The Internet is a helpful tool for people in the adoption market. But it's also a haven for swindlers who wrap themselves in the Net's anonymity to defraud desperate couples, experts say. Scores of baby brokers troll discussion boards and chat rooms that focus on adoption. Indeed, the Net has spawned a cottage industry of unlicensed facilitators who are not subject to the strict laws that regulate private or public adoption agencies, said Robert Tuke, president of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys. Some take advantage of the absence of rules to extort their clients.
People looking to adopt are especially vulnerable.
By the time they get to the adopting stage, very often they've spent a lot of money and effort trying to get pregnant on their own and are in a highly emotional state. Couples in the adoption market should be leery of brokers who make themselves untraceable by using 800 phone numbers, a post office box or e-mail address, or who ask them to wire money directly to a bank account. And of course, there's no baby at all. The adoption field is ripe for fraud because the demand for babies is so high. International adoptions are another potential minefield, said Mary Mooney, the founder of the National Association of Ethical Adoption Professionals .