ETA: Concerned readers of my blog were so worried about Josiah that calls were made to law enforcement and social services to determine if this is an ethical adoption. Of course, those investigations are confidential so we’ll never know the outcome, however at least we know that the proper authorities have been alerted.

It does seem that Moriah is a real person and while the Facebook page is now gone and the GoFundme Page is also down, there WERE pictures of “Josiah” on FB. Truthfully, I am personally hoping that is WAS just a scam to get money for a fake adoption, not a questionable situation. Like take the money, I hope there is no child really involved, but I fear this is real;

Hats off and HUGE thanks to Paul who went hunting and found this all out:

Before the FB page came down, a phone number was found on it:  817-247-9223. That phone number also leads to her Yelp listing:  http://www.yelp.com/biz/annelise-photography-springfield?nb=1 Same woman.

The phone number also leads here. https://springfield.craigslist.org/hsh/4228525336.html I did read about her “Christmas Wrapping” fundraiser on the FB page before it was down.

She claims to live in Brookline MO which is no more since they merged with Republic MO in 2005 according to Wiki. The final fishy piece of info is if she lives in that part of MO, her area code should be 417. 817 is for the Arlington TX area.

Not sure why she was hawking girl baby duds in May 18, 2013. Maybe she got some “girl” stuff by mistake? http://www.pandahi.com/1014505750.html

Her love story about how she met Charles, three companies with Atlas in their name within a few miles of her alleged zip code

Her maiden name was Moriah Henderson. She got busted for a seat belt violation. Now she may have moved since gee, whirlwind marriage. She’s 23 at most.

Breadcrumb trail of clues. Moriah was reported as a missing person at 16: http://www.4states.com/news/2007/aug/16/missing-moriah-henderson/

Her pinterest page is http://www.pinterest.com/ladylove417/ AND the new one: http://www.pinterest.com/mjcbennett/

She was with with Atlas Security for less than a year. http://www.linkedin.com/in/moriahbennett (linked in page is now gone) She was “Looking for a steady & stable career.”

She has since quit Altas and works in a lamp store in the mall now. Her pastor, her church, her mama were found as well as her FB page WAS  totally unprotected. https://www.facebook.com/bennettmjc

( SEE: THAT’s researching!!!)

What Happens When You Don’t Bother Researching a TINY Bit

I know that because Musings of the Lame does very well on adoption related searches in the major search engines, I get way more requests for things. Most of them are good, but sometimes, I do end up going WTF. Now I do not mind the odd request and I really do go out of my way to help people out as best possible.

However, I really do wish that people would just spend half a second reading ONE thing at the site here before they go off coping and pasting their attempts at “cold call” emails.

See, while I do admit to enjoying the occasions when I must hand one’s ass back to them on silver platter, I don’t like to think myself as a grand dame bitch. I like to reserve that privilege for when it is especially needed, but sometimes.. Oh, they just don’t give me a choice!!!

I gave this one a chance. I really did. I replied with genuine questions on December 13th, but I never got a reply back. I guess “Moriah” got the sense that I wasn’t feeling all warm and fuzzy about her need to beg for money so she can adopt this child.  Oh well. It really could have gone either way depending on her answer. I did leave the door open so she could redeem herself, but sadly, my inquiry wasn’t worth the time.

You Get the Adoption Dodo Award This Week!

Truth be told, I find that pretty insulting.

1. You push crap into my email box and I am forced to read your shit.
2. You don’t bother spending a hot minute researching who I am and what Musings of the Lame is all about to even consider whether it is appropriate to send me your shit.
3. I am sent some shitty, non personal copy and paste crap and then expected to do your bidding?
4. I spend MY time personally writing back to you, and then, you don’t even have the decency to reply?

Then THIS is What You Get for Asking Me to Help Separate a Mother and Child

I do NOT waste my time. If I write, then it gets published.  Yeah, you want YOUR story “out there”? You ask me to do a story on you and then after NOT researching, you don’t bother answering me?

