Learning More About Your Accident

As a prospective adoptive parent, it is tempting to be willing to do "everything" in your power to get a child. However, that kind of thinking can easily get you conned by a fraudulent adoption agency or birth mother. Apart from involving your adoption lawyer in every stage of the process, you can also protect yourself by learning about the common forms of adoptions scams.

Charging Excess Fees

One of the most common forms of fraud involves the agency charging you higher than the official amount that it should charge. Some agencies also create nonexistent services and then charge you for them.

It's true that there is no standard adoption fee; it depends on the type of adoption (foster care, domestic agency, international agency and others). However, you should know the costs upfront, and the agency should provide a legitimate reason (and you should confirm this with your lawyer) if anything changes.

Withholding Medical Information

The agency should provide you with medical information on the child you wish to adopt. In fact, you should also get critical information on the history and background of the parents. For example, if they have some inherited diseases, then you should know about them.

You need this information to help you decide whether or not to go ahead with the adoption or even prepare for the arrival of the new family member. Unfortunately, some agencies hide this information in a bid to hasten the processes.

False Pregnancy

Another form of scam involves the "birth mother" pretending to be pregnant so that she can milk money, in the form of pregnancy expenses, from you. This scam may be performed with or without the knowledge of the agency, but professional agencies know how to weed out such scammers. Such pretend "mothers" are usually reluctant to provide pregnancy proof, and they also tend to be very poor in communication.

False Parents

There are also cases where people pretend to be the parent of a child, while, in the real case, they have stolen the child or coerced the real mother into the agreement. You are more likely to end up in such a scam if you answer an online ad for adoptive parents.

These are some of the most common, but not all, forms that adoption scams take. Suffice is to say that you lower your risk of getting scammed if you deal with a well-known agency professional or organization. The input of a professional family lawyer will also go a long way in making the process legitimate. For more information, contact Stephen J Weisbrod Esq Law or a similar legal professional.