{"id":62690,"date":"2026-06-22T06:17:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T22:17:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=62690"},"modified":"2026-06-22T06:17:02","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T22:17:02","slug":"trafficking-fears-and-red-flags-singapore-couples-caught-up-in-botched-overseas-adoption-attempts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=62690","title":{"rendered":"Trafficking fears and red flags: Singapore couples caught up in botched overseas adoption attempts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<h2><span>MEETING BABIES OVERSEAS<\/span><\/h2>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>Another couple also told CNA about their experience of trying to adopt from overseas using private agencies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Nick and Gwen, who had no preference for adopting a local or foreign baby, said the paperwork took time to complete.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThere were so many documents that it took us a while to really get everything together,\u201d Gwen said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">They waited almost a year before hearing of a potential match, despite reaching out to multiple adoption agencies. <span>In March 2024, they were told by an adoption agency that there was a baby from Vietnam up for adoption.<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>When the baby was about three months old, the couple flew to Vietnam, where they met the infant, the birth mother and the Vietnamese agent facilitating the adoption.<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>\u201cBy that time, it was a long time coming. So it felt like everything was finally going in a better direction,\u201d said Gwen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>This was their first successful match after reaching out to multiple adoption agencies. \u201cWe were super excited. It just felt almost serendipitous and fitting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>But things took a turn for the worse. <\/span>One of the final steps was for the couple to apply for the baby\u2019s dependant\u2019s pass and for the birth mother to collect the baby\u2019s passport and fly to Singapore with the baby.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>However, the birth mother never showed up and she was never heard from again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>\u201cIt was obviously pretty tragic because we had already thought of her name, we had already set up the place for her to come join our family,\u201d said Nick.<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>\u201cIt would probably have been a couple more weeks before she was due to come to Singapore, but that fell apart.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>Feeling they had no choice but to accept that they would never see the baby again, the couple said they had \u201cno closure\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>\u201cOnce you meet another child and you\u2019re serious &#8211; as serious as we were about bringing this kid into our family &#8211; you feel a sense of responsibility. And to have it all fall apart like that, it does hurt,\u201d said Nick.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">They wanted to try adopting again. After getting connected with another private agency, they were told there was a baby from Pontianak, Indonesia, who could be matched with them.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>The couple was told they would have to pay S$38,000 to adopt the baby.<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>When the baby was about four months old, the couple travelled to Jakarta to meet her. The nanny was present, but not the birth parents.<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>\u201cIt was a beautiful moment \u2026 There was this kid that we connected with and felt good about,\u201d Nick said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>The couple was relieved when they managed to get through all the paperwork, and the dependant\u2019s pass was approved.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>\u201cSo we got through all of it, and literally a week before the baby was supposed to come to Singapore and be with us, we got a call from the agent, and he said, \u2018Sorry, the adoption is not going to happen\u2019,\u201d Nick said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>According to the couple, the Indonesian agent told them that Indonesia was not allowing adoptions to proceed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>No other information was given to the couple, and they felt like they \u201cjumped through all the hoops\u201d again, only to be left disappointed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>Looking back, Gwen said it felt like she was at the \u201cmercy\u201d of the Singapore adoption agent, who she felt was not forthcoming with information.<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>\u201cThey give you bits and bobs where they feel like it. When you ask further questions, they&#8217;ll say things like \u2018it&#8217;s just like that\u2019, \u2018that&#8217;s just how it goes\u2019,\u201d Gwen added.<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>\u201cIt\u2019s very limited information, and you are not allowed any contact with the other side, which makes it difficult.<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span>\u201cI don&#8217;t know how common it is to have a situation like that fall through two times. We were already nervous enough after the first time it fell through. And doing it the second time, it was very hard to be calm and trust the process.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.channelnewsasia.com\/singapore\/baby-adoption-trafficking-risks-singapore-couples-6198231\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MEETING BABIES OVERSEAS Another couple also told CNA about their experience of trying to adopt from overseas using private agencies.\u00a0 Nick and Gwen, who had&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=62690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/62691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=62690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=62690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=62690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}