In our most recent Sound Off Louisiana feature, we introduced Mr. Craig Mills, who alleges he is the victim of an adoption scam. In July of 2012, Mills pursued the adoption of his daughter, Morgan (pictured above). Though there were a few glitches (most notably the birth mother demanding $500 cash before signing the paperwork, an overture which Mills did not conform because he knew such payments to be illegal), the adoption was finalized in October of 2013. The biological parents arrived in Louisiana from Oregon. They were homeless and living under a tree behind Cash’s Casino in Port Allen.
In February of 2014, Mills was notified that Morgan’s biological parents were once again expecting a baby, and he was called upon to adopt the baby and thereby keep Morgan and her sibling together. This time the biological parents were residing in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mills and his wife agreed to adopt the baby. In the following video, Mills outlines historical problems within Louisiana’s adoption process and demonstrates how irregularities of 30-40 years ago have only become even more prolific in the present-day Louisiana adoption industry.
Mills provides a historical perspective of Louisiana adoptions and provides insight
on modern-day “incentivization” of pregnant young women from out-of-state to relocate
to Louisiana to give birth to their babies due to Louisiana’s lax adoption statutes.
CLICK HERE for the Washington Post article Mills references.
CLICK HERE for the evidence of the revenue Mills references entailing a
Louisiana nonprofit adoption agency in Louisiana.
Now, recall above that Mills was called upon to adopt Morgan’s sibling. Imagine how heartbroken and sickened he felt to be informed at the last minute, “You lost.” Unbeknownst to Mills, he was in competition with two other prospective adoptive families, and he was even told “the last adoptive family in the process typically gets the child.” Mills’ response (as depicted near the end of the above video): “I didn’t know I was in a competition.”
When Mills and the biological parents of Morgan were connected, the parents were expecting a boy. Mills and his wife had therefore decided to name the young man Clarke. Instead, a beautiful young girl, whom we had the pleasure to meet on Monday, May 22, 2017 (and who welcomed us as a guest in her home and bid us a heartfelt “good bye” as we departed), was born. When Mills was called upon to adopt the biological parents’ second child, they were again told it would be a boy, and the mother said, “Now you’ll have a son whom you can name Clarke.” As depicted on the end of the above video, Mills is dedicated to trying to prevent more episodes similar to his and, in that regard, he has formed The Clarke Mills Project to, as indicated on the Facebook page:
“Help other families in our situation with counseling and education, so they do not wander in the dark alone. Additionally, where warranted, we will provide funding to hold those accountable for their unprofessional or unethical actions. For those lawmakers in Louisiana and for those adoption ‘professionals’ who use Louisiana families as their personal ATMs; we are not going away.”
We look forward to delivering Installment 3 of this fascinating series in coming days.
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