Independent Adoption Center

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/12/04) */ First, we would like to state that we are very sorry that the Clients are not happy with the agency's servicesWe believe this is a misunderstanding of the services offered by the Independent Adoption Center (IAC)No adoption agency, including IAC, provides babies to clients in return for feesClients pay IAC for adoption services including a home study, development of outreach materials and birthparent outreach services Clients claim that an IAC alumna family at their information session on Oct20, said that they will get a baby, and no one from IAC corrected this informationHowever, the IAC contract signed by the clients on Feb22, clearly states, "Almost all of our clients do adopt a child, but this contract is not for a "baby" but for making the IAC's adoption services available to the clients." Clients also complain that contact with the Adoption Coordinator dropped off after one yearHowever, the case file reflects regular monthly contact with them via email as well as monthly phone calls until March when Clients requested less frequent phone contactIn a March 31, phone call documented in the agency's case notes the Client requested that their Adoption Coordinator contact them via phone every other month or so, rather than monthlyTheir Adoption Coordinator agreed to their request but said she would still send them the monthly letter count emails and any updates, which she continued to doIn addition, the Adoption Coordinator continued to speak with Clients on the phone every other month or so Clients also complain about the IAC's outreach to birthparents and that the agency only spent 2.7% of revenues on "outreach." The agency financial statements include a line item for "outreach," but also include several other line items such as "advertising," "printing," "postage," and "personnel" expenses that are exclusively or have a large amount of the total devoted to outreach to birthparentsThe amount the agency spends on outreach to birthparents is between 20% and 25% of the agency's expenses The contract that the clients signed clearly spells out the refund policies of the agencyThe contract also includes a separate section outlining the refund provisions for the clients to initial, in addition to their full signatures at the end of the contractTherefore, Clients were fully aware of the refund policies at the time of signing the contractAccording to the contact, they are not entitled to a refund based on the length of time they were active with the agency The Initial Join Fee (the only amount paid to date) is for services before the time of a match with a birthmotherThese pre-match services that Clients received included the adoption workshop, adoption home study, assistance with the design and completion of their Adoption Letter, distribution of their letter to potential birthmothers and posting of their letter on our two websites for birthmothers to look at in selecting a family, counseling and support services, etcThe Clients received these pre-match services for over two yearsTherefore, according to their contract, they are not eligible for a refund Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (3000, 13, 2016/01/07) */ During our investigation of IAC and their business practices, we uncovered extremely reckless financial management that has the potential to collapse the organization, causing hundreds of clients to loose their $15,- $20,investment in the IAC service We believe these practices are illegal, unethical and will lead to the collapse of the organization, causing almost families to loose $20,per family Additionally, we have the following complaints: - IAC is managed in a way that appears to be a Ponzi scheme, the agency is taking in more adoptive parents (clients) on an annual basis while their finalized adoption numbers decline, creating an imbalance in their business that cannot be recovered from and that puts all client paid fees at risk, IAC will not be able to deliver services to many families having already invested over $20,per couple - IAC accepts fees from clients that they know will never be matched to a birthmother to facilitate an adoption and they do not refund these fees completely when services are not delivered - When clients raise issues regarding the agency's lack of service delivery, the agency retaliates against clients - Since the number of waiting adoptive families (clients) has increased from less than to while the number of annual completed adoptions has decreased from to XXX (XXXX) per yearWith this trend, if IAC stopped taking in new clients (meaning no new revenue), it would take the company over three years to work through their current waiting client list, which is financially impossible to do, the company would go bankrupt first, this is a Ponzi scheme and unsustainable - Despite the fact that wait time for adoptive families has gone from an average of months in to a median of close to months in 2015, the agency continues to advertise using and deceptive terms such as "Adopt a Baby Quickly" in their advertising - The agency consistently misleads and falsifies adoption wait time averages, using - averages in multiple places on their websites which totally distorts the reality of current, downward trends, why not show statistics? - The agency has a discriminatory and nonstandard refund policy, which they use to provide refunds to certain families and not to othersWe have testimonials from multiple families that have been refunded various, inconsistent amounts that do not reflect the published refund policyWe have other families that are flat out denied refunds for services that were not delivered, usually the families that have expressed their concern or complained about the agencyIAC issued over $530,in refunds in 2013, over 9% of total revenue, doubling year over year - In summary, IAC is preying on families' desire to create families while mismanaging the agency finances in a way that makes the organization unsustainable over the near term, putting families at risk of losing their $20,commitment to IACThe agency is abusive to clients and threatens to hold back adoption services or to put adoptions at risk if you raise issues with mgmt In addition we never told our agency to stop contacting usThis is a blatant lieAlso, we signed a contract believing we were going to get a babyWe were told the average time was monthsBecause we did heavy Marketing we believed it would of been soonerUnfortunately, we received two calls during our three year wait with our 1-number