Presents Missing From Under the Christmas Tree

from: americaheldhostage.com

by W. David Jenkins III   December 28, 2002

I want you all to understand that this is not another one of those Jenkins' Bush Hunts. This is not one of my rants or soapbox speeches. I'm doing this because I am a parent of two precious children and the stories I've heard - first hand - from a group of people - unnoticed victims - have stirred something in me and I feel compelled to pass it along. I'm doing this as one parent to another parent, or somebody who cares about other parents and their children.

We've all been very busy with Iraq, terrorism and our disappearing civil rights lately. And with good reason. These topics represent the ongoing threat to the stability of America at the hands of George W. Bush. The problem is that there are far too many other assaults on Americans - and their country - that are taking place under the radar. Matters of the environment, corporate corruption (remember that?) and other miscellaneous "concerns" have received little if any attention.

Now, here's yet another little gem.

Back in September, I did a piece called Repeating Past Mistakes. In that article, I made the remark that child abductions were at their lowest since 1997. This remark prompted a reader to reply with information that altered my perspective and brought to light just how entangled and involved the Bush family is in yet another shady corporate practice. Not that many people have entertained much doubt when it comes to this infamous family, but this particular information made me realize that the Bushes are helping to create hurt and heartbreak in places many of us have never thought to look or - at best - that they are turning a blind eye on the misery experienced by those involved.

If you are a parent - or if you love children - then pay close attention. This one is going to take some time (as you can see by the Part One up there) as this is an ongoing story, which will reach an apex come April 2003. Of course, the media will most likely be preoccupied by then.

The United Nations has maintained a watchful eye over the practice of international child trafficking. But as of May last year the watchful eye became an "investigation," requiring the establishment of an HR 1503 committee after a formal complaint had been entered into the record. This complaint dealt with an adoption in which the mother had been coerced and misled by the court during the hearing of her adoption case.

The information submitted to the United Nations concerning this particular case was enough to cause those involved to want to look into this practice even closer. So the investigative committee (HR 1503) was established in order to receive and make determinations on formal grievances submitted by other victims of alleged adoption abuses. This UN committee was also aided by the efforts of the woman whose daughter had been victimized in the above-mentioned case. This was the woman who contacted me about the article I referred to earlier. Her name is Melinda.

This fight to expose the coercion and other questionable practices in the field of adoption practices, not to mention adoption as big business, by Melinda inadvertently began to unearth the name of a particular center for adoption with ties to somebody we all know. Among others, The Gladney Center for Adoption located in Austin, Texas kept coming up in her search for justice concerning what had happened to her daughter - what had happened to her and her family and what was happening to other families.

What is known about The Gladney Center would also explain why George W. Bush, according to sources, has been less than cooperative in this investigation.

The Gladney Center is also the perfect example of what is wrong with a particular service that should be beneficial for all those involved, especially the children.

The Gladney Center website describes itself with the following:

A Tradition of Trust -- Gladney opened its doors over 100 years ago as one man's mission to find appropriate homes for orphaned children. Today, the Gladney Center for Adoption is an international leader in adoption services, having placed more than 26,000 children in forever homes and helped more than 36,000 birth mothers.

Sounds great, doesn't it? Gladney is a highly revered adoption service which has provided children for adoption to many people for decades. From Hollywood to Washington D.C. and everybody in between Gladney has made sure that people have the children they want. Not only that, but Gladney alumni have served - with honor - a certain Governor Bush of Texas. That's where things become a little "clouded," a little "messy." And I'll touch on that subject a little later.

There is much being done for the bringing together of families, all for the good of the children, but there are many stories screaming to be told which shed light on the fact that the adoption "business" might need some Enron-style exposure. Believe it or not, illegal and coerced child trafficking is a problem right here at home. There were families missing Christmas presents under the tree. There were children missing this Christmas and people need to know why.

Either way, young mothers -- at best young couples -- have decided that they must make heartbreaking choices which could haunt them forever. The range of emotional turmoil that a pregnant mother must deal with, even under the best of circumstances, is something one must experience first hand to truly appreciate. Yet, there are women out there who have had an extra, added "bonus" to their pregnancies - compliments of places like Gladney. They've dealt with threats, harassment, never-ending phone calls and a sense of loss of their own destiny and that of their unborn children because a corporation wanted their babies at any expense.

