Infant sold for $6,000 to Missouri Woman
36-year-old Denise Novotny of Clinton, Mo., is sitting in jail this morning charged with child abduction and unauthorized adoption. The baby girl was born to David and Angela Schmidt of Kewaskum, Wisconsin at the Taurora Medical Center in Hartford in December of 2004. Novotny paid the couople $6,000 and then had them sign a surrogate contract to make the exchange appear legal. The Schmidts admit to placing their daughter with Novotny for money and express no interest in contact with their daughter at this time. Their parental rights were never severed. The case is still under investigation. There is no word on whether the Schmidts will be charged with a crime.
May I just ask the obvious question, what were the Schmidts thinking? There are other options for parents who are in need of financial support! I can't imagine needing money so badly that I'd sell my baby. However, if they were interested in placing their daughter for adoption, there are legal ways to handle that option as well, but of course they would not have been paid to do so. They would have received some financial help while expecting as it is legal for a prospective adoptive parent to help with some financial needs, such as living expenses or a birthing class, but no upfront legal exchange of dough.
I wonder how this little girl will feel when she finds out that she indeed had a price tag and it was a mere $6,000?
SOURCES:
Missouri woman charged with child abduction and unauthorized adoption - Top News
Woman Charged With Buying Baby - MSNBC.com
What were they thinking?
Perhaps they were thinking that since private adoption is largely unregulated and a multi-billion dollar market driven industry – why not simply cut out the middle man who would profit from this “transaction”?
Maybe they were thinking “Open adoption” allows us to choose the adoptive parents for our child and also allows us to except having our “expenses paid.”
It is our loose attitudes toward adoption that breed corruption and result in adoptive parents being scammed by people pretending to be pregnant, by facilitators who falsely promise babies and don;t come through with them or refund money, and situations like this.
In a stricter more regulated, more supervised and non profit-driven adoptions system — one that truly put the intersts of chidlren in need forst and was not simply about supply and demand – these things would never occur.
Adoption practices in this country are out of control.
Mirah Riben, author
“The Stork Market: America’s Multi-Billion Dollar Unregulated Adoption industry”
You honestly believe that if the system was overhauled and better regulated that “these things would never occur?”
Really?
Wow, I’m not that optimistic about human nature and its level of greed. Watch reality TV. People will do anything for money.
The adoption industry, as well as the foster care system, need to be fixed – true. I just don’t believe it will keep these things from happening. People have been profiting off of the sale of humans for centuries – whether in prostitution, slavery, or babies.
Better to sell the baby than abortion or dumping her in a trash can, they needed money
pretty simple to figure this one out. No charges should be filed.
The adoption industry will always have things slip through the cracks even with a complete overhaul. There will always be some idiot that believes they can sell their baby or buy someone’s baby.
What bothers me the most is that this child will someday know that she was worth so little to the people that were supposed to love her unconditionally and that even now they’re not expressing an interest in contact with her….
Exactly – the price tag is horrible. Who wants a price tag on their head?
And – of course – better than a dumpster however, there were better ways to go about this situation – it comes off that the $ was the most important thing here.
Nancy! What the devil are you thinking? This was a child!!!! Do you have any idea how this child is going to feel? Adoption(or lack thereof) is not the polar opposite of abortion. It’s illegal to traffic human beings.. the birth parents of this child are just as guilty as the “adoptive mother” and should be held just as accountable. They played with a human being’s well being.. I happen to know how it feels to know that you’re worth a specific amount of money. It SUCKS! No charges filed? Have you lost your mind…
Ok,all of this is wrong!!!!!Now that has been said:Is the adoption industry upset that they couldn’t make a living off the “fees” they charge the adoptive parents for say maybe $20,000.I am thinking maybe the want to be adoptive parents thought 6,000 didn’t seem like such a bad deal.Not to worry Adoption industry you probably will still make your money off this little girl and probably her parents poverty,So please don’t let me hear the OMG shock come from the over 2 billion dollar industry.Legal doesn’t always mean ethically .Who makes the adoption laws? Lawyers and we all know how highly they are thought of.We won’t see any real change in adoption laws because guess who is in charge of the hen house?
We obviously don’t know all the details (just the horrible stuff). The birth parents were desparate for money (maybe for good reasons or more likely for bad reasons) and somebody was desparate for a baby. Being through the adoption system myself as a parent – the whole system is hard and it really sucks. I think it is easier to rob a bank then to adopt a child. We probably need more regulations on domestic adoption but also less hoops to jump through as well.
I personally know the Schmidts. They did not nor do not need money. They are very kind and generous couple whoil like to help other people. It was not a cash and carry type deal. What I have heard is the Novotnys sent money when they could to help the Schmidts with the pregnancy costs. I.E. the cost of extra food, doctor co-pays, maternity clothing. As any woman who gave birth knows, doctor visits and maternity clothing… they do ring up some substantial $$$. The Novotneys sending $$ for those costs are understandable. The Schmidt were also informed by the Nototnys that they, the Novotneys, had legal representation and that legal representation said the surrogacy contract would work in Missouri law for the adoption since an adoption agency was not being used. The Schmidts did not have legal representation at that time because of the thinking of why have two attorneys doing the same thing simaltaniously and charging each of the families. On top of which, adoption agencies charge upwards of $10K to $25K for an adoption. So understandabily, it made sence to cut the ‘for profit’ part out of the agreement. There was absolutely no profit made in this matter. Whatever dollars were sent by the novotnets were used to offset the costs of pregnancy. So in a sence, this was an adoption scam where the Novotneys falsely claimed that their legal representation said it would be legal when in reality, the Novotneys never did anything legal or filed anything. The Schmidts are partly victims in this matter, but yet guilty of stupidity for not having their own legal representation just to cover their own a**.
Hi, its amazing that the agency’s and lawyers are allowed to charge to sell babies, but people making an agreement, and exchanging money isn’t allowed.
I hope they work this out. There is a child at stake here.
What does the birth cert say?
If anyone wants to be reunited with their family member, there are search groups that help. visit: yahoo and put adoption search groups ,
or contact me,
Joan