we paid for1) a father was looking for his child that was put up for adoption2) a real birth mom was interested in us, and we spoke with her for hoursWhen we contacted our agency, we were told not to contact her back because she already matched with a different coupleWe found out later that this did not happen and she decided to parent herself the baby ***Document Attached [redacted] Please don't close the caseWe we're just told that we need to escalate our case to the California Department of Social Services VsThe Attorney General we recently wrote to Final Business Response / [redacted] (4000, 17, 2016/01/25) */ First, there appears to be a fundamental misunderstanding of the services that the Independent Adoption Center (IAC provides)No adoption agency, including the IAC, provides babies to clients in return for feesClients pay for adoption services In this case, the clients paid the "Join Fee," which covers the following services: home study, Adoption Letter and online Profile preparation, and outreach servicesThe agency provided all of these services to the clientThe client seems to believe that these fees included a promise of an adoptive placement within monthsThis is not the case as outlined in their signed contract The client claims that the agency operates a Ponzi scheme, but as stated above the agency provided services promised to these clients, as well as providing services to all other clients of the agencyAgain, clients are not buying a baby, which is illegalThey are buying adoption services, and the contract signed by these clients clearly states that the contract is not for a baby Clients also say that the information IAC provides to clients is advertisingThis accusation is baselessThe information that IAC provides to clients is accurate in regards to the average wait time for placementIn addition, the average wait time is not months as the Clients claimAnd there is no guarantee for an adoptive placement, as stated in their signed contract The accusations that the agency retaliates against clients are falseThe IAC has never retaliated against these clients or any other clientsThe agency follows the signed contracts and performs its obligations under those contracts An outside auditor prepares a financial audit of IAC's finances each year Finally, the Client's claim that agency refunds are discriminatory and inconsistent is not accurateThe agency follows standard policies in issuing refunds and does not discriminate against clients Final Consumer Response / [redacted] (4200, 19, 2016/01/26) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) We signed a contract believing we will get a baby with their help in less than monthsThis did not happen Our contract was not signed with both parties signing with the same agreementWe we're told the average wait time to match is under monthsWe waited years to realize after many past IAC members shared it is a scamThey just collect money, but do nothing on their end besides provide a websiteThe stole money from us and many, many,many families!

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/12/04) */
First, we would like to state that we are very sorry that the Clients are not happy with the agency's services. We believe this is a misunderstanding of the services offered by the Independent Adoption Center (IAC). No adoption agency, including...

IAC, provides babies to clients in return for fees. Clients pay IAC for adoption services including a home study, development of outreach materials and birthparent outreach services.
Clients claim that an IAC alumna family at their information session on Oct. 20, 2012 said that they will get a baby, and no one from IAC corrected this information. However, the IAC contract signed by the clients on Feb. 22, 2013 clearly states, "Almost all of our clients do adopt a child, but this contract is not for a "baby" but for making the IAC's adoption services available to the clients."
Clients also complain that contact with the Adoption Coordinator dropped off after one year. However, the case file reflects regular monthly contact with them via email as well as monthly phone calls until March 2014 when Clients requested less frequent phone contact. In a March 31, 2014 phone call documented in the agency's case notes the Client requested that their Adoption Coordinator contact them via phone every other month or so, rather than monthly. Their Adoption Coordinator agreed to their request but said she would still send them the monthly letter count emails and any updates, which she continued to do. In addition, the Adoption Coordinator continued to speak with Clients on the phone every other month or so.
Clients also complain about the IAC's outreach to birthparents and that the agency only spent 2.7% of revenues on "outreach." The agency financial statements include a line item for "outreach," but also include several other line items such as "advertising," "printing," "postage," and "personnel" expenses that are exclusively or have a large amount of the total devoted to outreach to birthparents. The amount the agency spends on outreach to birthparents is between 20% and 25% of the agency's expenses.
The contract that the clients signed clearly spells out the refund policies of the agency. The contract also includes a separate section outlining the refund provisions for the clients to initial, in addition to their full signatures at the end of the contract. Therefore, Clients were fully aware of the refund policies at the time of signing the contract. According to the contact, they are not entitled to a refund based on the length of time they were active with the agency.
The Initial Join Fee (the only amount paid to date) is for services before the time of a match with a birthmother. These pre-match services that Clients received included the adoption workshop, adoption home study, assistance with the design and completion of their Adoption Letter, distribution of their letter to potential birthmothers and posting of their letter on our two websites for birthmothers to look at in selecting a family, counseling and support services, etc. The Clients received these pre-match services for over two years. Therefore, according to their contract, they are not eligible for a refund.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 13, 2016/01/07) */
During our investigation of IAC and their business practices, we uncovered extremely reckless financial management that has the potential to collapse the organization, causing hundreds of clients to loose their $15,000 - $20,000 investment in the IAC service.