Here you go:

Email received from “Moriah” at mjcbennett@gmail.com on 12-13-13

I just want to get our story out there. I have tried and tried to get the word out but I’m at a loss on how else to get there. Would you please do an adoption story on me?

Here’s my story:
Our story is a little odd, it’s not one that happens on a daily basis or one that you find very often. This story contains love, Jesus, and a miracle that only God can do. With your help & the power of God, we know that Josiah will become our son officially, as he already is in our hearts. We know that God placed him in our lives for a reason which means that God will provide a way for us to adopt him. If you can’t help out financially, we ask that you would keep us in your prayers to be the parents that God has called us to be and that we would meet our goal financially.

Now, Let me tell you the story of how I met & fell in love with Josiah…

On Friday, March 1st, 2013, I happened to be spending time with, Sheila, my friend that I have been close with for many years. She ended up having to make a stop by her friend Kelsey’s house before we could go to breakfast that morning. I waited patiently in the car for Shelia to come back, I received a call from her telling me to come inside, that I needed to see something. Kelsey had been babysitting her cousin, Josiah, for a few days while his mom (Claire) was in the hospital. I asked if I could hold him, she let me and I instantly fell in love with him. He was so precious and only 3 weeks old. His tiny little fingers curled perfectly around my finger as he just slept while I held him. I did not want to let go of him. Kelsey suggested that maybe I could babysit for Claire that weekend because she would be going out of town. I told her that I would be more than willing if Claire was okay with it. Kelsey checked with Claire and called me about an hour later saying that Claire said it was fine. I went and picked Josiah up and took him home. He had a onesie, a girl car seat, a bouncy seat that Kelsey let me borrow and only a little bit of formula.

God must have known that I was going to have a child sooner rather than later, I had been collecting baby clothes (mainly boys) for quite some time, believing that He would allow me to have a child one day. I found Josiah some clothes in my hope chest and called my mom telling her about this little guy I was so in love with. She warned me not to get too attached as she was concerned that he might not be in my life for very long. I know she was also worried about getting attached herself and then losing him as she was extremely excited to meet him. I spoke with Claire a little bit while she was in the hospital after just having surgery. She asked me how long I wanted to keep him, I told her that as long as she needed me to that I was head over heels in love with him. She said that she was fine with that and would check back with me in a day or two. I began praying that God would either protect my heart and prepare me for him to go home with his mom or that he would begin to prepare my heart to become a mom.

After keeping Josiah for the weekend, Claire asked me if I wanted to keep him longer. I told her that I would be more than happy to, but I would need some sort of documentation just to cover myself legally. Claire said that I could be his second mom, because he deserved that kind of love. We decided to sign temporary guardianship papers over Josiah. I became Josiah’s legal guardian, which meant that I needed a few more things in my house to help me be the parent he deserved. I called a few friends of mine and searched craigslist. I bought a crib and more clothes so that he would have a comfortable place to sleep. My friends pulled together and gave me a lot of items that I needed since I had just become a mom overnight. I did not have 9 months to prepare for a child to be brought into my home or my life, but Josiah was the best thing that had ever happened to me. I took him to his first doctor’s appointment, helped pay for his circumcision, and changed my life to fit to the mold of this newborn baby boy that I had grown to love deeply. I am his mom, maybe not biologically but he is my son. He is mine & I am his, no matter what the outcome is, this will never change.

On the morning of Monday, April 29th, 2013, Claire called me and asked me if I wanted to fully adopt Josiah. I cried as God had answered my prayers, not only of becoming a mother, but that Claire had asked me instead of me having to talk with her about it. She had taken the time to think about it and then decided that he deserved the kind of home that she could not give him. She has since told me that she felt a peace about speaking with me and trusted me with him in a way she has not trusted anyone else. She loves Josiah very much and wants the best for him.

