(Readers unfamiliar with my previous coverage on this story will want to start by clicking on my Andrea Curry-Demus tag and reading from the bottom up in order read along chronologically, oldest to newest.)

Andrea Curry-Demus is a womyn with a history of attempting to abduct other womyn’s children, one of her prior attempts she resorted to stabbing the child’s mother. She pled guilty (roughly) 17 years ago to aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. She was sentenced to 10 years’ probation.

Below are a few more resources to help understand this breaking story.

Start by checking out the video on the upper right hand side here on KDKA’s page, Police Find Body In Pa. Apartment After ‘Baby Buy’ Particularly these three pieces (search the video library if they are not readily found by the player):

Body Found in Baby Suspect’s Apartment, July 18th, ’08, 6:39pm EST

Medical Examiner Removes Body from Wilkinsburg Apt, July 18th, ’08, 10:11 pm EST

Two Families Await ID of Body Found in Wilkinsburg, July 18th, ’08, 10:14 pm EST

There are many new details in these pieces, the body found was that of a womyn, it was in an ‘advanced state of decomposition’ (suggesting she had died earlier in the week), an autopsy is scheduled for the body Saturday, etc.

Via ThePittsburghChannel.Com’s Wilkinsburg Woman Bought Newborn For $1,000 posted in the early hours of the 18th (12:12 a.m) we find a better photograph of Andrea:

We also learn of the anguish of two families waiting to learn whether or not the body of the womyn found dead in Curry-Demus’s apartment is their family member or not. See 2 Families Await ID Of Woman Found In Apartment (KDKA Jul 18, 2008 10:57 pm) (also see the video segment above):

As news spread about the case, two families who have not been in contact with their loved ones are worried.

“I’m her son’s grandmother – biological grandmother and I’ve been raising him since he was two years old and it’s just hard,” Lavenia Catunis said. “Her name is Tina Carter.”

Catunis says she’s praying. Her relative has 14 children and was pregnant with her 15th child.

“It’s very hard because I have no idea if it’s her yet. I have a grandson that I have to go home and tell this to,” Catunis said. “I don’t know what happened, I don’t know anything. I’m just really – just want it over.”

Lekieshia Banks hopes her cousin is safe.

“I just hope it ain’t her,” she said. “I just got to pray that it’s not her. I mean I’m sorry for the family that it is but my cousin’s name is Kia Johnson.”

Banks says her cousin, who was nine months pregnant, has been missing since Tuesday and has not contacted anyone.

The woman’s identity has not been released.

And finally we come to an AP article posted later in the evening on Friday (July 18th, ’08), Cops: Body at home of woman who claimed baby buy. Apparently the ‘other apartment’ police had searched Thursday was in the same building (the video above also confirms this):

Police visited the building Thursday night but did not go into that apartment, Coleman said. Instead, a relative of Curry-Demus led them to another apartment, she said.

Andrea Curr-Demus is described as having “a history of emotional problems”:

Earlier Friday, police said they were concerned that the infant’s real mother — described as a thin, black female in her 20s or 30s named Tina — might be in danger, or need medical attention.

The description was provided by Curry-Demus but authorities aren’t sure how reliable it is because she “has a history of emotional problems,” Coleman said earlier Friday.

Homicide detectives are now the authorities in charge of the investigation:

Allegheny County homicide detectives have taken over the investigation, but Allegheny County Police Assistant Superintendent James Morton declined to comment at the scene Friday night.

(The below are background additional readings in support of the post I put out earlier this evening, Andrea Curry-Demus: The raw face of baby desperation/obesession if readers have not already seen that piece, go there first.)

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In this piece, Body Found In Apartment Belonging To Woman Who Said She Bought Baby/Police: Woman Confessed To Buying Newborn For $1,000 (WPXI.com with contributions from the AP, originally published July 17th, revised July 18th, ’08) we learn that Andrea Curry-Demus apparently put herself forward as pregnant, going so far as to have a baby shower with the neighbors:

Neighbors of Curry-Demus thought she was pregnant and some even attended a baby shower for her. “Everybody’s wondering where are all the gifts everybody bought her,” said a neighbor who did not want to be identified.

While this COULD line up with her tale of having a miscarriage a month ago and then arranging to ‘buy “Tina’s” baby upon birth’ (which clearly is not what happened) to cover for her lack of her own ‘pregnancy’ (?), I urge readers to remain cautious. Currently we have no evidence Andrea was pregnant at any point in the last year, and at this point we have so many different stories from Andrea it’s going to take some time to sort it all out. We do know (from a story listed below) that even after the supposed ‘miscarriage’ ‘a month ago’, she continued to present herself as pregnant to neighbors etc.

We also learn that the child was apparently born last Wednesday.

Police said the child in the latest case was born on July 16.

Police said the baby is doing fine.

Finally, we find Curry-Demus was arraigned this morning (before the body was found):

Curry-Demus is charged with endangering the welfare of a child. She was arraigned Friday and jailed until she posts $10,000 bond and undergoes a psychiatric exam.

This piece, Police: Woman Allegedly Bought Newborn Baby (KDKA.com July 18th, ’08), is a good citation for Curry-Demus having claimed initially to have given birth herself:

Andrea Curry-Demus, 38, allegedly told police she purchased a newborn baby boy from a woman.

The bizarre story began when paramedics took Demus to West Penn Hospital from a home in Wilkinsburg.

She claimed to have just given birth to the baby. The umbilical cord was still attached. The doctors were suspicious and tests showed she was not the mother.

According to this bit, she was known as “Andrea Curry” back around the time of her earlier ‘baby frenzy’ incidents, and the name change may have been part of why it took police time to understand her past history:

KDKA has learned that Demus made news 18 years ago when she was accused of abducting a baby from Children’s Hospital.

That same year, when she was known only as Curry, was also charged with stabbing a woman in an alleged plot to steal a newborn baby from a home in Wilkinsburg.

also

The baby remains at West Penn Hospital and is in good shape.

In this Pittsburgh Tribune-Review article, Woman tells police she paid $1,000 for newborn (July 18th, ’08) that claim of Curry-Demus having given birth herself is expanded to an alleged premature birth. We also learn the call to the paramedics took place Wednesday evening:

The woman called paramedics at 10:45 p.m. Wednesday and told hospital personnel that she gave birth prematurely and needed help. She and the baby were transported to West Penn.

Doctors became suspicious because the woman didn’t appear to have just given birth, and the baby looked full-term. They examined the woman and baby in the emergency room and called authorities.

Blood and hormone tests determined the woman is not the baby’s mother, police said.

“That child does not belong to her,” said city police Cmdr. Thomas Stangrecki. “We don’t know where she got the baby, whether someone gave it to her or how she came to have that child with her. But she didn’t give birth.”

Curry-Demus, wearing a striped green dress, was led from the Wilkinsburg police station last night in handcuffs for arraignment.

“I didn’t do nothin’,” she said in response to reporters’ questions.

The article then elaborates on her alleged baby buying arrangement, and Curry-Demus’ claim that “Tina” arrived at her apartment with a newborn wrapped in a towel :

She said she gave Tina $500 to purchase the infant and gave her some clothes and other personal items over the past few days. She gave Tina another $500 sometime in July to purchase the baby.

