Marblehead adoption agency faces lawsuit

By Britt Braudo

MARBLEHEAD - An Arlington couple is suing a Marblehead adoption agency in Essex Superior Court, alleging the agency lied about its accreditation and asked for thousands of dollars to assist in adopting a child from eastern Europe.

Antonio and Antoinette Carchedi first contacted the American International Children's Alliance, operated by Kimberly Menard and Dragos Vranceanu of 3 Captain Walk's Lane, Marblehead, in 2002. The pair initially told the Carchedis they had an "established network" set up in Romania and had placed 80 to 100 children with families every year, but in 2004 the Carchedis were told an adoption from Romania was not possible and suggested they try adopting from Bulgaria instead.

In 2005, they suggested adopting from Russia and told the Carchedis the agency had a relationship with a Russian placement organization with a "model program" for placing children. The next year, the Carchedis made payments to AICA totaling $24,100 and paid $3,900 for airfare to Perm, Russia after AICA told the couple they had to meet with Russian officials.

Upon arrival in Perm, the Carchedis discovered the agency had no contacts in Russia and after returning home they were unable to adopt a 2-year-old boy they had met during their trip because "AICA was not accredited or legally allowed to operate in Russia," contrary to the agency's claims. Menard and Vranceanu then cut off all contact with the Carchedis.

The suit includes remitted payments to AICA, airfare, travel expenses and documentation fees all incurred in the couple's efforts to adopt a child, totaling $33,000. The suit was filed on Tuesday and the Carchedis are requesting a jury trial.