We believe these practices are illegal, unethical and will lead to the collapse of the organization, causing almost 600 families to loose $20,000 per family.
Additionally, we have the following complaints:
- IAC is managed in a way that appears to be a Ponzi scheme, the agency is taking in more adoptive parents (clients) on an annual basis while their finalized adoption numbers decline, creating an imbalance in their business that cannot be recovered from and that puts all client paid fees at risk, IAC will not be able to deliver services to many families having already invested over $20,000 per couple.
- IAC accepts fees from clients that they know will never be matched to a birthmother to facilitate an adoption and they do not refund these fees completely when services are not delivered.
- When clients raise issues regarding the agency's lack of service delivery, the agency retaliates against clients.
- Since 2012 the number of waiting adoptive families (clients) has increased from less than 400 to 600 while the number of annual completed adoptions has decreased from 180 to XXX (XXXX) per year. With this trend, if IAC stopped taking in new clients (meaning no new revenue), it would take the company over three years to work through their current waiting client list, which is financially impossible to do, the company would go bankrupt first, this is a Ponzi scheme and unsustainable.
- Despite the fact that wait time for adoptive families has gone from an average of 11 months in 2012 to a median of close to 20 months in 2015, the agency continues to advertise using false and deceptive terms such as "Adopt a Baby Quickly" in their advertising.
- The agency consistently misleads and falsifies adoption wait time averages, using 2006 - 2014 averages in multiple places on their websites which totally distorts the reality of current, downward trends, why not show 2014 statistics?
- The agency has a discriminatory and nonstandard refund policy, which they use to provide refunds to certain families and not to others. We have testimonials from multiple families that have been refunded various, inconsistent amounts that do not reflect the published refund policy. We have other families that are flat out denied refunds for services that were not delivered, usually the families that have expressed their concern or complained about the agency. IAC issued over $530,000 in refunds in 2013, over 9% of total revenue, doubling year over year.
- In summary, IAC is preying on families' desire to create families while mismanaging the agency finances in a way that makes the organization unsustainable over the near term, putting 600 families at risk of losing their $20,000 commitment to IAC. The agency is abusive to clients and threatens to hold back adoption services or to put adoptions at risk if you raise issues with mgmt.
In addition we never told our agency to stop contacting us. This is a blatant lie. Also, we signed a contract believing we were going to get a baby. We were told the average time was 18 months. Because we did heavy Marketing we believed it would of been sooner. Unfortunately, we received two calls during our three year wait with our 1-800 number we paid for. 1) a father was looking for his child that was put up for adoption. 2) a real birth mom was interested in us, and we spoke with her for hours. When we contacted our agency, we were told not to contact her back because she already matched with a different couple. We found out later that this did not happen and she decided to parent herself the baby.
[redacted]Document Attached[redacted]
Please don't close the case. We we're just told that we need to escalate our case to the California Department of Social Services Vs. The Attorney General we recently wrote to.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 17, 2016/01/25) */
First, there appears to be a fundamental misunderstanding of the services that the Independent Adoption Center (IAC provides). No adoption agency, including the IAC, provides babies to clients in return for fees. Clients pay for adoption services.
In this case, the clients paid the "Join Fee," which covers the following services: home study, Adoption Letter and online Profile preparation, and outreach services. The agency provided all of these services to the client. The client seems to believe that these fees included a promise of an adoptive placement within 18 months. This is not the case as outlined in their signed contract.
The client claims that the agency operates a Ponzi scheme, but as stated above the agency provided services promised to these clients, as well as providing services to all other clients of the agency. Again, clients are not buying a baby, which is illegal. They are buying adoption services, and the contract signed by these clients clearly states that the contract is not for a baby.
Clients also say that the information IAC provides to clients is false advertising. This accusation is baseless. The information that IAC provides to clients is accurate in regards to the average wait time for placement. In addition, the average wait time is not 20 months as the Clients claim. And there is no guarantee for an adoptive placement, as stated in their signed contract.
The accusations that the agency retaliates against clients are false. The IAC has never retaliated against these clients or any other clients. The agency follows the signed contracts and performs its obligations under those contracts.
An outside auditor prepares a financial audit of IAC's finances each year.
Finally, the Client's claim that agency refunds are discriminatory and inconsistent is not accurate. The agency follows standard policies in issuing refunds and does not discriminate against clients.
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 19, 2016/01/26) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
We signed a contract believing we will get a baby with their help in less than 18 months. This did not happen Our contract was not signed with both parties signing with the same agreement. We we're told the average wait time to match is under 18 months. We waited 3 years to realize after many past IAC members shared it is a scam. They just collect money, but do nothing on their end besides provide a website. The stole money from us and many, many,many families!