Even though I wanted to leave Tammy's post up for twenty four hours without posting another one, I can't. Nor would she want me too. She now knows what I am battling here. She would want me to continue fighting the good fight.
Babyselling recently posted this about a young woman out of Hawaii.
Camira Baily, his mother of Hawaii wrote my family asking for help. She saw our story about my sons ongoing battle to get custody of his daughter who was surrendered by the mother for adoption despite my sons permission or wishes.
My granddaughter will be two June 15th and we're still battling in the Utah court. The adoption has not been finalized and we've never seen a picture of her.
It's been a nightmare ever since we started on this odyssey. We had no idea how (in my opinion) ruthless the Mormon church is when it comes to securing babies and making sure they can have parental rights stripped away as quickly as possible from parents who want to keep their children. I posted an article on this site which included a little of our battle.
Babyselling is our attempt to bring to light the current adoption practices in the Mormon church. This site also led to a myspace site. Camira, looking for help, found us and I want to pass her story on to you.
Her story makes me literally sick to my stomach and outraged. You read it and tell me, did the LDS Family Services kidnap her child using deception and coersion?
"Hello. My name is Camira Bailey and I was hoping you could help me.
I found out in January that I was pregnant and made the decision to give my baby up for adoption. Arrangements were made very quickly because I was already 32 weeks when I found out. Adoptive Parents were chosen and emails exchanged. Everything went by in a blur and I before I knew it, I was in labor. I gave birth on Feb. 14th, 2008, Valentine's Day. After giving birth, I knew I couldn't give up my baby boy, whom I named Decklan James Bailey.
My mother was with me and we decided to hold off on calling LDS Family Services, the adoption agency I had been working with. One of the nurses came in and started asking us all of these questions. My mother told her we would be keeping the baby. A few hours later, a social worker came in. She made my mother leave even though I said she could stay. Then, she announced that I had tested positive for Cocaine, Methamphetamines, and Benzodiazepines and that if I didn't go through with the adoption, she was going to have to call CPS. All I could do was break down in tears. How could this have happened to me? I'd never done any drugs like that! I told her so and we argued a bit, but I knew it didn't matter. Guilty people always claimed innocence and the confirmatory was going to take ages to get back.
To say I was shocked would be an understatement. She said she would come back in 15 minutes for my decision. When she came back, I still couldn't speak and the flow of tears running down my face hadn't abated. "If you don't say anything, I'm going to call Sally Lee. Sometimes not saying anything is a decision in itself." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. At that point, all I was thinking was 'I can't let that little boy get lost in the foster care system.' In the mean time, the LDS social worker was speaking to my mother on the phone. She was adamant about my mother not choosing CPS, telling her horror stories about children never returned and assuring her that at least with adoption, she would have visitation rights.
We later learned that she couldn't legally promise us such a thing. All of that was completely up to the adoptive parents. Coincidentally, she happened to have a mother there whose children were taken away by CPS. She was put on the phone to tell my mother her heart wrenching story. I soon managed to calm down a bit, but was still quite shook up. The LDS social worker came by and said she'd called the adoptive parents and they'd be there tomorrow afternoon. I was shell-shocked. Tomorrow? But I didn't even want to give it away. I thought she would have asked me or at least told me before she called them. It seemed like there was nothing I could do.
The next morning, the LDS social worker came by with a notary and dumped the papers on a table beside my hospital bed and pointed at where I should sign. I could barely concentrate on my signature because it took almost everything I had not to cry on the paperwork as I looked back and forth between it and the precious little guy sleeping next to me. As soon as things were signed, they were off. Only after this whole ordeal did things seem to come to light.
The baby's drug screen came back negative, of course. He also had no clinical presentation of withdrawal, which should have tipped someone off, especially given the type of drugs I was allegedly doing. My confirmatory test to see if I really did drugs or not came back negative also. We found out that CPS is almost always for mother child reunification and that if I'd went with them, my case would have been dismissed as soon as the tests came back and proved I was innocent. To describe what I felt when I found out I'd been deceived in such a way is quite impossible. At first I thought it was hopeless. I tried hard to accept that my baby wasn't mine anymore. I rationalized with myself that good people had him. In the end, when I looked at him, I knew that it would be impossible to accept. I would spend the rest of my life broken and so I am fighting, but I'm not sure what else to do.
