What A Tangled Web We Weave…

I’m sitting here with the after Christmas blahs, dreading the return back to the workaday world and life as normal. I was saddened that for Carri and Camden, Christmas just wasn’t what it should have been with her son Camden’s future still in limbo because of Adoption by Gentle Care and their decision to continue to pursue this matter for the sake of their adolescent ego. As I sat here, a small bit of information happened to cross my path that really triggered memories of the scheming and double-dealing that happened in the ‘Baby Veronica‘ case a few years ago. Who would have thought the drama and deception in these adoption cases could be more intriguing and even more dramatic than an episode of ‘Real Housewives’? 

Adoption by Gentle Care has tried their hardest to keep their dealings private to this point. You know the whole saying about things done in the dark coming to light? I guess this is their year. Their dealings could only stay in the dark so long. I guess too, if you aren’t very wise and can’t leave well enough alone, you are asking for it to come to light too. You see, allegedly, after having lost the Grayson Vaughn case and all the publicity that came along with that, rumor has it, Adoption by Gentle Care got a quick infusion of funds or a helping hand from American Adoptions bailing them out. At least that’s how the story goes. I had no idea of the truthfulness of this info but it was a little tidbit buried in the back of my mind, stored there for if ever I needed it. 

Recently Senate Bill 250 came before the Ohio Legislature. The primary proponent for this bill was Pat Hamilton. This bill sought to reduce the time a father has to register with the putative father registry, reduced the time within which an adoption could be contested, dealt with ‘living expenses’ paid to birth mothers, allowed adoption agencies a hand in the money and increased tax benefits for adoptive families. It seems in anything adoption related there in the Columbus area, Pat Hamilton is involved. I wondered how someone could live with themself having done so much damage to families…and all in the name of strengthening families. You see, much of what he does is bundled as securing families and futures for adoptive children and strengthening the foundation the families are built upon. Yet, with all he does, much the opposite is happening. 

This bill sought to make sure a biological father had little to no time to ‘claim’ his child in the case of deception regarding the birth. Or making sure that once dad found out, there was little he could do to stop the adoption. It also put more money in the hands of adoption agencies as they could now get their hand in the pot by dictating how, when, how much and to whom any moneys for birth mother would be paid. They’d be the intermediary in this money between adoptive couples and birth mothers. (As if Adoption by Gentle Care was even giving any of it to birth mom in the first place. We’ve heard from birth mothers and their medical bills weren’t ever paid anyway. So where’d that money go? Often these agencies encourage birth mothers to apply for Medicaid while collecting money for their medical expenses from adoptive couples and never passing it on to birth mothers.)

Anything ‘adoption’ in the Columbus area or Ohio in general always seems to involve Mr. Hamilton. I realized though, this isn’t about strengthening families. I was asking the wrong question. To ask how he can live with himself implies he has a heart and I was thinking with MY human heart. I completely forgot the truly evil don’t think the same way. He can’t possibly care or even have a heart. I forgot adoption is often presented as a feel good story, a heartfelt moment much the same as adopting a puppy for Christmas while in reality it’s an INDUSTRY…..A MULTI BILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRY.  It becomes a lot easier to live with one’s self while rolling in the money acquired from it. After all, with the money fore-front on one’s mind, it becomes a little easier to forget about all the families you destroyed to get there. 

Seeing that Adoption by Gentle Care seems to relish in their dirty deeds being spotlighted, with the question of Pat Hamilton and his conscious in my mind, I did a little digging. I was curious as to why these folks at Adoption by Gentle Care and Mr Hamilton would be so willing to throw themselves to the wolves over one child (or a second child if you count Grayson Vaughn).

Pat Hamilton is Andrew Patrick Hamilton, ESQ, a Columbus area attorney. He is currently an attorney representing Adoption by Gentle Care in the case of Camden Stearns. 

And here’s Adoption by Gentle Care….

AGC sits at 370 S 5th Street. You see that little dot below them? The one that says Adoption Circle? That’s 400 S 5th Street. That’s the building Mr. Hamilton is out of. 

And here’s a picture of that property there at 400 S. 5th Street. Some pretty nice digs right? 

THIS, ladies and gentlemen, is the Hamilton Adoption Empire right here. Well at least that first floor, or suite 103. 

You see, what I thought was some rumor of the bailing out of Adoption by Gentle Care by American Adoptions could very well be and most likely is truth.  Based on their 2007 returns, American Adoptions co-founders Ted and Susan Mars were on the board of Adoption by Gentle Care also.

And after checking, it seems in any and all aspects of adoption in the area, if there is money involved, Mr. Hamilton seems to get a slice of that pie. 