She said Tina arrived at her door on Wednesday, carrying the newborn wrapped in a towel.

Curry-Demus said Tina gave her the infant and left. She said she called paramedics because the child needed medical attention for the umbilical cord.

State court records show that Curry-Demus, then known as Andrea Nichole Curry, pleaded guilty in 1991 to aggravated assault and reckless endangerment and was sentenced to 10 years’ probation.

In this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article, Police investigating discovery of body in Wilkinsburg originally published earlier this afternoon, before the body was found in the apartment, we gain a few other details, first the police had put out a description of “Tina” as they were still searching for her:

“We’re looking for the young lady that gave birth,” said Chief Coleman. “What we need is anybody who has seen, heard or knows this young lady to contact us immediately” at 412-244-2913. The woman’s name is “Tina” according to Ms. Curry-Demus, and she is described as a black woman in her 20s, about 5 feet 3 inches. “She is, we feel, in danger, because she needs medical help,” said Chief Coleman, adding that information from Ms. Curry-Demus is “very sketchy,” and doesn’t include the woman’s last name or where she lives.

We also find the other apartment that police searched earlier was also on Ella Street:

Chief Coleman said officers had earlier checked an apartment on Ella Street, but it may not have been Ms. Curry-Demus’. They found nothing there, she said.

This KDKA.com piece Neighbors Stunned By Allegations In Baby Case (filed at 4:50pm, today, July 18th,’08) gives us a picture of Andrea:

The article itself provides many new details. First we learn that Andrea’s mother’s house is apparently “just a short distance from her own.” (IF this is the ‘other apartment’ on Ella Street, this then could be the home Andrea’s sister misdirected the police to.)

Again mention of the spectacle of all the trappings of a baby shower, and preparations for a baby boy at the home, (how she knew the sex of “Tina’s” baby remains a question, it suggests previous knowledge of “Tina” and her likely haven gotten some medical diagnostics at some point in the pregnancy):

On the front porch of Andrea Curry-Demus’s mother’s home just a short distance from her own, baby shower decorations remain today heralding the expectation of a baby boy to come.

One stunned neighbor says, “Everybody in her community came to her baby shower, with gifts and stuff, we really thought she was pregnant, she was even showing., her stomach was big I thought she was really having a baby.”

That was about a month ago, around the same time Curry-Demus told police last night after her arrest that she had a miscarriage which she knew would be devastating to her mother. “She didn’t want to tell her initially,” says Detective Rich Grande of the Wilkinsburg Police. “That could be a motive behind this whole thing.”

Curry-Demus apparently has created multiple versions of a birth mythos, first claiming that she (Andrea) had given birth (supposedly prematurely) and then later, contradicting herself, claiming she had had a miscarriage and arranged payment to “Tina” who upon giving birth then according to Andrea showed up at her apartment with the child (wrapped in a towel.) Clearly with the discovery of the body at Andrea’s apartment, something else perhaps with or without some aspects of these stories woven in happened:

Curry-Demus told police last night she sought out another pregnant woman and made a $1,000-deal to buy the baby when it was born. Detective Grande says the money was paid in advance. When the baby was born on Wednesday, Curry-Demus told police the birth mother delivered the boy to her apartment on Ella Street with its umbilical chord still attached.

After the determination is made at the hospital that Curry-Demus was not the biological mother, the police learned that she had a previous history under the name “Andrea Curry”:

When she was confronted police say Curry-Demus spelled out the baby buying scheme but could not identify the birth mother beyond the name “Tina.”

It was only then police learned that in 1990 when she was still Andrea Curry she pleaded guilty to stabbing a woman in a failed attempt to seal her infant. The next day she was accused of abducting a new born from Childrens Hospital. She was sentenced to 10 years probation on the assault charge.

She was being held (as of this afternoon) in the Allegheny County Jail:

Andrea Curry-Demus is in the Allegheny County Jail being held on $10,000 cash bond and awaiting a mental health evaluation.

The news of the (Mother’s?) body being found by police broke this evening in the six (pm) o’clock hour. (See Cops: Body at home of woman who claimed baby buy AP, July 18th, ’08, posted at 6:47)

In today’s news, Pa. woman claims she bought baby; Real mom sought, AP July 18th, ’08, we see the ugly face of the lengths some womyn will go to, to get a hold of a kid:

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Police searched Friday for the mother of a newborn brought into a hospital by a woman they say first claimed she had given birth, then said she had paid $1,000 for the child. Authorities are concerned that the infant’s mother might be in danger or need medical attention.

Andrea Curry-Demus, who said she bought the baby after befriending the pregnant woman, has been charged with child endangerment. In 1991 she pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and received 10 years’ probation after stabbing a woman in a suspected plot to steal the woman’s infant.

“I’m sure there is concern that there could be an injured woman somewhere or if there’s a woman seeking treatment for her follow-up care after giving birth,” Pittsburgh police Cmdr. Thomas Stangrecki said Friday.

Be sure to see the rest of the article for more.

In this following piece we learn that Andrea Curry-Demus showed up at the hospital with the baby on Wednesday. Police searched an apartment that was passed off as hers by her sister on Thursday night. Today, (Friday) reporters called 911 “after smelling a foul odor coming from her apartment and seeing hundreds of flies buzzing behind the windows. ” At some point after the call, Police arrived at the correct apartment and found a body:

Body found in Wilkinsburg home of baby snatcher Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, July 18th, ’08

Authorities found a body inside the Wilkinsburg apartment of a woman who showed up at a Pittsburgh hospital this week with a newborn baby that isn’t hers.

Allegheny County police homicide detectives are at the Wilkinsburg home of Andrea Curry-Demus, 38, who was arrested after trying to pass the baby boy off as her own at West Penn Hospital in Bloomfield on Wednesday.

Police Chief Ophelia “Cookie” Coleman said authorities found a body face-down in a third-floor bedroom with hands duct-taped behind its back.

Wilkinsburg police claimed they had searched the Ella Street apartment Thursday night but reporters called 911 this afternoon after smelling a foul odor coming from the apartment and seeing hundreds of flies buzzing behind the windows.

Coleman said police were misled by Curry-Demus’ sister, who showed them the wrong apartment, which they searched earlier.

How the police were apparently unable to figure out Curry-Demus’ correct address while the media certainly could remains an unanswered question.

The police had apparently become increasingly concerned for the womyn who gave birth to the child (who arrived at the hospital with the umbilical cord still attached) over the course of the intervening days:

Wilkinsburg police had put out a bulletin asking law enforcement and hospitals in a 30-mile radius to keep an eye out for a woman who just gave birth and might be going by the name of “Tina.”

Coleman said concern for the infant’s mother intensified after investigators learned about Curry’s criminal history.

“After this woman’s past came to our attention we become very worried,” Coleman said.

Curry-Demus pleaded guilty in 1990 to aggravated assault after stabbing a Wilkinsburg woman in what authorities said was a plot to steal her infant.

The day after the stabbing, Curry-Demus abducted an infant from her room at Children’s Hospital. The baby was uninjured when police found her at Curry’s home the next day.