Our attorney filed a petition, but it was denied and a hearing was scheduled, but it isn't until May. I've contacted the adoption agency, the adoptive parents, Kaiser Permanente, where I had the baby, the police department, Child Protective Services, the Mayor's office, and the Governor's office. The adoptive parents and the adoption agencies refuse to return my calls, the Governor's office says they'll look into it, and everyone else says they can't get involved because it's a civil matter.
I'm hoping that if people hear about this, someone will be able to do something to help or guide me to the proper resources because as of now, I'm completely tapped out. I don't even want to think about how they will just be able to take him back to Oregon, like everything is okay. Like I haven't spent all my nights awake. Like I haven't had to force myself to eat because I have no appetite. Like this hasn't completely ruined my whole life. Please help me. Please let the world know what's going on. Maybe then, little Decklan can come back home.
Camira Bailey"
If you can help Camira, please contact her on her myspace page. These battles are costly. I know Camira and Cody would appreciate donations to help with the costly legal representation to secure their rights.
6 comments:
Unbelievable! But so believable too give what is known of these agencies.
Return that child to his mother!
Sorry, but I have a hard time reading this. Personally, I understand the emotions involved with adoption. Aswell, I've been a life long member of the lds church. They do not persuade, or coerse mothers to give up their babies. In fact, my experience has been that LDS family services are extremely pro-birthparents and in tune with their rights legally. They do not proceed if the birthparents are undecided. I'm an adoptive mom, and know all to well the emotions involved when a birthparent changes their mind. I found there seems to be more sensitivity for the birthparents in most cases. Their moto "It's about love" is what they promote. Birthparents that choose adoption because they love that child and are concerned for it's welfare. As I can recall from your story, points of view were completely self-focussed. What about the babies right to be raised by a mother and father? To have the best start possible? Why take a baby away from that loving atmosphere? It just erks me when people have the nerve to focus on their own selfish desires over the needs of an innocent little baby.
Excuse me again second anonymous. This woman did not want to relinquish period. LDS Family Services of Hawaii coerced her. NO PARENT SHOULD BE COERCED INTO RELINQUISHING BECAUSE ADOPTIVE PARENTS NEED A CHILD. If this was about the child, the child should have stayed with his parents. End of question. Both parents wanted to raise that child. You say it should be about a child's right to be raised by two parents. This sounds like entitlement to me.
Obviously you are too full of anger to make those kind of comments or to understand. I'm not interested in argueing about your situation. I was standing up for lds family services, an agency I've had personal experience with. We both agree that parents should never be coerced into giving up their child. Lashing out at lds family services is not the answer. We both know people have choices in life..
Of course you are an adopter. LDS Family services has issues such as these in a majority of states.
Lets see how many cases there are:
Shawn McDonald who just won his tort claim against both the LDS Church and LDS Family Services here in Texas. In fact, they had their chains yanked. One of their social workers was put on 2 years probation. There is a case in Houston for the same thing. Lets include Brynden Ayre who file on the putative father registry in three states. He is now having to fight an appeal to get his child back. There is Matt Tenneson. There is Joshuam Simmerson. There is Cody O'Dea. There is also a case in Oklahoma. They continually violate the rights of the natural parents to raise their own children.
LDS Family Services shoves their religious beliefs down these men and women's throats.
Am I angry about this? Hell Yea. I am these children fourty three years down the road when they find out that their parents wanted them. The agency wanting to profit off the adoption used every route possible to make sure that they were denied.
In Camira's case, they split up her and her mother and threatened CPS action if they didn't sign. They even had the hospital staff help out. Its noted very clearly in all the court records.
LDS Family Services deals in baby selling point blank. Why else would they have ten to fifteen cases against them?
Anonymous,
You comments will no longer posted. You see I know the truth. I have the documents. Ha Ha Ha. I know the truth. Were you the nurse that tried to further the scam? I bet you were. Why else would the abductors be offering her an "open adoption arrangement?" Try your hunt some place else.
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