of successful international adoptions. Adoption is not a guaranteed process. The current changes with the Guatemalan government has made thousands of American families suffer from delays and sometimes cancellation of their adoptions."Experts agree that Guatemalan adoptions are risky. The U.S. State Department has issued many warnings.But Spartanburg adoption lawyer Jim Thompson, one of two attorneys in the country accredited by the Hague Convention, said the problems in Guatemala are often downplayed by child-placing agencies."The problem is when expectations are not met, or if a person purporting to be an adoption professional sets those expectations so high that no one can fulfill them," Thompson said.Stacy Bernstein said she now believes Ingrid was never legally eligible for adoption. She said she blames Adoption Partners of Simpsonville for her failed adoption and more."I lost faith in people. I don't trust people the way I did before. I don't approach people in my personal life the way I used to. (Mitchell) has taken away the innocence I used to have," Bernstein said.

ANOTHER COUNTRY REVAMPING ITS ADOPTION PROGRAM

Nepal is passing new rules on their international program. Their program has been shut down for a year. One comment that bothers me is the adoptive parents must deposit money into the government coffers. Excuse me that is still a little corrupt. It looks like now the government will be getting the money. I don't know if this is better or worse.

Here is the link.