The story goes on to detail other charges Curry Demus had faced in the years between her initial attempt at baby taking (back in 1990) and this one:

Curry-Demus also pleaded guilty to retail theft charges in 2004 and 2006, according to court records.

Also see:

Mom Wannabes Who’ll Stop at Nothing ABC News, July 18th, ’08

This was one of a string of similar incidents that mental health experts say shed light on the rare phenomenon of females with a pathological desire to obtain a baby at any cost.

and

And this isn’t the first time she’s been tied to such a crime. She was charged 18 years ago in a plot to steal another woman’s infant, police told the AP.

Curry-Demus pleaded guilty in 1991 to aggravated assault after stabbing a Wilkinsburg woman in an alleged plot to steal the woman’s infant. Curry-Demus, then known as Andrea Curry, was sentenced to 10 years’ probation.

Judith Leekin, photo by Port St. Lucie (FL) Police Department

*

I’ve tried to write this. All week I’ve tried to write this.

Leekin has been the monster under the bed rattling around all week, and while I’ve somehow found the words to go ahead and write about Dmitry, when it comes to Leekin, I’m just off the edge of language.

I’ve gone through several drafts of trying to write about Leekin’s sentencing in New York. I can’t find the words to begin to express my two sided coin of despair and fury.

For now, I’ll just pass along several days worth of a few links, please, take the time to read at least some of them (I’d recommend the three NYT pieces for those of you who don’t have the time to delve deeper.)

I will be following her sentencing in FL closely as well.

I’ve only pulled to bits out of the one NYT article below, pertaining to the current status of Leekin’s one time adopted children.

Lawyers: Severely punish NY woman who abused kids, AP, July 14th, ’08

Judge Hints at Harsh Sentence in Adoption Fraud Case, New York Times, July 15th, ’08

Adoptive mom gets 11 years for fraud, awaits abuse hearing, Palm Beach Post, July 15th, ’08

Woman gets nearly 11 years for NY adoption fraud, AP July 15th, ’08

10-Year Sentence in Scheme to Bilk Adoption System, New York Times, July 16th, 08

A severely handicapped boy disappeared from Ms. Leekin’s home in 2000, prosecutors have written to the judge, and the authorities have not been able to determine where he was taken, or find “any other clues about whether he is still alive.”

After court, Ms. Leekin’s lawyer, Diamond R. Litty, declined to comment when asked about the missing child.

and

As for the children, most of whom are now young adults, their futures are uncertain, Howard M. Talenfeld, a lawyer for the children, said in an interview after the hearing.

Some have shown a remarkable resilience, he said. “You’d be amazed,” he said, adding, “They still have an uphill battle.”

But for the ones who are highly disabled, he said: “Unfortunately, they’re in custodial care, in group homes. One is blind. And it’s one of the saddest, most pathetic things I’ve ever seen.”

Judith Leekin gets almost 11 years on New York child neglect charges TC Palm, July 16th, 08

All of which has led to a much broader investigation of adoption subsidies being misused as Leekin’s case was far from the only adoption related money grab scam taking place. Leekin is but one particular node of a broader system of adoption fraud;

Officials Accused of Taking Agency Money in Fake Adoptions New York Times, July 17th, 08

Undoubtedly, there will be more details forthcoming.

The verdict in the Miles Harrison trial has been handed down since this article was originally written. Please see my later post entitled No, no justice for Dmitry for more up to date information concerning the verdict. The article below appears as it was originally posted.

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Перевести на русский

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(For new readers, please see my earlier two pieces; *Updated* The death of Dmitry Yakolev/Chase Harrison and the Russian announcement; 2 agencies accreditations pulled & a 3rd under investigation and Dmitry (Dima) Yakolev/Chase Harrison and the 3 agencies; new details emerge to get up to speed.)

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Update- This is one of a series of posts about Dmitry’s death. Please follow my Dmitry Yakolev tag to read more.

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Thanks to the ongoing research on Dmitry’s case over at Pound Pup Legacy, by way of this small article, Adoption agencies shut after Russian child dies in U.S., (from back on the 12th,) we finally find an image of Dmitry:

The image appears to have been first published in this article, Russia bans three adoption agencies following baby’s death in the U.S. on the 11th.

By way of news articles update, the Baltimore Examiner, published this piece yesterday, U.S.-Russian tensions rise over infant’s death, about how Dmitry’s death has fanned the flames of the already tense U.S./Russian ongoing adoption situation:

But Chase’s death has spread concern among Russian officials that Americans aren’t regulating and keeping tabs on the parents who adopt children from Russia.

The article then goes on to repeat the claim that European Adoption Consultants has been banned.

The earlier Moscow times article, originally published on the 15th, says EAC has not been banned, but are being investigated by the Russian Education and Science Ministry.

The actual current status of EAC continues to be unclear in light of conflicting news reports and no statement (that I’ve come across anyway) mentioning the current status from EAC, the U.S. State Department, nor Russian Authorities.

To date the one statement I’ve come across, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement, deals only with the investigation into Dmitry’s death, not the banning of Cradle of Hope Adoption Center and Family and Children’s Agency, nor of an investigation into EAC.

I will continue to try to find a clarification of the Russian position on EAC.

The article goes on to state:

Russian officials claim the adoption agency didn’t alert the government within the legally required time of Chase’s death.

As a result, Russian officials said, European Adoption Consultants Inc. and two other unnamed companies have been banned from Russia.

A spokesman for EAC declined to comment Tuesday, saying that the company is still trying to figure out what action the Russians have taken.

and

Calls to the U.S. State Department were not returned.

The United States and Russia already have a dicey past over adoption. In 2006 a Manassas woman was convicted of beating her Russian-born adopted daughter to death.

By way of blog updates, Bastardette brings us Damage Control: Dmitry Yakolev/Chase Harrison which points readers across European Adoption Consultants current brief front webpage statement about Dmitry’s death:

To our EAC Families and Friends

It is with deep regret that we acknowledge the unfortunate loss of one of our own. Chase (Dmitry) Harrison, adopted from Russia 03/2008, died on July 8th. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family in this time of sorrow.

We are currently assessing the situation and continuing to work with the Russian Federation on this matter.

As additional information becomes available we will keep you apprised.

I find this a rather stunning statement in light of the circumstances.

It makes no mention of how Dmitry died, nor that his death apparently occurred as a result of actions taken by his foster father, Miles H. Harrison, (I’m still looking for confirmation, but it appears the adoption itself was still been in process.) His foster father is currently facing charges of manslaughter for his role in Dmitry’s death.

The EAC statement makes it appear Dmitry simply up and died, when it’s relatively clear (we are still awaiting final autopsy results), that Dmitry died as a result of the actions of a man who had apparently gone through EAC’s approval process to adopt him. This is not merely a case of Dmitry being one of EAC’s “own”, Miles Harrison was also apparently one of EAC’s own.

The statement also says nothing about, nor even acknowledges that there may be an investigation into EAC for having apparently broken Russian law requiring Russian authorities be notified of Dmitry’s death in a timely fashion. (News of his death reached Russian authorities days after the fact. The officials at the Russian Embassy learned via the media.)

