Christopher Koontz and Bobby Duong were getting closer then ever to achieving their dream of becoming parents.
After months of background checks and interviews — and making payments totaling $16,000 — the newlyweds were expecting one last visit Friday from a social worker who would check that their Long Beach home was properly baby-proofed.
But three days earlier, the couple received an email from the Independent Adoption Center announcing the agency was closing and filing for bankruptcy after nearly 35 years.
“It’s tragic that they went out of business, but we got no warning and they didn’t make any accommodations,” Koontz said. “We don’t even know where our files with our confidential information are. There’s no one to even speak to.”
Emotionally, financially drained
Koontz and Duong are among hundreds of emotionally and financially drained couples across the country reeling from IAC’s closure.
Like many, they chose the agency because of its long-standing history, presence in 16 states and reputation for inclusiveness, especially in the LGBT community. Headquartered in Concord, the agency operated a Los Angeles office locally in Westchester.
“This was an extremely difficult decision to make, but after much discussion, we have come to the conclusion that immediate closure is our only option,” stated the message from Marcia Hodges, the nonprofit’s interim executive director, and Greg Kuhl, president of its governing board.
They attributed the sudden closure to “societal changes,” specifically, a combination of high demand and record-low supply.
“The court will notify you of the case shortly after the bankruptcy is filed and you will have the opportunity to file a Proof of Claim for any refunds you believe are due to you,” the message stated.
But many prospective parents say they’ve been told by attorneys that the odds of getting their money back are extremely low. They’ve connected on Facebook, sharing whatever pieces of information about the closure they can glean from employees and social workers who were also blindsided.
While some couples will not lose their status of having completed the home study process, others, like Koontz and Duong, must start all over again.
“We’re fortunate that we both have good jobs,” said Koontz, an urban planner for the city of Long Beach. Duong works in marketing for an engineering firm. “Even if for us, this amount of money isn’t that inconsequential, we’ll have to make some adjustments.”
Signs of instability
Looking back, he sees signs that the agency was trying to accumulate cash, like when it began offering discounts encouraging clients to pay in one lump sum instead of over time on a plan.
“They also kept trying to sell this extra advertising service that was thousands of dollars, but they couldn’t explain what it was,” Koontz said. “In retrospect, it seems like they were trying to bring in money not to do anything, but in order to pay their bills and legal fees so they could get ready for this bankruptcy.”
The sales pitches raised eyebrows for Ramie and Brian Pace, a Los Angeles couple who borrowed money from Brian’s father to cover the $15,000 they now fear they will never get back.
Ramie was so turned off by the tone of an email encouraging clients to sign up for the Individual Pay-Per-Click program that she reached out to her adoption specialist.
“The email made it sound like you’re not going to compete if you don’t so this,” she said.
In the Jan. 5 message, Hodges wrote that “the latest indication is that IPPC families now place at a rate about 40 percent above non-IPPC families.”
“As someone who has spent a lifetime in nonprofit management, it is not without a bit of pain that I write this memo about having to be so ‘commercial’ about something that should be a non-commercial experience,” Hodges continued, “but the changed realities out there dictate that I do so.”
‘Throwing away $15,000’
The adoption specialist told Ramie Pace that she didn’t believe the ads had anything to do with the increase in matches.
The Paces’ family profile only recently went out to birth mothers, and Brian had just given his father a check to pay him back.
Friends are now encouraging them to start a Go Fund Me crowd funding page.
“We can afford a child month-to-month, but after throwing away $15,000, we just can’t come up with that again,” said Brian, a computer animator.
At 38 and 44 years old, respectively, Brian and Ramie decided adoption was their best path to parenthood. They liked the IAC’s reputation and the fact that it would provide long-term counseling for them, the child and birth mother.
Liz and Luis Ortiz of Long Beach also chose the agency after attending a seminar in Westchester.
“It was great, we had all our questions answered and we really liked the fact that they were an open adoption agency, so we could have communication with the birth mother and father,” Ortiz said, “We liked that they offered counseling. There’s a lot of grief giving your child away, and they offer it to the mother.”
The Ortizes decided to pursue adoption after Liz was unable to become pregnant naturally and with in vitro fertilization. She is already a stepmother to Luis’ 9-year-old son. The couple decided to expand their family, setting up a GoFundMe page for friends and relatives who wanted to support them.
Learning about the IAC’s closure was “one of the worst days of our lives,” Liz Ortiz said.
A spokesman for the IAC did not return requests for comment.
Moving on
Like Koontz, Duong, and the Paces, the Ortizes are staying connected with other parents and exploring how to recover from their $20,000 loss.
Attorneys and adoption agencies have stepped in, offering advice and discounts.
Since Tuesday, Vista Del Mar, a 65-year-old adoption agency in Los Angeles, has received dozens of calls from former IAC clients, some of whom already have children in their homes.
“They’re feeling really vulnerable in addition to devastated financially and angry,” said Lynne Baumhoff, director of adoptions and foster care.
She also was stunned by the news of the IAC’s bankruptcy, and decided to offer help “as soon as we got wind of it.”
“We’re offering them half off of our home study price and a great reduction on a transfer of a home study if it’s current,” Baumhoff said. “That’s anywhere from $1,000 to $2,000 off.”
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