Coerced Adoption Should Concern Parents

Pregnant and Parenting Teens Targeted by Adoption Agencies

When you sent your teen to off to school today, you worried that she would fail her test, bomb her audition for the school play, or cut out of gym class to see her boyfriend. You never thought that while in the hallowed halls of academia, she would be convinced to take her baby and run away from your loving home on the advice of her guidance counselor. Yet that's exactly what happened to Judy Bennett.

Stephanie Bennett was a 17 year old mother and student, living at home in Ohio with her supportive mom and step-dad when she revealed concerns about motherhood to guidance counselor Thomas Saltsman. Instead of bolstering her confidence and encouraging her in her role as a parent, he immediately arranged for her to meet with A Child's Waiting adoption agency on school grounds, during school hours.

Days after their first meeting and feeling pressured to "do the right thing" by her daughter, Stephanie took baby Evelyn and ran away from home. Hours later, she signed the paperwork allowing the agency to take her daughter away.

Soon reunited with her mother and step-father, Stephanie and her family began fighting to overturn the adoption. The agency has hidden the identity and whereabouts of baby Evelyn's adopters, and the Bennetts must now prove that Stephanie was coerced before the adoption can be overturned. Justice seems unlikely for Stephanie Bennett and her daughter.

Coercion Common in Adoption

From media messages portraying adoption as a "loving option" to celebrities jumping on the adoption bandwagon at a ridiculously high rate, it's near impossible for the average person to get a clear look at what adoption really entails. Young women who are considering surrendering an infant for adoption have an even harder time sorting truth from propaganda when confronted with empty promises of openness, pleading letters hopeful adopters who appear perfect on paper, and shoddy counsel from legal and psychological professionals whose paycheck comes straight from the adoption agency.