Nor is there any mention of EAC’s current status in regard to whether or not they are still accredited to do Russian adoptions.

Bastardette, in her comment thread on the same piece also points readers at a 2008 “Business Spotlight” profile piece of Margaret Cole’s European Adoption Consultants in the Bay Village Ohio Community Advocate entitled Uniting Orphaned Children with Loving Parents:

European Adoption Consultants, Inc. is presently one of the largest international adoption agencies in the world, and the top agency in Russia and Guatemala.

As I pointed out earlier, Dmitry is not the only Russian adoptee European Adoption Consultants has placed who has died due to the actions of their American adopters.

Logan Higgenbotham had also been placed by EAC and killed by her adoptive mother, Laura Higgenbotham in Vermont in 1988. (She pled no contest to a charge of involuntary manslaughter and received a 1 year prison sentence after having intentionally slammed 3 year old Logan’s head into a wall.)

Marley’s/Bastardette‘s “Memoriam to Russian Adoptees Murdered by their Forever Families,” NIKTO NE ZABYT — NICHTO NE ZABYTO, (Nobody is forgotten. Nothing is forgotten.) contains further information about Dmitry and Logan.

The verdict in the Miles Harrison trial has been handed down since this article was originally written. Please see my later post entitled No, no justice for Dmitry for more up to date information concerning the verdict. The article below appears as it was originally posted.

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Перевести на русский

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This is one of a series of posts about Dmitry’s death. Please follow my Dmitry Yakolev tag to read more.

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If readers have not read my previous article, now renamed “*Updated* The death of Dmitry Yakolev/Chase Harrison and the Russian announcement; 2 agencies accredations pulled, & a 3rd under investigation” (including the important update at the bottom) you will want to begin there.

The post below is a round up of new details that are emerging. The quick summary:

* the names of the other two agencies (the two who have been banned,) the third, European Adoption Consultants are currently under investigation,

* Dmitry was relinquished immediately after being born, by his Mother who had herself been raised in an orphanage,

* apparently a Russian couple considered taking him in at one point as well,

* Dmitry’s adoptive father, Miles Harrison apparently suffered a heart attack and was thereafter transferred to a private mental hospital,

* apparently the Harrisons “signed a statement prohibiting child abuse” in the course of the adoption,

* and the ‘bombshell’, apparently the Russian authorities found out about Dmity’s death several days after the fact. The Russian Embassy learned of the death from the media. (Under Russian law, Russian authorities were required to be notified by the agency who placed him, European Adoption Consultants.)

—

As I updated to the bottom of my previous post, the English language Moscow Times put out a story yesterday that contradicted the original claim (made in sources such as RPCNews, Gazetta, and the State-run RIA-Novosti) that there were three agencies banned.

We now learn that two agencies, the Cradle of Hope Adoption Center and Family and Children’s Agency have been banned (had their accreditations withdrawn) due to violations of Russian law and that a third, European Adoption Consultants, the agency involved in Dmitry Yakolev’s (Chase Harrison’s) placement is currently under investigation.

The Education and Science Ministry said it had withdrawn the accreditation of the two agencies — the Cradle of Hope Adoption Center and Family and Children’s Agency — after inspections found that they had violated the law.

The ministry supplied a list of the purported violations, which primarily focused on failures to keep the ministry informed about the well-being of adopted children.

“For the first three years, they should inform the Russian education ministry about the situation regularly,” ministry spokesman Andrei Nedrov said.

He said the ministry was considering toughening the conditions for agencies seeking to reapply for licenses after being barred.

Officials at the two U.S. agencies declined comment. The agencies were among 33 licensed to operate in Russia.

State-run RIA-Novosti and other media outlets have linked the ban to the death of Dmitry Yakolev, a 21-month-old boy who died last Tuesday after his adoptive father left him in a hot car in Virginia. But Vladimir Kabanov, head of the education ministry’s adoption department, denied any connection. “They were banned because of numerous violations uncovered during the checks. This has nothing to do with Dima Yakolev’s death,” Kabanov said.

(Note: When I blogged about Dmitry’s death originally the names of the two agencies were not available yet, so naming the two is a new development.)

He adopted the boy through the European Adoption Consultants, not one of the banned agencies, Kabanov said. His ministry is now carrying out a check of the European Adoption Consultants, he said.

The agency’s executive director, Margaret Cole, declined to comment on the case Monday.

The death could raise fears about a clampdown on international adoptions. Russia tightened controls over adoptions a few years ago after several children died at the hands of U.S. parents.

Boris Altshuler, head of The Right of the Child group, said 14 Russian children have been killed by their adoptive parents in the United States over the past 15 years, compared with 12 in Russia.

Adoption agencies must be held accountable for their work, said Moscow ombudsman Alexei Golovan. “If they fail to meet their responsibilities, they should be barred from operating in Russia,” he said, adding that he would like to see more Russian parents adopt children.

Other articles have also come out in the past 24 hours filing out a few more details.

This piece, His foster parents wanted to give Dima the world. But he died instead… speaks a bit to Dmitry’s (Dima’s) origins:

An American family adopted the two-year-old Dima Yakolev last March from the Pskovsk Regional Orphanage. The boy died when his father stopped by his office and left him in a parked car all day long.

And a scant few details about his Mother and the child’s health:

Dima had made a long journey from Russia’s Pechor Pskovsk region to the U.S. His new family lived in Herndon, Virginia outside Washington DC. First, it seemed that fate had dealt the boy a second chance. His biological mother had put him up for adoption immediately after his birth — even though she too was raised in an orphanage. Dima was moved straight from the labor ward to the Pskovsk Regional Orphanage for children with a damaged central nervous system.

“We received Dima in 2006 straight from the labor ward,” said Natalya Vishnevskaya, the head doctor at the orphanage. “His 18-year-old mother signed a refusal of the child and disappeared. It’s unclear where she is now. She is a mentally disabled, lonely young girl who was also raised in an orphanage.”

Dima’s parents could have been Russian, but the potential foster parents reconsidered due to problems with his health. The boy had a cardiac murmur. However, the condition isn’t severe. Doctors report the medical condition can be found in one of two babies during a detailed health check.

“The doctors discovered a heart murmur,” Vishnevskaya said. “And although the boy was sweet, it was likely this diagnose together with his background that frightened the Russian couple.

We also learn more about the disposition of his adoptive Father, Miles H. Harrison:

When the vehicle was opened, Dima was no longer breathing. His father tried to resuscitate the child and someone called the police. After the tragedy, Carol requested that no one interfere with their personal life and restricted herself to: “We’re mourning.”

Michael ended up in the hospital. He fell into shock and had a heart attack. He was transferred to a private mental hospital. He is charged with manslaughter and faces up to 10 years in prison.

Apparently Dima’s earlier health issues had passed by the time the Harrisons came to Russia for him:

“The boy was friendly, calm and good-natured. And he wasn’t capricious at all. He was almost completely healthy when he was adopted.”

