Baby adoption fraud

Baby-selling is technically illegal, but a pregnant woman can collect $10k or more based on adoption promised, provided that she goes thru appropriate middle-men. Here is an adoption gone bad:

Investigators said an Orange County woman is in jail after she promised to give her baby up for adoption but instead kept the baby and cashed in on the couple who was supposed to get the child.

Police said Jill Rader kept taking payments after she gave birth and got almost $10,000 from the couple who thought they would be adopting her baby.

The money went to help pay for Rader’s rent, gasoline, groceries and anything else she needed.

Once the child was born at Winnie Palmer Hospital in February, Rader allegedly cut off contact from the adoption agency, but still asked for financial help.

Court papers said Rader used the business A Chosen Child to find a new family for her child.

Documents said she eventually wanted to keep the baby girl, but she kept taking payments from the agency, which is illegal.

“I think that she should really be in jail for that because if they’re funding you for the adoption and you don’t go through with it, it’s just like stealing money from a bank,” said resident Porche Black.

The executive director of A Chosen Child said mothers sometimes change their minds and keep the baby, which is allowed.

But Rader allegedly never informed the agency she had the baby.

Rader posted pictures of herself with her newborn on her Facebook page.

After the birth, the agency handed over nearly $1,800 for rent, groceries and gas.

That money came from the adoptive parents, who gave almost $9,000 to cover any expenses incurred by Rader during the pregnancy.

It is not clear to me how the pregnant woman crossed the line into a prosecutable crime. Apparently she is allowed to change her mind after the birth, and it may be impracticle to force her to give the money back. Perhaps there was some evidence from Facebook or elsewhere that she never intended to give up the child. If so, then I guess she committed fraud by promising something she did not intend to deliver, and taking money for the bogus promise.

I post this to point out that there is a market for babies. There is demand for a newborn baby, even if from a flakey and unreliable woman, and the adoptive parents are willing to pay $10k or more.