Charles & I had been working together at Atlas for a few months, honestly we didn’t talk for quite awhile. In July 2013, we started talking and we realized how much we had in common. We began spending time together and talking as often as possible. We went on our first official date July 25th, 2013. It didn’t take long for either of us to know that God planned for us to spend the rest of our lives together. Charles met Josiah and did really well with him, which confirmed that he was the one for me and the dad God had chosen for Josiah. On August 23rd, 2013 Charles proposed. And on October 12th, 2013 we said I do! Charles fell in love with Josiah over the course of our short period of dating. He is a wonderful father to Josiah and I couldn’t have asked for a better partner to help me in raising Josiah. I may have had Josiah in my life longer, but you would never be able to tell that by how much Josiah loves his daddy. He can make Josiah laugh at the littlest things. Little by little God has brought us together and created our family. Josiah’s smile could brighten anyone’s day. He is the most handsome little boy I have ever seen.

Josiah’s birth name didn’t seem like the perfect fit, so we decided to change it as part of the adoption process. So we chose the name Josiah because it means “Jehovah has healed”. It is possible that we aren’t able to have biological children of our own, due to some medical problems that run in my (Moriah’s) family. The meaning of the name felt like it was a perfect fit.

Here we are today, praying for God to provide for us, like He always does. This fundraiser website is to help us with the funding that we need to get the adoption process started. This is not a cheap or short process, but we know that God placed Josiah in our family for a reason. He is a wonderful 9 month old little boy who we want to raise to become a Godly young man.

Please pray about giving to our donation fund, if you feel that God is leading you to help us on this journey financially we would be forever grateful. Please consider sharing our story with your family & friends as well. If you can not give financially, we ask that you would keep us in your prayers, that we would meet the goal that we need to make Josiah a permanent part of our family. We greatly appreciate those of you who have already donated to our funding, you will forever be a part of our hearts.

**Some names have been changed for privacy reasons

And my reply sent out the same day

Hi Moriah,
Since you said this was an interview and it’s really just a copy and paste form the ABOUT section of the Facebook page, I hope you won’t mind answering some questions so I can craft an original story. I don’t use already published content on my site for SEO reasons so adding to it will be necessary.

So if I am to understand this correctly, you got asked to watch your friend’s friends cousin’s 3 week old baby while his mother was in the hospital having surgery? But she didn’t personally know you? You were the friend of her cousin’s friend? How was it that the mother was going out of town AND having surgery at the same time? Sorry, that part just doesn’t make sense to me.

And then, assuming still without meeting you, she asked if you wanted to keep him longer?

Now I would assume from your note that you are a Christian woman, so  helping out a mother in need would come naturally. I am wondering about how you personally feel about the Tenth Commandment:

“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s“?

I tend to want to add a bit to it myself about how thou shall not covet thy neighbors ( or friend’s friend’s cousin’s ) baby either. I note in particular where you write: “I instantly fell in love with him.” and “I did not want to let go of him.”

Do you think that perhaps you DID covet this child and would you consider that breaking God’s law?

I am also wondering about how you feel about the areas in the Bible where the lines “the Widows and Orphans” are discussed?

Of course, God does call for us to care for the poor and children, but in speaking about the “Widows” God also includes the single mother For example  per Exodus 22:22-24: 

“You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.”

I just wonder if the before mentioned coveting and your desire to keep this baby for yourself rather than his natural mother might be considered “mistreatment”? Could you not have helped this mother get through what must have been a very difficult time with a newborn and a major medical procedure without taking this child as your own?  Like I can totally understand a mother wanting her child to have good things, but would it not be MORE Christian to help this mother be the very best mother she could have been? Even without the legal “protection” ?

Speaking of God and him leading us to do his work; if God doesn’t make mistakes, then wouldn’t HE have been the one to give Claire her son to being with?

Like if God gave J to Claire, then isn’t Claire giving away what God gave to Her? Do you think God cares when people regift what he gives them?