Then there’s the ‘bombshell’ an important detail I hadn’t seen elsewhere:

Interestingly, the boy died Tuesday — one week ago. But news of the tragedy reached Russia only several days later. Employees of the Russian Embassy in the U.S. only learned what had happened from the papers.

If this is true then it should come as no surprise that European Adoption Consultants have come under investigation. Under Russian law, Russian authorities are to be given word about the disposition of Russian adopted children from the agencies that placed them, not the media. As I blogged earlier, by Friday, July 11th, the Washington Post was certainly reporting Russian Embassy involvement in the case.

(The final paragraph appears to have a translation problem “accuse” appears to have been intended to be “excuse”.)

Commentary from Officials

“We find no accuse for the actions of the foster father,” said Valentina Chernova, head of adoption at the State Department for Social Development in the Pskovsk Region, and Nadejda Kulgavova, regional operator of the Parentless Children’s Database. “He lost consciousness only after seeing the child. This means he was functioning well enough to have remembered the child up until that point. We received character sketches from people close to the couple. They were all positive. One wrote: ‘I’m lucky to have two wonderful friends who I would unconditionally trust with my own child.’ The foster parents also signed a statement prohibiting child abuse. The pair have adopted nephews from Guatemala. The agency hasn’t lost its license yet as far as we know. It has already worked 10 years or so with the region. There were never any problems. We’re working with them now on one adoption case. But it’s probable it will be postponed.”

Finally, in this third article, from RIA Novosti, Russia calls for full probe into death of adopted baby in U.S. calls are made for a thorough investigation:

Russia hopes U.S. authorities will conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding last week’s death of a baby adopted from a Russian orphanage, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

and

The ministry said in a statement: “We hope that American law enforcement authorities and the court will exhaustively look into all the causes and circumstances surrounding this tragedy and take a just decision. We also hope that the relevant U.S. social services will draw the necessary conclusions from this.”

The article repeats the now apparently false claim that European Adoption Consultants has already been banned:

After the incident, Russian authorities banned European Adoption Consultants Inc., the agency responsible for placing the child with the Harrisons, for failing to immediately report the death. Two other agencies also had their Russian licenses revoked.

The Russian Foreign Ministry statement went further:

The Russian Foreign Ministry said: “We have repeatedly called on the American side to sign a special bilateral adoption agreement. Such an international legal document would allow us more effectively to control the fate of Russian children taken out of the country by foster parents. We will ensure that this issue is included in the agenda of Russian-American dialogue.”

As I said in my original blog piece about the case, there is a history here, and Dmitry’s death is unfortunately only the latest of a number of Russian adoptees who have died through the actions of their American adopters.

Again, I urge readers to explore Marley/Bastardette’s “Memoriam to Russian Adoptees Murdered by their Forever Families,””

NIKTO NE ZABYT — NICHTO NE ZABYTO

(Nobody is forgotten. Nothing is forgotten.)

The verdict in the Miles Harrison trial has been handed down since this article was originally written. Please see my later post entitled No, no justice for Dmitry for more up to date information concerning the verdict. The article below appears as it was originally posted.

***

Перевести на русский

***

This piece has been retitled. The text below remains as was originally posted July 14th, 08, however the update below, posted on the 15th contradicts some of the information I had available to me on the 14th. Please read down through.

This is one of a series of posts about Dmitry’s death. Please follow my Dmitry Yakolev tag to read more.

***

(I am somewhat ‘late’ blogging this, but particularly as there has been so little print media about Dmitry’s death, I thought it was important to be as thorough as I could be in blogging the story.)

21 month old Russian adoptee Dmitry Yakolev, renamed Chase Harrison by his adopters, died a miserable death in Herndon, Virginia last week. His adoptive father “forgot” about him; after failing to drop Dmitry off at daycare, he drove on to work, parked, and went in to the building, leaving Dmitry in the back seat in his child safety seat. Many hours later, around 5pm, a coworker noticed something through the SUV’s tinted windows and alerted the office receptionist. Despite attempts at CPR on the unresponsive child, he could not be resuscitated.

(Among the many questions this raises, I am not the only one puzzled that the day-care center apparently did not call either parent to determine Dmity’s whereabouts when he failed to arrive.)

Temperatures on Tuesday (July 8th) in the area reached 91 degrees. Inside the SUV, where the windows had been left rolled up, temperatures may have ranged from 131-172 degrees (according to estimates by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.) Dmitry, still strapped in, apparently slowly roasted to death over the course of hours. It is unclear exactly how many hours he was alone in the vehicle. An autopsy was scheduled for late last week to make a final determination on cause of death.

It is recommended that placing a stuffed animal or similar in the passenger seat alongside a driver, or to place a purse or briefcase in the back seat when adults have a child in the back seat may help them focus on remembering the child and their wellbeing. Children left in vehicles in summer are certainly a far broader problem than confined to those who adopt, there have been multiple instances just in Virginia in the last week.

However, the extent to which focus, time, and effort, have gone into adopting a child, as well as this having been mere months after Dmitry came to America also raises questions. If an adoptive couple has waited for and worked so hard to finally get a child, should that make any difference in how much they are aware of and focused on said child after he ‘comes home’? Should children newly brought to the country, or adopted be somehow less at risk of being forgotten under circumstances such as these? Clearly, not in Dmitry’s case.

According to this Fairfax Times article, Dmitry’s adoptive father, Miles H. Harrison, (49, of Purcellville, Virginia), has been charged with manslaughter but not served, as of last Thursday as he had apparently ‘collapsed in shock’ after realizing he had left the child. The maximum sentence he could receive on the charge would be ten years.

This (Friday July 11, ’08) Washington Post article, Father Whose Son Died in Hot Car is Hospitalized, has a few more details:

Harrison, 49, was taken to Reston Hospital Center after Chase was discovered, then to the Herndon police station to be interviewed by detectives. Harrison collapsed again at the station, and was returned to the Reston facility before being transported to an undisclosed private hospital, said Herndon Police Lt. Jeff P. Coulter. Coulter said police are to be called when Harrison is ready to leave the hospital.

“If he needs some short-term treatment to get stabilized, I would not interfere with that. I can certainly understand that might be in order given what’s occurred here,” Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Morrogh said. “There’s no rush. If he needs treatment he should get it, and then he will face what he has to face.”

Harrison’s wife, Carol, was questioned by detectives at the Herndon police station about an hour after Chase was found, Coulter said. She was interviewed about background information and “what went on during the day,” he said, adding that the investigation will seek to answer what happened “leading up to that day, what all has taken place in these people’s lives.”

Dmitry was the Harrison’s only child.

Further down in the Washington Post article, Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Morrogh explained the reasoning behind the manslaughter charge thusly:

Morrogh said the decision to charge Harrison with manslaughter followed an impartial look at the facts. Murder was out because there was no intent, he said. While states have a hodgepodge of practices on whether or not to charge in such cases, doing so seems appropriate here, he said.

“From where I sit, I have to enforce the law, and the law places certain requirements on people when it comes to many things, especially with children,” Morrogh said. “It’s just such an emotional thing, and rightly so. As a parent myself, I can’t imagine. It’s just a tragedy all the way around.”

The Harrisons were still in the state mandated six month supervision period required for international adoptions after Dmitry came from Russia three months ago.

