Following up on adoption scam, 'Good Morning America' will chronicle FdL family's trip to Western Somoa

Following up on adoption scam, 'Good Morning America' will chronicle FdL family's trip to Western Somoa

Frequent flyer miles donated so adopted girl can see her biological family

BY SHARON ROZNIK • The Reporter • March

An Appleton woman’s donation of frequent flyer miles will reunite a Fond du Lac girl with her biological family.

The story of 8-year-old Jayden, daughter of Patti Sawyer, will be followed by a crew from “Good Morning America” when she returns to her homeland of Western Samoa this summer for the first time after leaving in February 2005.

“I was just floored,” Sawyer said. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think this would happen.”

The offer from the anonymous donor came after the Sawyer family’s story involving an adoption scam appeared recently on the national morning show. It was also featured on The Reporter’s March 2 front page.

Jayden was among 37 Samoan children who were placed with adoptive families in the U.S. by an international agency, Focus on Children. The agency told Samoan families that their children would be educated in America, correspond through e-mails and phones calls, return home for visits, and come home for good when they reached age 18.

Patti Sawyer and the other adoptive parents were unaware of the agency’s deception. The Fond du Lac teacher was alerted to the situation about a year after the adoption by government officials from three federal agencies, she said.
“I knew it was really serious when I got the call,’ sawyer recalled.

Last month, resolution came when a federal judge in Salt Lake City, Utah convicted 4 persons involved with the adoption agency, Focus on Children, and the Samoan government deemed the adoptions legal.

The judge also ruled that the convicted set up a trust fund to help the Samoan children keep in touch with their birth families.

Sawyer said she is the only parent she knows of, so far, who has chosen to bring both families together. Some, she said, believed they were entering into a closed adoption. Others fear losing their children. One father has returned his adopted daughter to her biological family.

“I wanted to travel to Samoa so Jayden can visit with her family, and we could expand ours. I think of this as a fantastic opportunity to connect two families who live across the world,” she said.

Sawyer was unable to afford the travel fare until the Appleton woman offered frequent flyer miles she had earned on her credit card. She also told Sawyer she would pay for expenses and counseling for Jayden.

“She is an adopted child herself, and I asked her to come along, so she could see the good she was doing. She agreed to the trip the second time we visit Samoa,” Sawyer said.

Sawyer said she was contacted by representatives from both GMA and ABC’s Nightline.

“They will be flying to Samoa with us and documenting the reuniting of Jayden with her biological family,” she confirmed.

The Sawyer family of Fond du Lac, from left, Cameron, 16; Patti; Jayden, 8; and Mallory, 16. (The Reporter photo by Justin Connaher)

http://www.fdlreporter.com/article/20090305/FON0101/90305071&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL