babble » blogs » Strollerderby
Strollerderby
Man Charged in Adoption “Ponzi Scheme”
There’s a special place in Hell for people who take advantage of anyone in the adoption triad — the parents desperate for a child to raise and love, the birth parents who are making the most difficult decision of their lives, and of course the child who didn’t ask to be part of any of this.
And by that measure, Kevin Cohen of Roslyn, NY is a very very bad man (if he did what he’s accused of). Which is:
An attoney, he allegedly presented himself to prospective adoptive parents as an adoption facilitator, and bilked them out of thousands of dollars by telling them he knew of someone who was interested in placing a baby for adoption and he needed money to set up the connection and (sometimes) pay money for the birth mother’s medical expenses.
Typical adoption expenses run about $30,000, but Cohen was demanding upwards of $65,000 from some parents. Of course. there was no baby, in any of the cases. Police believe Cohen was running a Ponzi-like scheme, paying back the first couples he scammed with proceeds from later ones.
Okay, I understand, it’s easy to judge these people — why were they spending all this money when there are thousand of waiting children in the foster system? But no one judges people who give birth to their children for wanting a healthy baby — why, then should people who build their families by adoption be expected to accept something different? When my husband and I were starting the adoption process, I saw a stat that for every healthy white baby placed for adoption, there are ten families waiting, while for every healthy nonwhite baby, there are three. Those are pretty crappy odds, and I absolutely understand the overwhelming desire for a baby that causes people to make sometimes a less than ideal decision to go with someone who’s doing God knows what than a reputable, ethical agency.
I guess the takeaway here is to maintain a healthy sense of skepticism, and not believe anyone who says “I can get you a baby for X dollars.” Because even if they aren’t a scam artist, it’s likely anyone whose first conversation starts with the price tag is not operating all that ethically on the birth parent side either.
Go Back To Strollerderby
0 Comments
Stephanie commented on Oct 05 09 at 4:43 pmAs an adoptive parent of a child from the foster care system, I’m slightly bothered by the statement:
Okay, I understand, it’s easy to judge these people — why were they spending all this money when there are thousand of waiting children in the foster system? But no one judges people who give birth to their children for wanting a healthy baby — why, then should people who build their families by adoption be expected to accept something different?
Since when are foster children “unhealthy” children? Not every child in foster care has major health or behavioral issues. And adopting internationally provides fewer safeguards and access to health information on birth parents than adopting domestically through the foster system.
Just wanted to point that out…
Unique Baby Clohes commented on Oct 05 09 at 7:41 pmComments I have never understood why it costs so much to adopt a child. I understand there is some costs involved but when you are doing something that will benefit a child I don’t think you should be looking at making huge profits.
jenny tries too hard commented on Oct 05 09 at 9:36 pmWho was it that said
“First, let’s kill all the lawyers…”
Amy Kuras commented on Oct 06 09 at 9:43 amStephanie, thanks for your comment. I was just trying to head off the Parenting Police who loooovvveee to judge anyone who adopts in any way other than what they find acceptable, and didn’t think about how that could sound to parents who did adopt a foster child. Frequently, if you’re adopting domestically or internationally, you get comments like “but there are so many kids here who need homes, adopt them” from people who would never, ever do the same.
Rosana commented on Oct 06 09 at 10:12 amAmy, I agree with Unique Baby. Why is it so expensive to adopt a kid from wherever system you are looking at. I will adopt a kid in the future but, with the awesome health insurance I have, it is cheaper for me to have my own kids.
Add your take:
Note: Babble is a supportive, diverse community. We encourage a range of opinions,
but any unduly hostile comments will be removed.
Comments are delayed up to 15 minutes
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Wendy Michaels 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
0