Unfortunately, his death is only the latest of a number of Russian children who have died due to the actions of their American adopters, something those of us living in the broader DC metropolitan area may have some awareness of considering the recent sentencing of Samuel and Donna Merryman for the death of their Russian born adopted son Dennis Uritsky this past April (see my blog post about such here.)

There has been an ongoing history that forms the context into which Dmitry’s death has fallen internationally as well, Russian adoptions have come to the brink, in the aftermath, stricter rules had already been placed on agencies working in Russia. Frustrations with the number of Russian children who have died post adoption were already running high.

The Russian reaction to Dmitry’s death has been swift.

The Friday Washington Post article detailed the Russian Embassy involvement:

Yevgeniy V. Khorishko, press officer for the Russian Embassy, said consulate officials are “trying to figure out the details of this accident.”

“We are in contact with U.S. officials in this case,” Khorishko said. Russian officials are also working to determine whether the boy still had Russian citizenship, he said.

Also on Friday this RIA Novosti article hit, Russia bans 3 adoption agencies following baby’s death in U.S., which I’ll quote several paragraphs from:

Three international adoption agencies, including one that failed to inform Russia of the death of a baby in the U.S. this week, have been banned from operating in Russia, the country’s adoption authorities said on Friday.

and

The Russian Education and Science Ministry’s adoption commission said in a statement: “The agencies to be banned from working on the territory of the Russian Federation include a representative office that violated the requirements of Russian law on swiftly informing us of the death of an adopted child.”

and

The incident had been expected to prompt new calls in Russia for tighter controls on adoptions following several other scandals, notably the killing of a two-year-old girl from Siberia by her adoptive mother in the United States. The woman, Peggy Sue Hilt, was sentenced to 25 years in prison in May 2006 for beating the child to death.

Around 120,000 Russian children were adopted both in Russia and abroad in 2007, a 6.4% increase on 2006, according to the Science and Education Ministry.

(The child Peggy Sue Hilt murdered, mentioned above, was two and a half year old Nina Hilt/Viktoria Bazhenova.)

To date, I have only found the single article mentioning three agencies were essentially booted out last Friday, and unfortunately, the article fails to give the names of any of the three. (I will continue to search for more details.) While such usually would be ‘bigger news’ here in the States at least, there’s been scant mention. Other than on a blog here and there, it’s gotten very little public attention.

In short, under Russian law, when an adopted child dies, the agency is required to notify Russian authorities. One of the three agencies that have since been banned failed to live up to its obligations as part of doing adoptions in Russia. As for the other two, Russia halting their in country operations may or may not have been in any way related to this latest incident.

As the reasons are unknown at this time, I will focus upon the agency that failed to notify Russian authorities of Dmitry’s death. The article quoted above leads to another set of questions. As the agency appears not to have given notice at all (“one that failed to inform Russia of the death”) were they attempting to keep Dmitry’s death from his country of birth, possibly in an attempt to protect their own accreditation to do business there?

Russian authorities appear to have done what they could, kicking the agency out, but then, Russian law requires an agency inform them if a child dies. Not every country has such a requirement.

Other than losing the ability to do business in Russia will there be any other consequences to the agency that failed to report?

Further, what of other countries the agencies do business in? Will they in any way be informed that the agencies lost their Russian accreditation, in one case for failing to comply with Russian law by reporting and adopted child’s death?

So who then, are the three agencies (including the one that failed to notify?) Well, by way of at least one of those three, over on Bastardette’s comment thread here, Niels of Pound Pup Legacy pointed readers at this page, by way of citation in a comment that contained in part, the following:

The adoption agency involved in the placement of Chase Harrison (Dmitry Yakovlev) was European Adoption Consultants, Inc.

Which would be European Adoption Consultants, 12608 Alameda Drive, Strongville, Ohio 44149.

Be sure to see their Russian program here, which flatly states “The referral process for infant boys is quick right now”, their Russian program news page, and their FAQ under the question “Q: Is EAC licensed to do adoptions in Russia?” The “Returning Home to the USA – Russia – Word Document” off this page lays out some of the follow up visits etc expected after a Russian adoptee has ben brought to the States. Finally, this link, view the letter, will take you to a confirmation letter to EAC informing them of their Russian Accreditation (English version is on page 2.)

Their basic intake application forms, both online (click the “apply online” link on this page) and printable, ask questions such as the religious affiliation of prospective adopters and essay questions such as “Briefly explain how you intend to raise your child with religious/moral values”or “Please describe the child that will complete your “forever family”.”

Further down in the same comment thread E. Case pointed out that European Adoption Consultants had previous placed another Russian child, Logan Higgenbotham (in Vermont back in 1998), who had been killed by her adoptive mother, Laura Higgenbotham. (She pled no contest to a charge of involuntary manslaughter and received a 1 year prison sentence after having intentionally slammed 3 year old Logan’s head into a wall.)

Marley/Bastardette has blogged twice about Dmitry’s death;

Another Russian Adoptee Dies: Chase Harrison

and

Russian Updates

She has also created and maintains an online “Memoriam to Russian Adoptees Murdered by their Forever Families,””

NIKTO NE ZABYT — NICHTO NE ZABYTO

(Nobody is forgotten. Nothing is forgotten.)

Each of the dead or murdered Russian adoptees I’ve mentioned in my blog post (Dmitry Takolev/Chase Harrison, Dennis Uritsky/Dennis Merryman, Logan Higgenbotham, and Viktoria Bazhenova/Nina Hilt) are also memorialized on her site with details about each child and their deaths; photographs whenever possible, some links to media coverage, and importantly, where known, those who did the children’s homestudies and the agencies responsible for the placements are also named.

In Dmitry’s/Chase’s case, in addition to the more general profile, she has a few important details listed:

Chase was adopted from the Pechora City Children’s Home, Psov area; in the US 3 months. Home Study: Adoption Connections, Falls Church, Virginia. Social Worker: Christine Hessinger. Adoption Agency: European Adoption Consultants, Strongsville, Ohio.

I’ll end by quoting a few sentences from a comment Bastardette made on her own blog here:

Dima’s adoption was not yet finalized. He was a Russian citizen who died of neglect (accidental or not) at the hands of a person who was deemed “responsible” enough to adopt someone else’s child by the Russian and US governments and a prominent …adoption agency.

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UPDATE

*********************

July 15th, 08

See Bastardette’s blog entry from 9:51 last night:

ANOTHER RUSSIAN UPDATE: DIMA YAKOLEV/CHASE HARRISON

I’ll quote the crucial bits:

The English language Moscow Times reported four hours ago that European Adoption Consultants, contrary to earlier news reports in RPC News and Gazetta, has not been banned from operating in the Russian Federation.

and

The agency, however, is under investigation over its failure to immediately report the death last week of Dmitry Yakolev (adopted name Chase Harrison) in Virginia. The Moscow Times also said that the accreditation of two other agencies, The Cradle of Hope Adoption Center and Family and Children’s Agency has been withdrawn over failure to keep the Russian Education and Science Ministry informed on the well-being of adoptees placed by them as required by Russian law. Vladimir Kabanov, head of the ministry’s adoption department denied that the agencies were connected to the Yakolev/Harrison case, saying they are guilty of separate violations.

