In October of 1999, I met two people who went by the presumed names
of Julie and Bill. I met them at a local restaurant. After talking for
about 2 hours, I decided I would like them to adopt my son who was due
in March. After telling them this, they became extremely nice.
I invited them to be part of all my doctor’s appointments that they
did come to. They said call their cell phone, day or night if I needed
them. So I did.
On
March 4 of 2000 I went into labour with my son. After about 3
hours of hard labor, the baby I named Benjamin Robert Siegel (presumably
now renamed Nicholas Glen). They were both present for the delivery
and came by a few times when I was in the hospital. While I was in the
hospital they promised I could see my son whenever and I could call
their cell phone whenever I wanted. They even gave me a letter that
says,"This is not the end of our relationship, it’s just the beginning."
On
March 6 (Monday) at about 8pm, I turned my precious son over to these
people. Again they promised they would keep in touch. They gave me a
post office box number and I already had their cell phone number. They
kept their end of the bargain for about 3 months. I requested that they
send letters a little less frequently being that it was hard on me.
So they did. But then when I was feeling better, I asked they send me
more. Well they didn't, they closed their post office box and shut off
their cell phone and cut all ties.
When
the baby was about 3 months old. I fought with the adoption agency for
3 months till he was 6 months old for the visitation I was promised.
Finally the agency had Julie contact me. We agreed to meet at a local
diner in Oak Park. We met for about 30 minutes, where both Julie
and Bill were very agitated and very jumpy. It was easy to see they
did not want to be there. After that meeting they wouldn't keep in touch
again! So again I fought with the agency. Finally they agreed
to send a picture a month and sometimes they even did. On Christmas,
I bought the baby and his adopted sister some gifts only to find out
the new post office box they claimed to have opened wasn't theirs -
it wasn't anyones! It was in the name of a lady named Mary Bobeck who
had closed the box 9 months before. So who are Julie and Bill?
Are those even their real names? I’m not sure. But the scary part is
that this is becoming a wide spread problem and it needs to be stopped.
So
what can I do now? Fight with the agency again? Fight with the
agency all the rest of my life? The answer is no! It’s time the public
had a chance to see this. We must open the public’s eyes to the cold
hard truth of adoption: the pros, the cons, and everything that
can happen if you’re not made aware of your rights. Too many people
will take advantage of a young naive girl in a bad situation, and it
has to stop! Please help me on my crusade to end this nightmare.
(Another
instance of an open adoption closing. Another instance where it
was probably NEVER the adopter's intention that the adoption would
remain open. If you can help Beckie in ANY way to regain access
to see her son, please contact her at tricocigirl519@aol.com
)