Adoption is an honorable choice for willing birth parents as it has united families that never might have existed. Unfortunately, however, adoption is big business. Domestic-foster care can cost up to $2,500. Domestic adoption through a private agency can cost anywhere from $4,000 to $30,000. International adoption through private or independent sources can range from $7,000 - $25,000.

Gladney kids start at $45,000 and up. Way up. Look back a few paragraphs and see how many kids have been placed by the Gladney Center alone and do the math.

Gladney, of course, is just one of many who profit from the sale of children. Although there is nothing wrong with making a profit while providing an important and necessary service there is, as we've witnessed many times this last year, a need to monitor the means in which that profit is made. There is also a great need to shed light on those involved in the legal process of adoption and who've been operating in the shadows while other headlines take up air time.

For instance, in a Cleveland, Ohio newspaper there was a story just this week of a lawyer who was owed $2,300 by a young woman. An "arrangement" was made between this young woman and her lawyer, David Hare of Medina, for her debt to be forgiven if Hare were allowed to arrange for the adoption of her twins. The twins were surrendered and then sold to another couple for $50,000 according to court records. Pretty good deal, don't you think? But this is just a hint of the abuses of children being used as source of profit.

There are big bucks just waiting to be paid for "just the right child." And, as we've all seen, with big bucks comes big political influence. And, as we've also seen, with political influence comes questionable practices through these corporations, judges, lawyers, child "advocates" and others. And it is the subject of political influence that keeps bringing me back to The Edna Gladney Center - a staunch financial contributor and lobbyist group to both Jeb and George W. Bush in many ways.

Gladney has lobbied over and over for the shortening of the adoption process and the shortening of time allowed for filing grievances in the case of fraudulent and coerced adoptions. One of those cases led to the March 2001 passage of Florida House bill (HB 141) reducing the window of opportunity for birth fathers to file grievance from two years to one year.

Back in 1996, then-Texas governor George W. Bush established the Governor's Committee to Promote Adoption, a group whose purpose was to increase the "efficiency" in the adoption process. What it really

was a group put together to, again, shorten the time it takes not only to adopt a child but to shorten the time allowed for birth parents to file grievance in the cases of coercion and fraud. One of the people appointed to this Committee was Ruby Lee Piester, a former executive with the Gladney Center.

None of this sounds all that sinister until you take into account the personal testimony of young people who have been harassed and threatened by Gladney and other institutions.

There is the birth father who was threatened with a lawsuit should he and his girlfriend "change their minds." There is the young mother who was lied to concerning access to future information concerning her adopted child. There is the young nurse and Gladney victim who had to move out of her state in response to threats made against her in her quest for advocacy and information.

Then there are the stories of those who were misled by judges, lawyers and state institutions while they fought to hang onto their children. Then there are the conditions of something I thought had died out with the 1950's and 60's. A neat little thing called "birthing institutions." They are still out there and they are big business and there are stories waiting to be told. I will do my best to help to tell them over the next few months until April - when the United Nations report is due out.

From the Missouri Department of Social Services to Florida to Texas to international child trafficking to Gladney Center and others, there are stories out there of parents who've been victimized by yet another corrupt profit-driven system.

These are subjects that demand our attention. These are inquiries which demand the kind of cooperation Canada has provided but inquiries into which the United States continues to drag its feet.

George W. Bush promised to "leave no child behind." He needs to keep that promise in light of the information being presented to the U.N. but many are not hopeful. At this time a large number of formal complaints have been submitted to the HR 1503 committee concerning the Gladney Center alone. Unfortunately, after corporate corruption like Enron (those with close ties to the Bush Family), Bush has displayed a reluctance to cooperate with certain kinds of investigations. As a parent, I and others, find this completely unacceptable. And so will you.

We need to remember that there are more catastrophes taking place today than just al-Qaeda terrorism and what Saddam "

have" which Bush uses to wage wars to distract us from the "little horrors" taking place right now. We have children being stolen and parents being threatened in order to obtain the monetary value their kids represent to large adoption corporations. We have young mothers being coerced and lied to in courts of law in order to obtain their children. We have lawyers using children as a kind of "barter system" in order to satisfy unpaid bills.

This kind of practice demands our attention and those of Mr. "Compassionate Conservatism." No excuses.