I’d strongly advise reading her entire piece.

It might as well be me.

So we pause for some Saturday morning cartoons by way of a co-production out of Canada and the UK (fear not, we’re still fully in the land o’-adoption.) After all, even grown up Bastards can still enjoy some Saturday morning cartoons and games with a bowl of fruit loops while still in their feety pajamas, right?

In that spirit, I bring you some ‘wholesome’ Saturday morning fun.

Every so often it becomes painfully obvious how much the American perspective in relation to adoption needs a good solid kick in the ‘hits too close to home.’ Fortunately, we have Bromwell High for that.

In that usual fashion of ‘sometimes it takes someone else from somewhere else to state the obvious’, the episode “Baby Boom” (episode 8 of a scant 13) interweaves many themes relating to reproduction (and lack thereof), baby abandonment, and adoption into slightly more than 20 minutes. Thus we learn there are many ways to be a ‘special’ child, or at least the child who is the ‘est’ of any given set. And happily, betwixt all this ‘deeper meaning’ it still manages to be quite funny.

Sleeps with Bastard and I first ran across Bromwell High during time spent in Canada, enjoying Teletoon, the much more, shall we say ‘interesting’ version of the Cartoon Network down here in the States.

These are not your typical Saturday morning kids cartoons, though. Teletoon rates Bromwell High appropriate for viewers 18 and over and runs it during its later on in the evening block “The Detour” geared towards older teens and adults, similar to “Adult Swim” on the Cartoon Network here in the States. (As an aside, those of you with a truly sick sense of humour may also enjoy AS’s game “Orphan Feast” while you’re visiting the AS site.)

Bromwell High is described thusly;

Bromwell High is an animated comedy following the adventures of three exceptionally naughty school girls, one maverick headmaster and a bunch of desperate teachers.

The action takes places within the grounds of the school itself – a bog standard, under funded, overcrowded, graffiti-scarred secondary school in South London.

So for your viewing pleasure, and without further ado, ‘Baby Love Child Theater’ brings you the wonder that is “Baby Boom”! (Just be sure to keep an eye out for the all too brief appearance of “Baby Trader Magazine” in the episode!)

The synopsis on the “Baby Boom” the episode I’ve included above describes it thusly:

Latrina’s mum has just given birth to yet another baby, which Latrina accidentally brings into school in her bag. In a ploy to get rid of the baby in a spot that she has not previously used, Latrina swaps the infant with the sex education teacher’s doll. Will the teacher even notice?

When Bibby discovers that Martin and Carol Jackson are desperate for a baby of their own, he quickly spots an opportunity in the baby trade market.

Truly, it’s a masterpiece.

Naturally, despite all the fallout here in the aftermath of the Adoptee Rights Demonstration (ARD) (see my “Adoptee Rights Demonstration” tag for an inverse order set of posts about that aftermath) and the withdrawals of many of the original organizers and Bastard Nation some people will be going to New Orleans for the events in about a week and a half.

This is not about dissuading anyone. This is about being aware and showing some respect for where it is you’re headed.

One of the components of the events that I cared deeply about back when I was still working on the event (I am not now) was the fact that this was going to be taking place in N’awlins, a city I care passionately about and yes, a city that even today is still far from ‘back together’.

I advised fellow Bastards going to N’awlins to get up to speed about what peoples’ lives are like there now, in part by reading at bare minimum local ‘mainstream’ media such as the Times Picayne and the Gambit in the run up to the ARD.

More importantly, though, listen to those fighting to retain N’awlins for it’s residents, not just developers.

The city has been changed profoundly in the almost three years since the storm and the flooded aftermath. It’s been used as a hothouse for neocon notions of how to restructure American society (Naomi Klein’s “The Shock Doctrine” has a useful framework explaining such, and utilizes New Orleans as one case study), in an attempt to shake the city out into a subset of “haves”; tourism built around the French Quarter and St. Charles Ave./parts of uptown neighborhoods, and “have-nots;” not ‘built’ much at all, but everywhere else.

The city is at this very moment a place where matters of survival are still paramount to so many.

A protracted battle where the future of the city is being decided in many cases, not by the neighborhoods, but by those who can tear them down, as part of building their vision of what they think the next New Orleans should be played out against the backdrop of many factors not merely wealth and poverty, nor even a binary notion of “race” (N’awlins has never been merely some matter of “Black and White” it’s a complex gumbo of French and Spanish, Haitians, Free men and former slaves, Cubans, First Nations peoples, and now post-Katrina, particularly Hispanics. All in that Creole, Cajun/Acadian mix. )

And that makes it one hell of a distinct place for adoptees to be trying to do their own efforts on behalf of our own equality.

As I wrote back on January 10th:

How do we do what we need to do in New Orleans while not overlooking or in anyway downplaying the magnitude of the realities New Orleans itself currently faces? On that one, I have no real answer yet. Yeah, it’s going to be strange protesting for open records in a place where day to day fighting for SURVIVAL is a genuine reality. I’m still trying to figure this one out, but the bottom line is we’re there because they’re there- the National Conference of State Legislatures’ Annual Meeting.)

Those still going would do well not be ‘tone deaf’ to the realities of N’awlins.

Don’t be a fly in,-eat only international fast food chains,- do the adoptee hokey pokey- and then fly back out again.

For some of us, going to N’awlins was ALSO about helping N’awlins itself.

If you’ve never been before, sure explore the French Quarter, it is unlike anywhere else in America, BUT also get off the beaten path and find a po-boy at a neighborhood grocery.

Hit a local coffeehouse instead of questing for wherever the nearest Starfucks might be, get out into the neighborhoods and find yourself a corner market, or a PJ’s, a CC’s, Fair Grinds, or go to Neutral Ground among others.

Eat local. Do what you can to help ensure the dollars you spend in N’awlins stay in N’awlins- with those who need it most. And who needs it most may not be readily apparent. Those in need may be, for example in a your waiter in a tuxedo in a fine restaurant in town (who is the third generation in his family to have done so, and is now facing a way of life endangered. See Antoine’s below.)

For that matter, if you can, eat the extraordinary. Tuck in some nice clothes (a good dress, a jacket for the gents) make reservations, and spend an evening doing what for many will be a once in a lifetime meal to remember. There are many restaurants, all of which rely on business like yours to stay alive, each with their own tale of what it took to reopen, but somewhere such as Antoine’s is N’awlins embodied. One will not be coming to your town, or anywhere else for that matter soon. It is an institution woven through the history of the city in ways most visitors never imagine. Every restaurant in N’awlins has its own story of what the storm and the flooded aftermath meant as well as what life was like before the storm. For Antoines, you can catch a mere glimpse of such in articles such as this.

Spend your tourism dollars locally. Tip well. Be kind.

Learn from your time in the city. N’awlins continues to be one of America’s most unique and interesting cities. Take time to listen.