Here’s his slice of the American Adoptions pie. 

And his slice of the Adoption Circle pie. 

And in what seems to be common among all these companies, if they don’t first succeed, try, try again. Or, oh hell, if they get sued or their names get drug through the mud, just close shop, reopen, recycle and use another name next week. 

I can’t imagine family reunions for some of these adoptive families. “Well, let’s see…we got little Susie from AGC but her brother came from AC or was it AAAC? Or were they Gentle Care Adoption Services then?”

Oh but wait, not only is he the man to go to for adoption, but he’s got you covered like some late night Sham Wow salesman. He can hook you up even pre conception! His surrogacy slice of the pie….

So far you have Pat Hamilton with a hand in Adoptions by Gentle Care and in Adoption Circle, who by the way went to great lengths to distance themselves from this case last year. I wondered why that was! 

And we have founders of one on the board for the other while they all pretend they don’t even know one another. And Pat Hamilton has his hands in all of them while he pushes for legislation that helps to net them even more. One way to make yourself richer is to legislate all your competition out of business, that’s for sure! Kudos on that little plot Pat! Push biological families off the cliff, leaving the poor little children needing homes and you and your cohorts can play the hero. 

The law firm of Tucker Ellis is another key player in all this. A law firm out of Cleveland representing many of the Fortune 500, with so much to lose, I wonder why they’d involve themselves in this mess if not for the BILLIONS! It always seems to come full circle back to that word. BILLIONS. I wondered when families and children and all that heart warming rhetoric jumped off the train but then I remember, it was BILLIONS, the crazed engineer driving the train.

The firm of Tucker Ellis represents Gentle Care in this mess as well. And partner, Matthew Moriarty there is also President on the Board of Directors of……you guessed it! Adoptions by Gentle Care. And in what I’m loving right now, also had a speaking engagement by a name very similar to the title of this blog coincidentally, speaking on (irony) ethics. Tucker Ellis’ attorney Jon Oebker also represents Adoption by Gentle Care alongside Pat Hamilton. 

And you see, somewhere there’s some little piece of paper or whatever it is, Articles of Incorporation and all that pesky business paperwork. They all have that legaleeze in them. Like with most companies, they have a little something in there, the gist of which is they cannot hire anyone or do any company business for personal gain and bunch of other things about the mixing of business and so forth. They aren’t supposed to do business with the other businesses in which their members have a personal interest. But I guess they just ignored that whole section when it came to all this. Mr Moriarty I’m sure sees no problem with sitting on AGC’s board and being a partner for Tucker Ellis while Tucker Ellis attornies represent them or with putting Attorney Oebkers on the case as well. 

And we’re back to BILLIONS! What other explanation is there for a Fortune 500 law firm getting in bed with an adoption agency? Businesses normally remain neutral on social and political topics just so they don’t push away any potential or existing clientele but again, BILLIONS is the only explanation for why they’d jump into the game.  So Tucker Ellis comes out pro adoption in their race for the billions too. 

And do you remember that 2007 return you were shown earlier in this post? Remember some of the names from it like the Mars family? That’s because they seem to be the driving force behind American Adoptions and huge players in the adoption industry. In fact, as early as these returns, you can see old Matt Moriarty was on the board there rubbing elbows with the Mars family. From what I can see, American Adoptions is active in Kansas, Arkansas, Florida, Ohio, Missouri, Arizona, Louisiana, and Lord knows where else because my computer almost crashed trying to track them all. And all of them non-profit yet raking in the BILLIONS! All for the little children to have a home.  All hoping for a home for those poor kids in time for Christmas. All while Camden sat waiting in a foster home in Ohio while he HAS a home, a home Adoption by Gentle Care, Patt Hamilton, Matt Moriarty and the rest of the board there and their cohorts won’t let Camden go to. That one child didn’t need to be with his mother for the holiday. That one child is worth at least $30,000 to them and if they let that $30,000 go, that might mean a little less in their coffers. 

I wonder what old Ted would think of what Adoption by Gentle Care is doing in this case concerning Camden? 

The Flood Gates Open Slowly

As a result of Camden’s case, other women are coming forward. I must say I’m delighted to see the support and see them feel empowered enough to speak out. I’m saddened though that other women had to be treated this way and their children will be the victims. 

• 2 Days Ago via Pissed Consumer

“This is my opinion.I have been following the unethical business decisions of Gentle Care Adoption for several years and have found the adoption agency to make poor business decisions.

