DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Channel 2 Action News has learned that a California-based adoption agency serving metro Atlanta families has not yet filed bankruptcy, which was the reason cited in their notice to clients earlier this week.
The Independent Adoption Center abruptly closed multiple locations across the county Tuesday. E-mail notifications and a voicemail left on its office phones note a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, but as of Thursday, that paperwork had not been filed in the California bankruptcy courts, where the agency has been based for 34 years.
Channel 2’s Nicole Carr pulled tax and business records on the IAC this week. The multi-million dollar non-profit filed for a business license renewal in Georgia on Jan. 24, just a week before citing the bankruptcy-induced closure.
Earlier in the week, the Department of Human Services told Carr that the agency had not followed state regulations by leaving DHS a plan for transferring client records. By Thursday, DHS confirmed it reached the IAC and issued instructions for secure records transfers.
“What’s going on with that? Did they steal the money?” asked Dr. William Wilcox, a hopeful Atlanta father. "They got a lot of money from people for things and just suddenly closed their doors?”
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After years of trying to conceive, Wilcox and his wife Yuan spent months researching the IAC, and determined that its reputation spoke volumes. They’d put up more than $18,000 to start the adoption process in December of 2015. By last summer, the agency was offering $2,500 packages for online advertisements that increased clients' chances of being matched with birth mothers. The couple did not receive a match before this week’s closure.
“I woke up at 2:30 in the morning, just heart pounding because I’m so upset,” Wilcox said, speaking of this week’s closure notification. “My wife’s hurt. I’m hurt.”
Rochelle Loftstrand, a local educator, says she and her wife spent more than four years in waiting as they paid tens of thousands of dollars in fees to complete background checks, home visits and other required expenses through the agency.
“Does this mean we’re never going to be parents?” asked Loftstrand. “Does this mean that because of someone’s mistake or mismanagement, they’ve taken this dream away?”
A 2015 survey drafted by IAC clients and presented to its board cites a number of dissatisfied clients. The document, obtained by Carr, quotes clients saying that the IAC was "bringing on more and more adoptive parents,” had “ too many waiting families,” and was “holding our (client) money hostage.”
When Carr visited the home of the Tucker office manager earlier this week, she closed the blinds and would not come to the door.
In an online memo, IAC board chairman Gary Kuhl notes that a court-appointed trustee will eventually handle client issues associated with the bankruptcy. Kuhl also acknowledged that 800 clients were not notified of the IAC closure due to an internal mistake.
“I don’t understand what their problem is,” said Wilcox. “This is no way to treat anybody.”