Be respectful of the fact that there are neighbors, family members, and friends who are now spread far and wide, and are missed constantly by those who have chosen to stay and fight for the heart and soul of the city. Some may have left permanently, others are alluded to as ‘visiting a spell’ somewhere else, with hopes that perhaps they may eventually return. While the most immediate areas ARD protesters are going to be in may appear ‘just fine’, there is plenty of the Gulf Coast that has simply been swept away.

This is a place unlike any other.

And then there’s the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center itself. (The Washington Post’s take on the post Katrina history of it has it’s own problems, but does lay out some of the core of it.) and the attempted change of name controversy.

In all, I suppose I’m saying be clueful. Realize that where you’re going to be; speaking about the demand that adoptees receive equal treatment under law in a place where law and even treatment as human beings broke apart.

I’ve never known how to do such under those conditions. But if you’re going to go, do yourself a favour and be aware that for many, it’s about the closest thing to ‘sacred ground’ some of us are willing to recognize. It’s not merely a matter of people died there, it’s a matter of people were left to die there, murdered by a complete lack of empathy (and no, I’m not speaking of average people, as but one example the bravery of the ‘Cajun navy’ boat rescuers can attest.)

The city, and its people that still survive today deserve nothing less than your best.

If you haven’t thought about some of that, perhaps you should.

Because ARD, wasn’t only about sign holding and marching, it takes place in a context not a vacuum, it’s going to be in particular places which have pre-existing histories, some both horrific and infuriating, and most of all, it’s in N’awlins.

Be good to my friends down along the River and the Bayous.

I wanted to point readers at an important article from last month profiling the circumstances and desperate need for money three Mexican womyn faced, ultimately leading to their children’s adoption in the U.S..

If adoption can so often be reduced to supply and demand, these are the circumstances from which a ‘supply’ of children come from.

Nothing is done to alleviate the ongoing suffering of these womyn, as that would mean money spent on development or health care, or other basic needs. Instead the pathetic conditions that force womyn to outright sell their children are encouraged to continue, as to do otherwise would cut the ongoing supply of adoptable infants.

It’s rare to find a story like this covering the desperate circumstances of these womyn and the origins of children bought in the adoption market.

Also keep in mind that while some of the children were born in Mexico and brought to the United States, at least one was born in the US and is thus a U.S. citizen. Thus this child, upon adoption, would be considered a “domestic” adoption, not international. This smuggling of pregnant womyn into the U.S., leading to the child being placed for adoption continues to be something to keep an eye on as we may see more of such as the number of international ‘sending countries’ continues to decrease or grow stricter under Hague implementation.

Mothers who allegedly sold babies endured difficult lives

The Brownsville Herald, 6/21/08

Patricia Perez Quiroz:

A 21-year-old product of Rio Bravo’s cramped western colonias, Patricia Perez Quiroz simply left home one day – eight months pregnant – and came back several weeks later without a child.

“She told us the baby died,” Erika said in Spanish. “Then, she said (the baby) was with the father, and then, (that the baby) was sick in the hospital.”

Mexican authorities have since identified Patricia as one of nine Rio Bravo women who admitted to selling their newborns to a man accused of working as an international baby broker.

Investigators believe Amado Torres Vega, 64, of Harlingen, purchased children like hers for $2,500 to $3,000 a piece and then brought them to adoptive couples in the United States for a fee.

Claudia Pantoja Ramirez:

Pantoja has since told state prosecutors Torres smuggled her into the United States to have her child, but upon giving birth she asked him if she could back out of their deal. A day later, she woke up to find her baby gone and $3,000 from Torres, she said.

Alma Yadira Alva Gutierrez:

Across town, Alma Yadira Alva Gutierrez’s smart concrete home in Rio Bravo’s new Hacienda Las Brisas subdivision stands a world away from the poor, cramped neighborhood of Pantoja and the Perezes.

But her situation was no less dire. The mother of an 8-year-old girl with leukemia, Alva, 30, told authorities she sold three children to Torres to finance her sick daughter’s medical care.

What can ‘consent’ possibly mean when womyn feel they are forced into selling their children? In Claudia’s case, it’s apparent, her own feelings in the matter meant nothing.

Torres, of course, falls back on an all too familiar theme in adoption in a sick attempt at justifying his actions:

“These women were irresponsible,” he said. “I did what I could to give their children a better life.”

I.E. ‘these mothers were “bad”, “unworthy of their children”, “they didn’t deserve to keep them”, it’ll be better this way’ the usual crass ‘ends justify the means’. The false assumption underlying such is that poor womyn or those in dire financial need do not deserve to keep their own children, or that only the wealthy make good parents as they alone can provide the so called “better lives” to children. Thus the poor become expendable, for anything other than ‘womb services’; produce the kids for resale, not for keeping.

The promise of the so called ‘better life’ is used constantly to justify whatever it takes to redistribute children from desperate circumstances, often relating to dire poverty, into the hands of those who will pay top dollar for a kid, any kid, so long as they can call it their own.

But even if he’s right, his alleged actions violate Mexican law. Despite his public denials of wrongdoing, police say he has confessed in private to illegally purchasing children.

He remains in a Tamaulipas jail pending trial on child trafficking charges. If convicted, he could face up to 12 years in prison.

A maximum of a mere 12 years for the buying and selling of babies.

The womyn, as if they had not already endured enough, are now also facing charges:

State prosecutors have also filed cases against six mothers including Pantoja and continue to pursue charges against others. It remains unclear how many of the women Torres worked with are in custody, said Licensiado Oralia Mancha Barrera, a Tamaulipas assistant state attorney

Note that this includes Claudia Pantoja Ramirez, the womyn whose baby was taken after she changed her mind and refused to go through with it.

These womyn did what they did in a desperate attempt to survive or to ensure their family’s survival.

It’s a side of adoption rarely openly discussed.

There is no word on where their children are today, assumedly in the hands of adoptive parents here in the U.S., and likely to remain that way. They could have been represented to their adopters as any one of a number of different nationalities.

But that “better life” meme?

But no matter the hardship these children may have endured had they stayed with their birth mothers, Patricia Perez Quiroz’s mother-in-law, Socorro Treviño, can’t fathom a childhood lived any other way.

“A better life?” she said in Spanish while surveying the dilapidated house around her. “If that was the case we would have given everyone here up for adoption.

“What better life is there (for a child) than with the mother?”

If that so called “better life” were the only consideration entire villages across the world, children and adults alike, should go up for “adoption”. As is, the babies are exported to wealthy (by global standards) Americans, and their countries of origin and relatives are left to rot. Or produce more children for export.

No one’s coming along to “adopt” them.

The bottom line continues to be adoption is no answer to global poverty.

“I got mine”-ism of adopters comes at a global and deeply personal cost to those left in the circumstances that produced the child originally.

Global development is an opposite to adoption. It is rooted in genuine empathy with other people the world over. Adoption, on the other hand, is all to often about ‘resource extraction’ plain and simple.

Because at the end of the day, the Americans apparently still have the kids. If anything, they are likely blissfully unaware of the circumstances that led to them gaining ‘their child’. Never mind those pesky little ‘costs’ to those in their countries of origin; the childrens’ mothers for example.

Empathy? Yeah, not so much. There are some things adopters would simply rather not know.