Chapter 1:
Lured in by the Expert
Janet Ostrander is a single woman who leads a satisfying life. She found out early in her life that she could not carry a baby to term, yet that was not a huge issue to her. She had always wanted to be a mom and knew that in the future, adoption would be an option for her. She dreamed of having a baby girl, maybe a baby boy too to love. She knew adoption was an option and was ready to make the commitment in 2003.
During the early spring of 2003, Janet was surfing on America Online, her internet service provider. She was looking into adoption and came across an advertisement for Building Blocks Adoption Service, Inc. This is not surprising because Building Blocks is all over AOL.
Seeing BBAS wonderfully appealing website, Janet contacted Denise Hubbard and began a correspondence with her about the various adoption programs BBAS had available.
Because she was single and wanted an infant Caucasian girl who somewhat resembled her, Janet asked Denise which countries fit those parameters.
Denise told her that her Azerbaijani program would be a good fit for her. Azerbaijan had waiting infants. Most importantly, waiting female infants. Denise knew her potential clients. They wanted baby girls, and they wanted them as young as possible.
What Denise conveniently failed to mention was how strong of an Azerbaijan program BBAS had. Denise herself had no clue about Azerbaijan, its people, the political climate or even its location on a map. She touted the Azerbaijani program in a post from adoption.forums.com on Aug. 21, 2002.
Dear Prospective Adoptive Parents.
I thought I would take this time to introduce you to Azerbaijan. below is a a link to a page that describes theadoption process in Azer. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions reference Azerbaijan adoptions.
http://www.buildingblocksadoption.com/azerbaijan.htm
Adopting through Azerbaijan is two very short trips. The children are caucasion and do reside in orphanages.Both parents must travel on both trips.
Sincerely,
Denise Hubbard
But as for actual placement of Azerbaijani children, it remains to be seen if BBAS had placed even one child with an American family.
Janet liked what she was hearing. Denise was so nice, so helpful, so understanding, so seemingly in tune with her hopes and dreams for a baby girl.
Before the BBAS Adoption Services Agreement was signed, Denise held her hand, reassuring her the baby girl of her dreams would be in her arms within months. Denise was always so good at hand holding before she got her hands on clients checks!
During her initial conversations with Denise Hubbard about Azerbaijan, confusion befell Janet Ostrander.
In the late 1980s Janet had traveled around the former Soviet Union when countries such as Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Georgia were SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS. Once the Soviet Union dissolved in the early 1990s, those same Soviet Socialist Republics became separate countries with their own laws, rules and regulations.
She remained under the impression Azerbaijan was still part of Russia and NOT A SEPARATE country. Her confusion was furthered because her I-600A was to state Moscow, Russia instead of Baku, Azerbaijan. At the time, Americans adopting from Azerbaijan had their child’s visa processed through Moscow, not Baku.
Later when she was forced to change countries from Azerbaijan to Georgia, her 171-H did not need to be changed. Moscow remained on the document. Families adopting from Georgia were also traveling to Moscow for their child’s exit visa.
Throughout her dealings with BBAS and later Lee Slater, Janet remained confused about Azerbaijan and Georgia. She continued to believe those former Soviet Socialist Republics were regions of Russia and not separate countries.
It was a go. She was going to use Building Blocks Adoption Service for the adoption of a baby girl from Azerbaijan. She was ready to be a mom.
On June 26, 2003 Janet signed Building Blocks Adoption Service, Inc. Adoption Services Agreement for an Azerbaijani adoption. Below is a revised Clause #18 which states the following (one sentence more than Clause #20 contained in BBAS 2002 Guatemalan contract)
18. THE ADOPTIVE PARENT(S) represent and acknowledge that they have read and understand this Agreement and accept it as policies and conditions for working
with BUILDING BLOCKS. THE ADOPTIVE PARENT(S) do agree not to represent BUILDING BLOCKS and its directors, officers, employees and agents including doctors
in a negative format verbally, media related, in a written manner or publicly. In the event of negative representation the adoptive parent(s)
agree to award Building Blocks with the equivalent of the program fee for each incident for damages that may or have resulted
from negative representation or allegations.
The addition of this last sentence in 2003 was most likely the result of this website. Would Marco and Hubbard have the balls to sue a client who had dared to “not represent BUILDING BLOCKS…in a negative format, verbally, media related in a written manner or publicly” on a public forum such as this website? Would Hubbard and Marco have the resources to sue a client for the program fee and prove the damages caused from “negative representations or allegations”?
That remains to be seen. We are not aware of any client sued by BBAS or its officers, directors or facilitators. None of the clients whose story appears on our site have been contacted by the agency or attorneys hired by the agency. We believe the above clause to be unenforceable, but we could be wrong.
At the start, Janet was gung-ho, running around gathering her documents. Her homestudy went well. She liked her social worker and was approved to adopt a girl within the age range of 0-18 months. She was excited about the prospect of becoming a mother to this yet unknown child, preferably a young infant.
Janet Ostrander was naïve and full of hope in June 2003. By October 2004, she would be out of hope but full of knowledge.