Nightlight Christian Adoption Scam

“A heartbroken Norton Shores couple out thousands of dollars and no child to show for it has a warning for other families looking to adopt.

When Susan and Grant Lee first saw Eden, they knew she was meant to be their daughter. A friend had adopted a child from Ghana and showed them pictures of children in the Ashan orphanage in Kumasi. That’s when they first saw Eden.

She would have been the Lee’s seventh child. But then the family’s emotional, costly nightmare began.

WAITING AND PAYING

The Lees were told Eden had special needs. She was HIV positive. Her father died and her mother was dying from AIDS, they were told.

The man who ran the orphanage, known as NaNa, kept in contact with the Lees on the phone and through Facebook messages, calling Grant his brother in Christ and welcoming the couple to his home in Ghana.

The couple made the trip overseas, meeting Eden at the orphanage.

But the Lees say NaNa was also requesting more money for Eden’s HIV medication.

The couple says NaNa kept telling them Eden was legally their child, but he was waiting for her father’s death certificate to finalize the adoption. In the meantime, he needed more money.

“So of course I would leave work and tell Grant ‘Well, they’re five hours ahead of us, I have to leave work by 11 o’clock so I can go to Meijer and wire money because… by 5 o’clock, their banks close in Ghana and I need to make sure she gets her medication for today,’” recounted Susan.

After months of waiting and weeks of sending cash, about $14,000 total, the frustrated couple asked for Eden to be transferred to another orphanage.

That’s when the family was told Eden was not at the orphanage.

‘WHERE’S MY DAUGHTER?’

At that point, all contact with NaNa stopped; he wouldn’t take the couple’s calls.

“So I’m thinking, where’s my daughter? Where’d she go? Someone has taken her, kidnapped her,” recounted Susan.

But it was an alleged crime of another crime that robbed the couple of Eden.

“I couldn’t get out of my mind her giggles, her sweet smell. She was my daughter. It was just like losing a child.”

“She had never lived there,” Grant said. “And come to find out her biological father was not deceased. So we were waiting for this death certificate, we were told for a year, for a man who was still living. And meanwhile (we were) sending money to the orphanage.”

Susan Lee said their attorney discovered Eden’s father was still alive, Eden was not HIV positive and never even lived at the orphanage. It’s unclear if Eden’s mother was actually dying of AIDS.

“I couldn’t get out of my mind her giggles, her sweet smell. She was my daughter. It was just like losing a child. And every time I would walk into my bedroom it was heartbreaking because her crib was set up and we’re just waiting for the call that says we’re ready to go get her. And to know that wasn’t going to happen was devastating,” said Susan.

CUTTING TIES

The Lees were working with Nightlight Christian Adoptions. The South Carolina adoption agency’s work with Ghana is a pilot program.

The president of Nightlight Christian Adoptions told Target 8 said the Lees began talking directly with the orphanage director in Ghana because they felt they had a special bond with him, but that isn’t how they typically do business.

“It is possible for an individual family to be scammed by someone over and over and over again. That’s really not possible for an adoption agency … because it happens once and the word gets out and we’re not going to work with that person again and neither is anyone else,” explained Dan Nehrbass.

Nehrbass said this is the first time something like this has happened with their organization. He said they’ve cut ties with NaNa, but are still working with adoptions in Ghana.

Target 8 tried calling and messaging NaNa through Facebook but we were unable to reach him in Ghana.

The U.S. State Department told Target 8 they take these claims seriously and are investigating the Lee’s case.

Nightlight Christian Adoptions did reimburse the Lees the $5,000 adoption fee. [How nice of them! How About the other $9,000?]The organization also offered to help the Lees with another adoption, but the couple declined.

NOT GIVING UP

Susan Lee is pregnant, and the child should arrive in early December.

Susan and Grant Lee sit at a table inside their Norton Shores home.

But they’re not giving up on adopting.

“I think we’re just going to have to wait until it feels right again. This has been traumatic and we both feel cheated and taken advantage of. So it’s going to be a while, but I know deep in our hearts we’re going to do it again,” said Grant.”

Losing Eden: Couple warns of costly adoption scam
[Wood tv 8/11/16 by Susan Shaw]

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