Some of you may be wondering what The Clarke Mills Project is all about. Why was the foundation started or what happened to us that stirred our hearts to start such an organization? Periodically, you will hear of a family in the news who was hurt by an adoption scam that resulted in an arrest (yes, it is a crime in most states). But what you won't hear are the hundreds of stories about those famil
ies who opened their hearts to someone they did not even know and were scammed by an unscrupulous birth mother and/or others involved in adoptions. In most of these cases, these families shield their pain because they are too ashamed or devastated to admit they were scammed and the activities go unreported. NO MORE! In our situation, it was not solely about the heartache the adults endured after losing a child (yes, psychologists equate a failed adoption to losing a child; but more on that later), but that of a little girl, who through the actions of adults and "professionals" in the adoption industry, will never get to grow up with her NATURAL sibling. Yes, I said natural, as in full-blood sibling who we WERE ASKED to adopt and give their birth parents a warm place to stay while she was pregnant. We agreed with the promise that our adopted daughter did not have to seek out and find (when the time was right) her birth parents ALONE. You will see articles pertinent to these issues on The Clarke Mills Project page. They may seem like fodder because that is exactly what they will be...to point out where Louisiana is falling down in its adoption practices and families ARE NOT being protected from the unscrupulous activities and people in this industry. This may not be what you have in mind for your use of Facebook, but we ask that you keep reading. If you decide not to join us, don't worry, we will still read your posts about YOUR kids, new recipes that used to be in books on your kitchen shelves or the latest fashion apparel that you fell in love with and like them when appropriate. Today, The Clarke Mills Project seeks to make changes to the current laws in Louisiana that prevents older siblings, like Morgan, from standing up and saying, "No, I want to grow up with my little brother." There are no "Adoption Fraud" laws in Louisiana that address specific unethical or illegal activities that surround adoptions, like other neighboring states have on their books. This causes current Louisiana laws to be ambiguous as to what is a civil matter and what is a criminal case in adoption scams. Currently, even some law enforcement agents in Louisiana do not consider adoption scams worthy of their time if you have not been scammed out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. You might be saying, well, I am not having any more kids, so adoption does not matter to me...or I can reproduce like a rabbit, so adoption is not a consideration. Well, we will tell you not everyone is blessed with fertile fields or a tractor with gas. As painful (or humorous) as that is to consume, this is just a fact...and The Clarke Mills Project is not only about adoption. It is about giving a voice to families (and children, in our case) who have no voice right now. It could be your daughter or son (or grand-kids for some of you) who one day struggle to have children of their own. It could be one of your neighbors or close friends who hid their own struggles from you. It could be a loved one who did not know where to turn. You will never know all of the struggles that occur around you. Or it could be that the Lord simply placed a beautiful little girl in your life for no other reason than wanting her to be taken care of and loved UNCONDITIONALLY. Tonight, when you go to kiss your precious children good-night, ask yourself this, "what did I do today to make sure they know they were loved?" Would you go to the ends of the earth or would you half-ass your way through and tell them it's not important enough? End of the earth, here we come...and we would love for you to join us. We will also tell you this. After our failed adoption, we were told to get over it...or asked when would we "let it go?" Yes, someone had the balls to actually ask that question. We were told by "professionals" in the adoption industry what not to do, but were never told what we could do to stop this from happening to us or anyone else again. We sought out help, where none was to be found. We've been told not to let this consume us. Don't worry, we are not...we have you for support. The Clarke Mills Project is dedicated to helping other families in our situation with counseling and education, so they do not wander in the dark alone. Additionally, where warranted, we will provide funding to hold those accountable for their unprofessional or unethical actions. And for those lawmakers in Louisiana and for those adoption "professionals" who use Louisiana families as their personal ATMs; we are not going away. At the end of the day, it is up to you. You will have to ask yourself, did I stand up for those without a voice or did I look the other way when I had a chance to make things right? Now is your time and as for The Clarke Mills Project is concerned, we will stand up for you REGARDLESS so your children, grandchildren, friends, neighbors or loved ones will not endure the pain of losing a child in the manner that we did. Thank you for joining us. Be not afraid,
The Clarke Mills Project
