Orlando Adoption Agency Under Investigation Following Complaints

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Department of Children and Families is investigating a local adoption agency that may have been operating without a license. One woman said she paid thousands of dollars to adopt, but never received a child.

The agency said it now has a license but, at one time it, operated without a license because, it said, international adoption agencies do not need to be regulated by the state. DCF said it's not so sure about that.

Barbara Gillis said, for months, she wanted to have a baby, but after a miscarriage and several procedures, she almost gave up hope.

Gillis then contacted Homecoming Adoptions, an international adoption agency out of Orlando. She started the process almost two years ago and wanted to adopt a boy and a girl form either Russia or the Ukraine, but kept on being put off.

"It's been $40,000 later and we still don't have a travel date and any children. Every time I'm given a date, it changes and changes, and so I have real concerns [and] I don't believe this is going to happen," Gillis said.

Gillis said the agency told her she would get the children in six to nine months, but it didn't happen. The agency told Channel 9 that procedures in foreign countries are constantly changing and that's what is causing the delay.

Channel 9 has learned, earlier this year, someone filed a complaint against the agency with the Better Business Bureau. The complaint also said the child could not be delivered.

Gillis says the agency has promised the children will come, but she says she's tired of empty promises. She plans to terminate her contract and wants to start the process again somewhere else.

Homecoming Adoptions says it will try to reimburse Gillis with whatever funds it can. The agency says there have been many successful adoptions, however Gillis just needed to be more patient.