It’s funny because often Adoption, the adoptive parents have MANY more things that they are able to provide than the biological parents, but it seems that you don’t as you were also ready to be a single mother and were looking at Craigslist rather than just hitting the stores and especially as you are running a fundraiser to pay for the adoption costs. Obviously, you have managed to avoid any agency fees since it’s a private adoption and you don’t need any advertising expenditures since you didn’t have to find a child to adopt; this one was just handed to you! I mean if basically you only have to pay for the home study and legal fees, so it’s really not that much overall and you and your now husband are needing to ask strangers to pay for it.

I guess my point is WHY is this child being relinquished exactly if you don’t have much else to offer?  It’s long since proven that for adoptees, “love” alone is NOT enough. It’s NOT the same as raising you own child as ALL adoptees do have additional needs based on the original loss of their family and the trauma of the maternal separation.

By the way, congratulations on your recent nuptials.  I also married my first husband after only three months. It was nice for a while, maybe the first year. Does the timing of your marriage and its short life span affect your home study process in any way? I know there are different laws per state, but often a couple must be married for at least two years to be considered stable and approved to adopt. Are you still working? Does the baby go to Day Care?

Have you thought since you just married and haven’t really had the opportunity to get baby making yet, that God perhaps wanted you to help this mother and meeting your husband was a reward for doing his work?

Could it be that God wants you to have a child and so lead you to Charles so you could build your own family after helping this little guy struggling with his mother?

Anyway, back to more questions: Did you have the child the whole eight weeks after you started watching him until the end of  April when his mother asked you to keep him? We’re they able to have any time together during that period? I’m just wondering how she could have decided to trust you with her child without seeing you interact and such.

So, since you weren’t planning on this happening, have you done any reading since to prepare yourself to be an adoptive mother?  I am picking up some vibes here that perhaps you are perhaps not aware of some important adoption issues and sensitive points for instance in changing his name. As an adoptee is already facing huge losses, even a baby who cannot express it verbally instinctively  knows their own mother and loss of her in his life is referred to the “Primal Wound”, being able to retain something of their original identity  even if just a name can become great importance later on. You don’t bring up any mention of continued contact between you and Claire for his benefit later on through life. I would expect that he will wonder why in God’s name did his mother not be bothered picking him up again after surgery. I can tell you that  growing up knowing that your mother essentially left you with the baby sitter is going to hurt, so having contact with Claire so she can answer his questions will be very important for his emotional wellbeing. There is also no mention of his father? Have you been in contact with his father and is he also willing to relinquish all his right so this child?

Have you thought at all about how once you do adopt legally that the state will discriminate against this child for the rest of his life and he will be treated unequally? Do you have a copy of his original birth Certificate for him? Have you begun to think about how you will support and advance the Adoptee Rights movement in the United States for his sake?  Are you aware that legal guardianship is actual PERFERED by many adoptees themselves and is considered to be WAY more ethical?

I realize that this is probably a lot to ask, but as I said I really wanted to get a better idea of the whole story so I could give my readers a good picture here. Musings of the Lame does reach over 20K people monthly and is known in the Adoption Community so I have a reputation to uphold.

Oh, and just one more question, did you happen by chance to read ANYTHING over at my blog before you went and found the contact the page to promote your adoption fundraiser? I just wondered since I have been writing since 2005 and sometimes I find it a tiny bit frustrating that I have spent the last 8 plus years opening my soul to people and they assume that just because I write about adoption it means that I might actual support the unnecessary separation of a mother and child. Anyway, for my own morals , I do have to understand why this adoption is needed for the child’s benefit beyond what you wanted. Maybe God lead you to email me so I could ask what he is wondering?

So if you could help me understand then I can write something up and post it.

Thanks so much!

So now we can all wonder together. Here’s the Facebook page should anyone desire to try to get some answers; http://www.facebook.com/adoptingjosiah

 I have wasted enough time.