Gentle Care has been holding a baby by the name of Camden hostage for several months now. If anything should happen to Camden during the time that Camden is in the custody of Gentle Care Adoption, I would think that Gentle Care Adoption would be help liable. By holding Camden hostage AND against his mother’s will, this is causing Camden extreme damage. But again, this is only my opinion.

If you have been affected by the unethical actions of Gentle Care Adoption, please tell your story on this web site, it is completely annoymous. We would love to hear your story.

I found the link below on the web, that tells Camden’s story.Let’s help get Camden back to his mom, who deeply loves her baby boy and misses him more than words could describe.”

• 7 Hrs. ago via Pissed Consumer

another victim 7 hours ago Grove City, Ohio

“I have been following Camden’s story for months and was really hopeful he would get to go home in the beginning. I’m disgusted this agency has bounced him from home to home instead.
I was coerced by this agency last year and wanted my baby back immediately but I didn’t have support and inevitably I gave up. They scared me with intimidation and I fell apart. I’m mourning the loss of my baby. I wish I could come forward but they have threatened some of their clients that we could lose the little bit of communication we have with our children. I’m afraid.
I hope Camden’s mom sues gentle care for negligence. This is surely crime to purposely inflict harm on this baby.
Everyone wants Camden to come home, even the original family who had him. What part of adoption does this fall under, AGC? Explain.
Camden needs to go home now.”

• 2013 Via Yelp and other forums

“I am writing this review years after my experience with Adoption By Gentle Care. At first, my case worker seemed very helpful. However the financial situation that I found myself in after both parties (the adoptive parents and the adoption agency) got what they wanted is very upsetting, and what this adoption agency did to contribute to the situation seems unethical to me.  I was 19 and kept the pregnancy from my father. I was assured by my case worker that Medicaid would take care of everything. She was well aware that I had insurance underneath my father, but because I didn’t want him to know she encouraged me to use Medicaid. Medicaid accepted me and paid for everything, including an ultrasound midway through the pregnancy and my c-section at OSU hospital.  

Months after I handed the child over, I got my first bills from OSU. They told me that Medicaid denied my claims, since I technically had insurance under my father. I got into contact with my case worker, but couldn’t find the office I was given directions to (to drop the bills off) and she never answered her cell phone. I didn’t have a car and that trip downtown was so frustrating, especially knocking on the unmarked door that was supposed to be their office. I wish now that scanning, emailing, and faxing were as easy then for me as they are now. I didn’t have a computer, I didn’t have a smart phone- this as 2007, but I was young, poor and very naive.

Shortly after I received a phone call from a man trying to collect a payment for the hospital. I told him that the adoption agency was supposed to pay anything that the insurance didn’t cover. He thanked me and never called again- I (once again naively) assumed he was researching the matter to insure the bills would be taken care of.  I was being young and irresponsible, and ultimately had absolutely no guidance.

The next time I heard about the bill was 3 years later. I called Adoption By Gentle Care, and they explained it was too late and they were no longer legally bound to pay for the hospital bills. I even contacted the adoptive parents (it was an open adoption) and explained the situation- after all, they have the child, maybe they would help me with the cost of delivering the baby? But the mother told me that they only moved forward with the adoption because I was supposed to be covered by Medicaid.  My insurance company won’t accept claims that are older than one year.

Ethically, it doesn’t seem right that the adoption agency misled me in my insurance choice. It also just seems wrong that even though they aren’t legally bound to assist with bills after one year, they would still allow a teen (who couldn’t afford to give birth to a child and raise him) to be stuck with a $13,000 medical bill.   I had the c-section because I was encouraged BY THEM to set a date to be induced (only 3 days after my due date). This adoption agency encouraged me to do so to allow the adoptive parents to schedule their flight from California in order to be there when the child was born. In case you aren’t familiar with the risks of inducing a birth rather than letting it occur naturally, this means the risk of a c-section increases dramatically.

So 36 hours after being induced, I was told I had no choice but to have an expensive, life-altering surgical cesarean when the induction didn’t work (which is very common, but I did not know this at the time). And I am still paying this medical bill. I understand that much of this had to do with my ignorance and lack of responsibility, but also THEY PROVIDED ME WITH THE WRONG ADVICE THAT HAS LEFT ME IN DEBT EVER SINCE, AND THEY MOST DEFINITELY DID NOT CARE ONE OUNCE FOR ME ONCE THEY MADE THEIR MONEY FROM MY CASE.”

Many others continue to come forward. I urge others to do the same. Father’s too. They can also reach out to Musings of the Lame to tell their stories which can either be published or kept confidential. If only more would reach out, then maybe something could be done.